Godfather of the Declaration of Independence. He was born in Poggio a Caiano, Tuscany, Italy near Florence. He was a surgeon, a merchant, a language teacher, an agriculturist, a writer, and a diplomat. He was the forerunner of Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson and one of the main contributers to social reforms in Virgina. He became a Virgina agent in Europe and is credited with securing France's assistance during the American Revolution and his plan for capturing the British in New York that was executed at Yorktown. His words which are found in the Declaration of Independence reads as: "All men are by nature created free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government. It is necessary that all men be equal to each other in natural law. Class distinction has always been and will always be an effective obstacle and the reason for it is very clear. When in a nation you have several classes of men all must have their share in the government of the country; otherwise one class would dominate the other. But each share cannot be made perfectly equal; and even if it were possible they could not be maintained in perfect balance; and as soon as one exceeds the others the whole must crumble. That is why ancient republics did not last long....I repeat it, a true Republican government cannot exist unless all men from the richest to the poorest are perfectly equal in their natural rights....The Government of England, from its earliest times, until the death of Queen Elizabeth was either a despotic monarchy or an intolerable aristocracy or mixture of both." When he died in Pisa, Jefferson, in a letter to Giovanni Carmignani, an Italian professor at the University of Pisa, wrote on July 18, 1816: "An intimacy of 40 years had proved to me his great worth, and friendship which begun in personal acquaintance, which was maintained after separation, without abatement by a constant interchange of letters. His esteem too in this country was very general; his early and zealous cooperation in the establishment of our independence having acquired for him here a great degree of favor."
Godfather of the Declaration of Independence. He was born in Poggio a Caiano, Tuscany, Italy near Florence. He was a surgeon, a merchant, a language teacher, an agriculturist, a writer, and a diplomat. He was the forerunner of Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson and one of the main contributers to social reforms in Virgina. He became a Virgina agent in Europe and is credited with securing France's assistance during the American Revolution and his plan for capturing the British in New York that was executed at Yorktown. His words which are found in the Declaration of Independence reads as: "All men are by nature created free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government. It is necessary that all men be equal to each other in natural law. Class distinction has always been and will always be an effective obstacle and the reason for it is very clear. When in a nation you have several classes of men all must have their share in the government of the country; otherwise one class would dominate the other. But each share cannot be made perfectly equal; and even if it were possible they could not be maintained in perfect balance; and as soon as one exceeds the others the whole must crumble. That is why ancient republics did not last long....I repeat it, a true Republican government cannot exist unless all men from the richest to the poorest are perfectly equal in their natural rights....The Government of England, from its earliest times, until the death of Queen Elizabeth was either a despotic monarchy or an intolerable aristocracy or mixture of both." When he died in Pisa, Jefferson, in a letter to Giovanni Carmignani, an Italian professor at the University of Pisa, wrote on July 18, 1816: "An intimacy of 40 years had proved to me his great worth, and friendship which begun in personal acquaintance, which was maintained after separation, without abatement by a constant interchange of letters. His esteem too in this country was very general; his early and zealous cooperation in the establishment of our independence having acquired for him here a great degree of favor."
