Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia

Not much on Thomas in Philadelphia, which seems kind of strange because of his key role in accomplishing the task at hand.

 
Someone thoughtlessly tore down his quarters there, but a re-creation has been attempted and is known as the Declaration House because that is where Jefferson sequestered himself and penned the original document.  The National Park Service has brought in period pieces of furniture and set things up how Jefferson most likely had things arranged.

Notice the violin on the table along with his quill pens and ink.  (No, that's not a double exposure.  The viewing wall is glass and you get a ghostly reflection of me.  Sorry.)

It causes one to look pensively out the window of the second floor, in the direction of what is now Independence Hall, easily imagining how Jefferson himself would have blindly stared, mulling, musing, contemplating the very precise wording necessary for this most historic document.

These two rooms pretty much made up his home in Philadelphia during this period.  In the next photo, notice the broken pieces of coin on the nightstand.

They would break the one-dollar coin into eight pieces (hence the term, "pieces of eight" that you might connect with pirates.)  Ever heard the football cheer, "Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar..." again, a reference to the eight bits or pieces that make up a dollar.  Also, "not worth two bits."  On and on.  Now you know where the "bits" came from.

Notice the paper money.  After declaring independence and putting together the Articles of Confederation that governed the united states, the American government began to issue "Continental dollars."  Unfortunately, the Articles provided no way for the central government to raise money and so there was nothing behind the dollars.  Eventually the paper was all but worthless and people coined the phrase, "Not worth a Continental."  Originally worth $8 apiece, the government agreed to redeem them at 1/100th of that value. This lack of providing a revenue stream to fund the defense of the united states (among other things) led to the desperate need for another document now known as our Constitution.

The two hooks with wooden handles were use to pull his boots on.  There are several snuff boxes, and look at that key!  Man, if that wouldn't weight your britches down ...

On a side note, when the seat of American government relocated to Washington, D.C. the Adamses moved into only a partially completed White House.  Thomas Jefferson, our third president, was really the first to live in the finished residence.