Jefferson …

• Thomas Jefferson (1743 - July 4, 1826) was our third president and the main architect of the Declaration of Independence.
• He helped usher in the Age of Reason which followed the Renaissance. In Europe this age started with Descartes. It is the beginning of a larger age of Enlightenment where the individual person achieves more sholarly learning than in the past.
• Jerferson was very intelligent and was learned in many areas. In this, he was not unlike the 'Renaissance Man', Da Vinci.
• He was a statesman, writer, lawyer, architect, inventor, farmer, naturalist, philosopher, and scientist.
• A theme among many of his political achievements was to honor the common man. He wished to see the average person have more say in government, learn more in school, and have more freedom to pursue personal ambitions and pleasure.
• Jefferson believed the age had come for the individual person to think through his own destiny. He wanted to have the government govern less and let the health of the nation rely on the many individuals making responsible decisions that would be good for the country as a whole.