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In some ways, it was an accident of politics that the young Jefferson came to write the Declaration. According to one story, Jefferson urged the task on John Adams, the brilliant, truculent Boston lawyer who had proved himself the ablest debater of the revolutionary cause. By this account, Adams demurred on grounds that he was personally "obnoxious" to many members of Congress, that a Virginian should write the document since Virginia had first moved for independence, and that, in any case, Jefferson was the superior writer.
The story is plausible. Although no one in Congress argued the case for separation better than Adams, his very zeal and bull-necked honesty did indeed make him obnoxious to many. Besides, the men from Massachusetts, being so far advanced in their enthusiasm, have been wise enough to adopt the habit of deferring to Virginia. As one of the more acute delegates explained it to Adams two years ago: "You must be very cautious ... You must not pretend to take the lead. You know Virginia is the most populous state in the Union. They are very proud. They think they have a right to take the lead."
As for Jefferson's writing talents, he proved them two years ago in A Summary View of the Rights of British America—a trenchant and almost bellicose pamphlet reviewing the history of America in the British Empire. Some say, however, that Jefferson was only named to the committee as part of a compromise, after John Adams had nearly choked on the idea of working with Virginia's Benjamin Harrison, who was comparatively lukewarm to independence.
Jefferson is a formidably learned man with a meticulous and graceful mind. The tall, red-haired Virginian was elected a delegate to Congress last year—when just 32 and only recently a father—and he first appeared in Philadelphia riding in a phaeton and accompanied by two black servants. John Adams may have regretted Jefferson's silence during debate, but he found him so quick in smaller councils that he was charmed. The two have formed an extraordinary partnership: Adams arguing the case for independence in the day-to-day clutches of debate, and Jefferson formulating the argument in private and on paper.
When Jefferson returned to crowded Philadelphia last month, he was impressed anew with the bustle of the Colonies' largest city (population about 40,000). To get some quiet, he took lodgings in the new three-story house of a bricklayer named Jacob Graff, at the corner of Market and Seventh streets. Jefferson has the second floor—a bedroom and parlor with stairs and a passageway between them. Rent: 35 shillings a week. He dines out.