Read the following selection carefully, paying close attention to detail. In 1775, Thomas Jefferson was sent as a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress. Always Standing with those who were resolved to resist Great Britain, he was given the task of drafting one of the fundamental documents of American liberty, the Declaration of Independence, which the Congress adopted (with very few changes) on July 4, 1776. Jefferson's political career continued to rise with his election as governor of Virginia, and subsequent appointments to several diplomatic posts.

He followed Benjamin Franklin as minister to France, where he openly sympathized with the French Revolution. President George Washington appointed Jefferson as the first secretary of state for the new nation. He later resigned from this post in disagreement with the policies proposed by Alexander Hamilton to encourage manufacturing and to found a national bank.