September 15, 2007 (1-2)

Which person do you think is most responsible for the form of government that America now enjoys? (There are several possibilities to answer this question, so support your answer well with solid sourcing.)

Throughout our nations great history, there have been many people who have influenced our government. We are fortunate enough to have a history full of some of the most amazing and brilliant people this world has ever seen. And we are a fairly new country, compared to most! Not only were there individuals who had huge effects on us, but groups of people and written documents and events also have this huge effect. Although some influence in such a way most people consider good, some have influenced us in a bad way. However there are more astounding minds to sort through what affects our great nation positively and what affects it negatively.

So many people have influenced our history in a positive way, and are therefore largely responsible for our current form of government. There was John Hancock, who was the president of the Second Continental Congress. He was in charge of our first government and therefore made some of the first decisions for our country. That which affects our past will definitely affect our future. There was also John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. However, looking more deeply at it, i realized that i believed the best choice to be Thomas Jefferson.

"Thomas Jefferson was born on 13 April 1743 into a family closely related to some of the most prominent individuals in Virginia, the third of eight children."(Wikipedia) He was very rich growing up. When he was only 14, his father died leaving him 5,000 acres and dozens of slaves. He built his house on this land and it became known as Monticello. In fact, Monticello is depicted on the back of the U.S. nickel and the old two-dollar bill. Jefferson was largely a part of the Second Continental Congress. In fact, in June of 1776, "The Committee of Five" was chosen to write a very important document. This document became known as the The Declaration of Independence. Th "DOI" was written almost entirely by Jefferson. This was not, as i I regrettably first thought, because the other four got lazy and let him do all the work. Nor was it because the rest of them weren't as smart, they were in fact all brilliant men. However, it was mostly his work because he was chosen as the best writer in the group and readers might think the works of others to be biased. Jefferson wrote the first draft of the declaration but it needed many changes. He fixed these changes and the second and final draft was presented to congress. It was finally adopted and signed on July 4, 1776.

Later, in 1801, Jefferson was made to be the 3rd President of the United States. While he was president, many famous events happened. The most famous of which are the Louisiana Purchase and the Louis and Clark expedition. He served for 8 years, until 1809. He was also our first Secretary of State and our Second Vice President.

As you can see, this man was very important to our history. I strongly believe that without him, we would not enjoy the government we do today. He was a great leader and an amazing president. We should all be able to learn from his wonderful example.

Beilenson,Nick. Thomas Jefferson:His Words and Vision. Peter Pauper,Inc: 1998

Holmes,Jerry. Thomas Jefferson:A Chronology of HIs Thoughts. Rowman and Littlefield: United States, 2002