Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson is a American leader and political philosopher, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. (1801-1809) Jefferson was among the most brilliant American exponents of the Enlightenment, the movement of 18th-century thought that emphasized the possibilities of human reason. A Virginia aristocrat, he had the time and resources to educate himself in history, literature, law, architecture, science, and philosophy; as diplomat and friend of French …showed first 75 words of 808 total…

…showed last 75 words of 808 total…about the great issues of revolution and constitutinalism, trying to preserve his declinig estate for his daughters instead of his creditors, and brooding aver the baneful effects of slavery. He was unwilling, for financial reasons, to free his own slaves, and he disagreed with abolitionist friends who held that blacks were equal to whites. His paradoxical beliefs in human dignity and in racial inferiority typified the dilemma of the country he had helped to create.