1. Thomas Jefferson was not only a president of the United States but also an inventor and amateur scientist. This is also true of another of Jefferson's contemporaries, the statesman Benjamin Franklin, an inventor, printer, writer and scientist. Such a wide range of talents and interests is rarely found in today's prominent people; they are much more likely to be specialists in one field. Why do you think this is the case? Does it have anything to do with the character and status of modern science?

2. Jefferson's slaves were well treated, but this was not the case on other plantations. Write a paper about the life of a plantation slave in the early nineteenth century.

3. Modern journalism and literature often try to show the weaknesses of famous people, rather than treating them as heroes. What do you think underlies this trend...