Thomas Jefferson is a controversial American hero. He was one of the authors and signers of the Declaration of Independence, a framer of the Constitution and the third President of the United States of America. He led a versatile career as statesman, architect, scientist, educator, inventor and planter. He led early efforts to abolish slavery but was a slave owner himself. How could the man who wrote, that "all men are created equal" own slaves (…showed first 75 words of 394 total…

…showed last 75 words of 394 total…home, where does it begin? WORKS CITED Douglas, Frederick. My Bondage and My Freedom. New York: Dover, 1969. Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." Adventures in American Literature. Ed. Milton Stern. Chicago: Harcourt Brace, 1989. 99-103. ---, "Notes on the State of Virginia." Writings. Ed. Merrill D. Peterson. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1984. 122-324. Wilson, Douglas L. "Thomas Jefferson and the Meanings of Liberty." Portrait of America. Ed. Stephen B. Oates. Boston: Houghton, 1995. 107-116.