Thomas Jefferson's life was closely intertwined with the birth of the United States as a nation. When he wrote the Declaration of independence, he was not just writing an eloquent document; he was laying the groundwork for a new political era in the former colonies and around the world. At age thirtythree Jefferson had been given the job of defending the most radical political act of his time-the separation of the American colonies from Great Britain.
Rising frustration with British rule. The colonists decided to declare their independence after more than a decade of hostility against their mother country. Most of this tension dated back to the early 1760s, after King George III had come to power in England. The French and Indian War-a conflict fought on North American soil to see which European power would reign supreme there-had ended in 1763 with a British victory, but England had paid dearly for its triumph. British money, soldiers, and supplies had been sacrificed in the war, and Britain decided to recover its financial losses by imposing taxes on various goods purchased in the colonies.
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