Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending British raid.

John Jouett Jr. was an American farmer and politician in Virginia and Kentucky best known for his 40-mile (60 km) ride during the American Revolution in 1781. Sometimes called the "Paul Revere of the South", Jouett rode to warn Thomas Jefferson, then the outgoing governor of Virginia that British cavalry had been sent to capture them.

Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was the nation's first U.S. secretary of state under George Washington and then the nation's second vice president under John Adams. Jefferson was a leading proponent of democracy, republicanism, and natural rights, and he produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels.