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About the Video

Revolutionary America was a place of extraordinary paradox. America’s Founding Fathers were men yearning for a nation of individual liberty and unprecedented independence. Thomas Jefferson expressed this desire for freedom from England in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 by writing: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …." But, the origins of America were already overflowing with a deep-seated and cruel paradox. On one hand our Founding Fathers were rallying the colonists to liberty, while on the other hand they were active participants in the barbaric institution of chattel slavery. Indeed, our Founding Fathers were simultaneously promoting both liberty —and slavery. This paradox of American history leaves us many important questions to consider. What exactly did the Founders mean when they wrote "All Men are Created Equal"? Is it fair-minded to criticize the 18th century Founders for not abolishing slavery in their lifetimes when no one else in the world had done it either? Further, why did anti-slavery Founders compromise with slave-owning Founders in ratifying the U.S. Constitution? "Liberty & Slavery" takes you to historical locales like Mount Vernon, Montpelier, Independence Hall, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Ash-Lawn Highland and Drayton Hall Planation to untangle America’s original paradox. Watch as "Liberty & Slavery" sits down for in-depth conversations with historians, theologians, and award-winning professors, all to explore Revolutionary America’s most glorious victories, and indeed our most heinous sins.

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