The Constitution of the United States (A True Book: American History)

Taylor-Butler, Christine

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0531147797 ISBN 13 : 9780531147795

Editeur : Children's Press, 2008

Biographie de l'auteur :

Thomas Jefferson (1743 1826) was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801 1809). He was an influential Founding Father, and an exponent of Jeffersonian democracy. Jefferson often referred to America as a great "Empire of Liberty" that would promote republicanism. At the beginning of the American Revolution, Jefferson served in the Continental Congress, representing Virginia. He then served as the wartime Governor of Virginia (1779 1781), barely escaping capture by the British in 1781. From mid-1784 Jefferson served as a diplomat, stationed in Paris, initially as a commissioner to help negotiate commercial treaties. In May 1785, he became the United States Minister to France. He was the first United States Secretary of State, (1789 1793). During the administration of President George Washington, Jefferson advised against a national bank and the Jay Treaty. He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for 25 years. Jefferson was born, and married into, prominent planter families; he was a loving husband to his wife Martha, who died in childbirth, and an affectionate father to their children. As a planter, Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves throughout his life; he held views on the racial inferiority of Africans common among Virginians for this period in time. After his wife died, Jefferson had an intimate relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, and had six children by her. A participant in The Enlightenment, Jefferson was a polymath who spoke five languages and was deeply interested in science and political philosophy. He wrote more than sixteen thousand letters and was acquainted with many influential people in America and Europe. Along with most southern planters, he disliked the international slave trade and presided over its abolition in 1807. Jefferson is typically rated by historical scholars as one of the greatest U.S. presidents.

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Learn how The Constitution came to be and how important it still is today.

A True Book: American History series allows readers to experience the earliest moments in American history and to discover how these moments helped shape the country that it is today. This series includes an age appropriate (grades 3-5) introduction to curriculum-relevant subjects and a robust resource section that encourages independent study.

This book discusses the meaning and purpose of a constitution; recounts reasons why the United States needed one in the 1780s and the events of the Constitutional Convention; and describes the Constitution's main points and how it has changed.