Thomas Jefferson: On food and freedom

Presidential

The Washington Post

History, Government, Education

4.5 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2016

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jon Meacham and Annette Gordon-Reed are among the experts who take us through the best and worst of our third president's complex and controversial legacy.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
0:11.8	endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and
0:21.3	the pursuit of happiness.
0:25.5	These are our words from the Declaration of Independence, put forward by the 13 states
0:30.1	of America on July 4th, 1776, and these are words written by Thomas Jefferson.
0:40.9	This is the third episode of Presidential.
0:55.5	The eight which will live in the 10th coming.
1:07.3	As you'll hear from the historians in this episode who have spent their careers studying
1:11.3	Thomas Jefferson, the topics we could explore today are just about endless.
1:16.9	He played a pivotal role in shaping America's approach to religious freedom, personal liberty,
1:22.1	art, food, science, race relations.
1:27.0	I asked a number of experts this question.
1:30.3	What are three things that we absolutely should know about Thomas Jefferson?
1:35.7	Just about all of them gave the same answer, number one, that the Louisiana purchase happened
1:40.8	during his presidency.
1:43.6	Number two, that he was the main author of the Declaration of Independence, and number
1:48.8	three, that despite penning the words, all men are created equal.
1:54.5	He owned hundreds of slaves at his Virginia home, Monticello.
2:01.1	That contradiction between his words and his actions sits at the heart of his complex
2:05.2	legacy today.
2:07.5	And that's why many of the guests on this episode say they continue to study Jefferson,
2:12.3	because his big contradiction is America's big contradiction.
	...

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