AllMovie

Thomas Jefferson's eloquence and understanding of the importance of human dignity is forever captured in America's Declaration of Independence. Yet like so many others of his day, Jefferson felt owning slaves was an acceptable practice. This program includes a look at the widely known allegation that Jefferson even had an intimate relationship with one slave named Sally Hemmings. Former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1970s and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, Pulitzer prize-winning historian Gordon Wood, biographer Merrill Peterson, and others comment on this brilliant yet conflicted man's contributions to this country. Actors Edward Herrmann, Sissy Spacek, and Danny Glover are among those who read some of the featured historical passages.