Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of Imagination
Listen 00:48:45Guests: Annette Gordon-Reed, Peter Onuf
Thomas Jefferson stature as one of America’s most beloved founding fathers has taken some hits recently. Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence, espoused ideals of equality, and called slavery “an abominable crime,” yet he was also a slaveholder his entire life and fathered children with the enslaved woman Sally Hemings who he never freed. Renowned Jefferson scholars ANNETTE GORDON-REED and PETER ONUF have written a new biography of Jefferson that comes to terms with this flawed but brilliant man called “Most Blessed of Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of Imagination. Guest host Marty Cummings-Jordan speaks with Gordon-Reed and Onuf about their book and how they understand this paradoxical figure in our history.
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