A Summary View of the Rights of British AmericaDeclaration of IndependenceNotes on the State of VirginiaAn Appendix to the Notes on Virginia Relative to the Murder of Logan’s FamilyMessage to Congress on the Lewis and Clark Expedition Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States (1801-1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States. He envisioned America as the force behind a great "Empire of Liberty" that would promote republicanism and counter the imperialism of the British Empire. Wayne Franklin (Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh) is Professor and Head of English, University of Connecticut. He is the author of James Fenimore Cooper: The Early Years (the first volume of his definitive biography, from Yale University Press), The New World of James Fenimore Cooper , and Discoverers, Explorers, Settlers: The Diligent Writers of Early America . He is the editor of American Voices, American Lives: A Documentary Reader and The Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson , A Norton Critical Edition, and co-editor, with Michael Steiner, of Mapping American Culture .