Thomas Jefferson
《独立宣言》起草人——托马斯·杰斐逊

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and the third President of the United States(1801-1809). At the beginning of the American Revolution, he served in the Continental Congress, representing Virginia, and then served as wartime Governor of Virginia (1779-1781). In 1785, he became the United States Minister to France and later the first United States Secretary of State (1790-1793) serving under President George Washington. Elected Vice President in 1796, Jefferson opposed John Adams, and with Madison secretly wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions , which attempted to nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts.
托马斯·杰斐逊(1743—1826)，美国开国元勋之一，《独立宣言》的主要起草人，美国第三任总统(1801—1809)。美国独立战争伊始，他代表弗吉尼亚州参加大陆会议并担任战时弗吉尼亚州州长(1779—1781)。1785年，他成为美国驻法公使，后担任乔治·华盛顿总统领导下的第一届美国国务卿(1790—1793)。1796年，杰斐逊击败约翰·亚当斯成功当选美国副总统，并与麦迪逊一起秘密写就了意在废除“敌视和煽动叛乱法”的《肯塔基和弗吉尼亚决议》。

A leader in the Enlightenment, Jefferson was a polymath in the arts, sciences, and politics. Considered an important architect in the classical tradition, he designed his home Monticello and other notable buildings.
作为启蒙运动的代表人物之一，杰斐逊也在艺术、科学和政治领域博采众长。作为人们公认的一位古典传统风格建筑师，他设计了他自己的家园蒙蒂塞洛和其他著名建筑。

As long as he lived, Jefferson expressed opposition to slavery, yet he owned hundreds of slaves and freed only a few of them. Although criticized by many present-day scholars over the issues of racism and slavery, Jefferson is consistently rated as one of the greatest U.S. presidents.
杰斐逊毕生一直表示反对奴隶制度，但他却拥有数百个奴隶且只释放了其中很少一部分。虽然在种族歧视和奴隶制问题上，杰斐逊受到当今很多学者的批评，但他仍然一直被评为美国最伟大的总统之一。