Thomas Jefferson Quotes
It's only merit was in being the first publication which carried the claim of our rights their whole length, and asserted that there was no rightful link of connection between us and England but that of being under the same king.
Jefferson, Thomas. Autobiography. 1821. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, edited by A. A. Lipscomb and A. E. Bergh, vol. 1, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1903, p. 12.
This resolution of independence was voted upon a month before the Declaration of Independence. It was approved by 12 of the colonies but not by New York. The Congress appointed a committee to draft what became the Declaration of Independence and that was approved by all the colonies. The resolution was introduced by Richard Henry Lee on instructions from Virginia. The graphic is of Lee’s original notes.
Lee at that time was one of the leaders of the American colonists’ cause. He was born in England and was an old friend of Burgoyne who had just arrived in America. Lee wanted to explain the American viewpoint. Lee later became the senior major general under Washington.
Compare to the language of Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and his colleagues were familiar with this document.
In Philadelphia, the state delegates had just started to vote for independence. The majority of each state delegation determined the vote for the state. Delaware had three delagates, but only two were in Philadelphia. Rodney, the third delegate from Delaware, had been attending a meeting in Dover when he received word that the other two Delaware delagates Thomas McKean and George Read were split—McKean for and Read against independence. Rodney immediately left for Philadelphia late on July 1. He rode all night in a thunderstorm to traverse the 80 miles to Philadelphia. He arrived in his spurs and riding boots and cast his famous vote and thus Delaware voted for Independence. After the vote, the next 2 days were spent drafting the Declaration of Independence and Rodney signed it on July 4. After Rodney returned to Delaware, he was ousted in the next election by conservative loyalists who felt that Rodney had betrayed them and England.
This was the first official act of any state in declaring independence from England. On July 4th---almost 3 months later---Congress issued the Declaration of Independence. But North Carolina had taken the first official step.
If men's minds were as easily controlled as their tongues, every king would sit safely on his throne
Spinoza’s ideas were considered so radical and dangerous that he was the only man in history who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims.
This was the first contact between the colonists and the French government. The French agent was very non committal and the parties were just feeling each other out. Franklin made it perfectly clear that the colonists would not trade the English King for a French one and become part of the French empire.
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
