Thomas Jefferson Uncovered

American mythology treats the Founding Fathers like secular saints. The reality is messier. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence while owning over 600 enslaved people during his lifetime. He knew slavery was wrong — he wrote against it — and did it anyway.

George Washington owned over 300 enslaved people at Mount Vernon. Jefferson fathered at least six children with Sally Hemings, a woman he enslaved. The document these men produced promised liberty while they personally denied it.