elieved that all Americans should have the “freedom of language and sentiment…as derived from the laws of nature” . In his most famous document, the Declaration of Independence, he stated “that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain [inherent and] inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” . Jefferson was a strong advocate of a bill of rights within the Constitution. In a letter to James Madison, he says that he “did not like…the omission of a bill of rights providing…for freedom of religion [and for] freedom of the press” . Jefferson was in favor of religious freedom because it did him “no injury for [his] neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god” . Jefferson wrote the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom which essentially stated “that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion” . He summarizes his feelings in letters to both Elbridge Gerry and Edward Carrington, where he writes that he is “against all violations of the constitution” because “the basis of our governments should be the opinion of the people, [and] the very first object should be to keep that right” .Jefferson wanted a separation of powers within the government in order to prevent one person or group having a tyrannical hold over the nation. He believed that “concentrating these [powers] in the same hands [was] precisely the definition of a despotic government” . He knew that a singular governing force had the potential of becoming oppressive over the people because he had witnessed it when every basic colonial right “was…violated by subsequent [British] kings and parliaments” . Against the dogma of a “guided republic”, Jefferson thought “that each branch should be indep...
