7 George Washington 7

followed a middle course between the political factions
that later became the Federalist Party and the Democratic
Party. He proclaimed a policy of neutrality in the war
between Britain and France in 1793 and sent troops to sup-
press the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. He declined to serve
a third term (thereby setting a 144-year precedent) and
retired in 1797 after delivering his “Farewell Address.” He
devoted himself for the last two and a half years of his life
to his family, farm operations, and care of his slaves.

Thomas Jefferson

(b. April 2 [April 13, New Style], 1743, Shadwell, Va., U.S.—d. July 4,
1826, Monticello, Va.)

T

homas Jefferson was the third president of the United
States (1801–09). He also drafted the Declaration of
Independence and was the nation’s first secretary of state
(1789 – 94) and its second vice president (1797–1801).

Early Years and the Declaration
of Independence

Jefferson entered the political arena in 1769 as a Virginia
state legislator. In 1774 he wrote A Summary View of the
Rights of British America, which catapulted him into visibil-
ity beyond Virginia as an early advocate of American
independence from Parliament’s authority. The Virginia
legislature appointed him a delegate to the Second
Continental Congress in 1775. Jefferson’s chief role was as
a draftsman of resolutions. In that capacity, on June 11,
1776, he was appointed to a five-person committee, which
also included John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, to draft
a formal statement of the reasons why a break with Great
Britain was justified. This became the Declaration of
Independence, and Jefferson was its primary author.