Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello

Guests: Susan Stein, Steve Hahn

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”  Although we associate Thomas Jefferson with the ideals of equality and freedom, over 600 enslaved men and women worked on his Virginia plantation, Monticello, during his lifetime. A new exhibit at the National Constitution Center, “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello” examines the life of these enslaved families and the paradox between Jefferson’s public ideals and his private life.  Today we’ll talk about slavery in early U.S. history and on Jefferson’s plantation with SUSAN STEIN, Senior Curator at Monticello and Vice President of Museum Programs and STEVE HAHN, a Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of The Political Worlds of Slavery and Freedom.