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Thomas Jefferson

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Read the passage about Thomas Jefferson.

"Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams" by World History Archive, Alamy Stock Photo

A young Thomas Jefferson helping write the Declaration of Independence

Thomas Jefferson was an important writer and leader who helped the United States become a country. He was born in Virginia in 1743. At that time, the United States was not its own country. Instead, it was called the Thirteen Colonies. It was controlled by Great Britain. Americans had to follow British laws.

Many people in the Thirteen Colonies wanted independence. Independence means that a country is free and makes its own laws. Thomas Jefferson helped write the Declaration of Independence. It told Great Britain that the colonies were now their own country, the United States of America.

Jefferson wrote about many important ideas in the Declaration of Independence. He wrote that all men are equal. Being equal means that everyone should be treated the same way. Today, people in the United States believe all people are equal, not just men.

Jefferson also wrote that people should have freedom. Freedom means everyone can make their own choices about how to live their lives. Jefferson believed that people should be free to do what they want to do.

People admired Thomas Jefferson for the ideas he wrote in the Declaration of Independence. So, they listened to his ideas about government. Jefferson believed that if the government was too powerful, everyone would be less free. So, he believed that the government should serve the people and do what the people ask.

When Thomas Jefferson was young, the United States was not a country. What was it instead?

It was the Thirteen Colonies, ruled by Great Britain.

It was Virginia, ruled by thirteen leaders.

It was Great Britain, ruled by Jefferson's family.

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