The Signers Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Mather Brown 1786
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution;
bequest of Charles Francis Adams
Thomas Jefferson
(1706-1790)
Author and Signer of the Declaration of Independence
One of the younger members of the Continental Congress at age thirty-three, Thomas Jefferson was appointed to the committee to draft a declaration to explain why the colonies were taking the necessary step of asserting their independence from Great Britain. Known for his gift and flair for writing, he was given the task of drawing up an initial draft to be considered by the committee before a final version was presented to Congress. Secluded in his quarters on the second floor of a new brick house on the southwest corner of Seventh and Market Streets, he set up his portable writing box of his own design and went to work.
Thomas Jefferson later said that he turned to neither book nor pamphlet while writing his draft of the Declaration of Independence. Much of the thought that went into the document had been in his mind already. Jefferson noted that he was not trying to compile an innovative treatise, but was rather striving “to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so firm and plain” as to justify the actions of Congress.
Jefferson's last letter, written in a strong, clear hand, at age 83, was to decline an invitation to the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Read the transcript. He died a few days later on the July 4, 1826. His sometime friend and rival, John Adams died later the same day.
Despite all his achievements, including two terms as President of the United States, Jefferson wished to be remembered first and foremost as the author of his new nation's seminal document. This is reflected in the epitaph he wrote for his gravesite at Monticello:
"HERE WAS BURIED
THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE
DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE
STATUTE OF VIRGINIA
FOR
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
BORN APRIL 2. 1743. OS
DIED JULY 4. 1826"