The Founding Contradiction

Hidden Brain

• Episode: The Founding Contradiction
• Website: Hidden Brain
• Feed URL: http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510308
• Duration: 00:45:33
• Published: 2020-06-29 22:25

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." These words, penned by Thomas Jefferson more than 240 years ago, continue to inspire many Americans. And yet they were written by a man who owned hundreds of slaves, and fathered six children by an enslaved woman. As we mark Independence Day this week, we return to a 2018 episode with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed. We explore the contradictions in Jefferson's life — and how those contradictions might resonate in our own lives.