摘要：The contemporary controvery about the theoretical and literary sources of Thomas Jefferson's political thinking and the influences on the content and the style of the Declaration of Independence dates back to the 18th century since even in Jefferson's lifetime the nature of his autorship came under serious scrutiny. Accusations levelled against him for pilfering and swiping from political documents of his contemporaries and thinkers of the Antiquity were due both to the political intolerance and personal envy as well as to the newly evolved concept of authorship and authenticity. Jefferson's aim was to express the American mind and make it into a solid foundation of the legitimacy of the demand for independence. The new romantic concept of authorship, however, views it a a new, separate and original work. Jefferson's originality is indisputable, and rooted in the classical sources, and the feelings of judgements of his contemporaries.
