Declaration of Independence

• While Jefferson did not sign the Constitution, his first claim to fame was as the primary author of the other great document of the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence. He was chosen to attend the Continental Congress (1774-1776) as the delegate from Virginia. Jefferson was known as the “silent member” of the Continental Congress because he was an awkward orator who avoided public speaking. He was an eloquent writer, however, and was chosen in 1776 to draft the Declaration of Independence. The Congress adopted Jefferson’s draft, with minor changes, on July 4, 1776. Jefferson was among the signers.
  
  

The Constitutional Convention

• The Constitutional Convention was assembled in Philadelphia in May 1787, with the task of adopting a Constitution for the newly independent United States. The convention was comprised of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies (Rhode Island did not send any delegates). The delegates included Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, who presided over the convention.
  
  Thomas Jefferson was unable to attend because was in France. Jefferson served as the young nation’s minister to France from 1785 until 1793, when he resigned.
  
  The Constitution was drafted in fewer than 100 days, and was signed by 39 delegates from 12 states on September 17, 1787. There were a total 55 delegates who attended the Convention, but 14 had left for their homes before the signing, and three refused to sign. John Dickinson, of Delaware, signed by proxy.
  
  Ben Franklin, who was 81 years old in 1787, was not only the oldest signer, but is also the only person to have signed all three of key documents of the American Revolution: the Declaration of Independence, the peace treaty with Britain and the Constitution.
  
  

Jefferson and the Constitution

• Jefferson had a crucial hand in the Constitution's formation after the signing. Jefferson received a copy of the Constitution in France in November 1787. He reviewed the Constitution and came to believe that a formal declaration of the rights of American citizens was needed. He expanded on this view in letters to other American politicians, and eventually played a critical role in ensuring that the states passed the first 10 amendments to the Constitution -- what came to be known as the Bill of Rights.
  
  

Jefferson as President

• Jefferson went on to become vice president under John Adams in 1796, and was elected the nation’s third President in 1800. He normalized relations with France and scaled back the power of the executive branch of government. In 1803, Jefferson secured the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon and sent the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the new territory.
  
  At the end of his second term, Jefferson retired to his estate at Monticello. He chartered the University of Virginia in 1819. Jefferson died in 1826.