Declaration of Independence
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and...
Jefferson’s confidential message to Congress
On January 18, 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent a secret message to Congress. In it, he asked Congress for $2500 to explore the West–all the way to the Pacific...
Jefferson’s Motion
Signed by the American peace commissioners on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris formally ended the Revolutionary War. Thomas Jefferson wrote this motion for...
Mount Rushmore from above
This aerial photograph, taken on October 16, 1954, shows Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The top of the colossal Mount Rushmore National...
Second Design for the Great Seal
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution directing that Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson form a committee to design a seal,...
Signatures and pictographs
Representatives of the Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, and Wyandot tribes signed this treaty with the United States on November 17, 1807, ceding millions of acres in...
Signed by Jefferson
The year was 1780. The British were launching an invasion of the South. And, like many states, Virginia was having problems raising troops. On January 24, Virginia...