Thomas Jefferson Exhibit Explores Contradictions
How could a person who declared that “all men are created equal” also own slaves all of his life? It’s a question people will always wonder about Thomas Jefferson, the nation’s third president. And it’s a question that will be considered in a new exhibit opening in the capital of the nation he helped establish with the Declaration of Independence. The exhibit looks at Jefferson’s Monticello plantation in Virginia as seen through the lives of six slave families and artifacts that were found where they lived. The display will be on view at the National Museum of American History through mid-October. The exhibit includes a look at the family of Sally Hemings, a slave who most historians believe had an intimate relationship with Jefferson – one that produced children.
How could a person who declared that “all men are created equal” also own slaves all of his life? It’s a question people will always wonder about Thomas Jefferson, the nation’s third president. And it’s a question that will be considered in a new exhibit opening in the capital of the nation he helped establish with the Declaration of Independence. The exhibit looks at Jefferson’s Monticello plantation in Virginia as seen through the lives of six slave families and artifacts that were found where they lived. The display will be on view at the National Museum of American History through mid-October. The exhibit includes a look at the family of Sally Hemings, a slave who most historians believe had an intimate relationship with Jefferson – one that produced children.
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