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== Revolution of 1800 ==

== Revolution of 1800 ==

Jefferson learned the art of politics by first serving in the House of Burgesses in Virginia (an early Virginia legislative system similar to what became Congress).  Jefferson was a brilliant writer, having authored perhaps the most influential sentence ever written in the English language (in the Declaration of Independence, 1776):

Jefferson initially learned the art of politics by serving in the House of Burgesses in Virginia, which was the lower house of the Virginia legislature and the first democratically elected legislature in the British colonies in the New World (it convened from 1619 until 1776).  Jefferson was a brilliant writer, having authored perhaps the most influential sentence ever written in the English language (in the Declaration of Independence, 1776):

{{cquote|We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.<ref>http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1776-1785/the-final-text-of-the-declaration-of-independence-july-4-1776.php</ref>}}

{{cquote|We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.<ref>http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1776-1785/the-final-text-of-the-declaration-of-independence-july-4-1776.php</ref>}}

But Jefferson was not a good public speaker.  He rarely spoke when he served in the Continental Congress, and in the rare moment that he did speak he offended John Adams, as Adams later explained:<ref name="Jefferson">http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Public_Speaking</ref>

But Jefferson was not a good public speaker.  He rarely spoke when he served in the Continental Congress, and in the rare moment that he did speak he offended John Adams, as Adams later explained:<ref name="Jefferson">http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Public_Speaking</ref>