Thomas Jefferson, a man of nearly unparalleled influence and excellence in the history of the United States, was a man of letters, but not of books. This autobiography, covering the years 1743-1790, gifts the reader with the rare insight and perspective of a man present for the great deliberations of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention, and the French Revolution. Explore the deliberations surrounding the Declaration, its omitted portion that derided the British King for imposing slavery onto the Colonies, and the near-abolition of slavery in 1775 if not for the protests of a few Southern Colonies. This edition, carefully edited to maintain its meaning, is modernized in language, abbreviation, and spelling to cater to the modern reader and make it far more accessible to a broader number of we the people. Footnotes define archaic and difficult terms, and also provide translation for Latin and French words and phrases. Edited and Introduced by Shane Caraway, author of The 1787 Project.