Thomas Jefferson's FEAST

Thomas Jefferson's FEAST

Long ago, before your great-great- grandparents were born, there lived a man named Thomas Jefferson. You probably know his name because he was the third president of the United States. But that's not all there is to know about Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson loved to read. He collected books about the stars and books about history. In fact, he had one of the largest libraries in America.

Thomas Jefferson also loved to write. He wrote letters to people like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. In his lifetime, he wrote over 20, 000 letters. That's like writing a letter a day, every day, for 55 years!

Many of Thomas's letters said that America should be its own country. (The British thought America belonged to them. ) So Thomas Jefferson went to work writing the Declaration of Independence. He wrote and rewrote it for 17 days straight--until he got it just right.