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said resolution.” The job of what became known as the
Committee of Five would be to set down in writing the
reasons Congress would need to declare America’s inde-
pendence from England.
In Philadelphia, Jefferson took a room on the second
floor of a three-story boarding house at Market and
Seventh streets owned by Jacob Graff, a bricklayer.
Franklin, Adams, and the other members of the
15
Jacob Graff’s Boarder
VITAL FIGURE:
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he joined the Committee of
Five and was assigned the task of writing the
Declaration of Independence. He was a lawyer,
scholar, and owner of a 5,000-acre plantation in
Virginia. Jefferson also had an interest in archi-
tecture: he designed his home in Virginia,
which he named “Monticello” (Italian for
“Little Mountain”) and later submitted a
design for the White House in Washington.
During the War for Independence,
Jefferson served a term as governor of Virginia.
After the war he was a minister to France. In
1789, George Washington appointed him secretary
of state. He was elected to a term as vice president in
1796, then was elected president in 1800.
Under President Jefferson, the nation expanded its borders through
the Louisiana Purchase. Thirteen future states would be formed out of
the western territory that Jefferson obtained from France for about $15
million. He assigned the explorers William Clark and Meriwether Lewis
the job of blazing a trail through the new territory. After a two-year mis-
sion, Lewis and Clark returned with maps and descriptions of the vast
land. Soon the territory would be opened to settlement by thousands of
American pioneers.