☮ The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson ☮ Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, a plantation on a large tract of land near present-day Charlottesville, Virginia. His father, Peter Jefferson (1707/08-57), was a successful planter and surveyor and his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson (1720-76), came from a prominent Virginia family. Thomas was their third child and eldest son; he had six sisters and one surviving brother. In 1775, with the American Revolutionary War recently underway, Jefferson was selected as a delegate to the...