another passion of jefferson's. everywhere he traveled while he was on the road, he would take notes about technology, about the canal gates he saw. he actually invented a new kind of plow when he looked out for his carriage window and saw a farmer laboring with what he thought was very inefficient plow. so he just sketched out a better design right there on the spot. and he wrote that science never peers so beautiful as one applied to the uses of human life. he was always trying to find these practical obligations for science. and one of the main areas where he did that was to promoting fishing in whaling. so as ambassador in paris, which he was, he had to promote american business interests of which these are big industries for the u.s. and new england at the time. so he studied the shooting, he studied whaling, to try to find out the different migratory patterns of animals in the sea and better ways of fishing. so here i am with a finish in the market in britain at official auction. and then he came to what we ta

but jefferson died in 1826. peter was only 11 and all of a sudden his life completely changed families were broken up 130 people were auctioned after jefferson's death. joseph was actually one of the people that were that were freed, but but peter was not he was sold to a master a very cruel master who forbade him to read who whipped him, you know, it was a very is a time of suffering for that for this young man who left monticello. he tried to escape and was caught and brought back. eventually joseph foster joseph fawcett rather with the help of some friends was able to buy his son's freedom and they all the whole family moved to ohio peter fawcett became a reverend. he became a caterer had a successful business. he worked with the underground railroad. and years later it was in 1900. he was 85 at this time. he was invited back to monticello. so by this time, you know, the jeffersons had long since lost the house the levy family a jewish family. that was very inspired by jefferson's commitment to religious free

jefferson, washington. both of these men depended for all of their building and all of their intellectual activity upon this trade, with which you are familiar. it saw manufactured good to africa, slaves were brought to the caribbean and ultimately to north america, from where other grids were exported in this very famous triangle trade. which the plantations of jefferson, washington, and others cannot be disassociated, despite the fact that architecturally, the references that they make are to this classical tradition, as filtered through palladio in the 16th century. jefferson also referred to the classical tradition in his own design for his tomb monument, which you see here. it is an obelisk form that was devised first by the ancient egyptians, and then used again throughout antiquity, where he wanted to be known for his authoring of the declaration of american independence, of the statute of religious freedom, and as father of the university of virginia. those he saw as his major accomplishments to be

now those of you who are jefferson scholars know that jefferson had a slope in his nose. i learned years later. that's the jeffersonian knows so i thought that might be something to destroy me. look at my dad. eventually i learned from my dad that his mother was from charlottesville, virginia. and when i my dad didn't like to talk about this stuff. so when i asked my dad about these stories the first thing he said to me was that's what they say. he wouldn't talk about it. it was months and months and months before daddy finally said to me. well, you know, my mother was from charlotte spell. jefferson was in charlottesville. and he says yes, i know. so he was kind of toying with me just a little bit. i'm going to go back. let me go back to my grandmother. there we are. what i learned from my dad about my grandmother, is that her name? was eva robinson taylor? it could have been robinson. he said it could have been tailored. he wasn't sure. which name was hers her maiden name and it's because his mother died when he was five years old. so we didn't know much about her. he d

my students of jefferson parliamentary vision. you are quite right, cavalier tradition continued, ironically elite virginia's like to think of themselves as of the descendants of cavaliers. the descendants of english aristocrats. as opposed to the puritan round heads in the north. many of those who went to massachusetts in the great migration in the 1620s went to escape charles the first, what's known as the period of personal rule by the monarchy. the virginian elite love to think of themselves as -- it is a small grain of truth. a lot of them in fact were descendants of indentured servants. and even convicts. the only british lord in the americas was lord fairfax. used to own one of the most splendid castles, a castle in england, it is not in the city of leeds, it is much further south. it has a moat. it is often used by authority. they were the people who were the patrons of george washington. there were enough real cavaliers. to some extent, the anti intellectual tradition, anti-education remains. this was another reason why j

for those of you who are jefferson scholars, know that jefferson had a slope on his nose. i learned years later that is the jeffersonian nose. i said, there might be something to the story, i mean, look at my dad? eventually, i learned from my dad that his mother was from charlottesville, virginia. my dad didn't like to talk about this stuff. so when i asked my dad about the stories, the first thing he said to me was, that's what they say. we wouldn't talk about it. it was months before he said his mother was from charlottesville. and i said dad, jefferson was from charlottesville. and he said yes, i know. so he was kind of toying with me just a little bit. let me go back to my grandmother. there we are. but i learned from my dad about my grandmother is that her name was eva robinson taylor. it could have been robinson, it could have been taylor. he wasn't sure. he wasn't sure which name was hers, her maiden name. it is because his mother died when he was five years old. he didn't know much about her. he didn't know what her name was. to me, that was remarkable. as a 13 ye

osha honesty about jefferson's aspirations for his university. his book is a twin biography of jefferson retirement and of the university of virginia's first years. in seeking to understand figures from the past, the ability to read their own recorded thoughts is immensely valuable. today's author, andrew j. o'shaughnessy used founders online in researching this book. founders online, a website hosted by the national archives, through the national historical publication records commission has transcriptions of thousands of documents written by and to the nation's founders. jefferson's letter to peel is easily accessible on founders online and that portal also gives us the context for the title of today's book. in an 1820 letter at the end of a proud description of the new university, jefferson told his correspondent this institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. for here, we're not afraid to fall of truth wherever it may lead. nor to tolerate any air or so long as reason is left free to combat it. of the robert h smi

jefferson's most was the attack upon him? and the accusations of being a radical of being an atheist claims that he would make everyone sing the car came president the entrancement french revolution. um, he bitterly resented these attacks and some of the worst attacks actually came from presidents of northern universities who were all so at the same time clerics absolutely still spoken was timothy the president of yale. and he went far in 1802 as telling his students that they should take it over never vote for jefferson. ah he thought it was a real problem for the republic to be dominated by physical opponents because he believed only his party was gonna save america and save the true tradition of 1776. he thought that the federalists were gonna turn the place into a monarchy that they reintroduced real aristocracy. they make britain. they make america just satellite of britain. so we're all hereditary aristocracy. yes or whatever. and so the house of words, of course at that time and in fact until 1999 astonishingly was a h

to jefferson's wife, martha ah, jefferson gave the having special positions and the oldest slave jefferson jefferson freed and his lifetime and it is well, we're all hemmings. giving credence to the oral history that they were related to him years after his wife debt wife's death jefferson father at least six of sally having his children four of whom survived to adopt and are mentioned. in jefferson's plantation records their daughter harriet and elder son. beverly were allowed to leave botticello during his lifetime in the youngest. two younger sons madison and esther were freed in his will others of the sons actually worked on poplar forests, which was built as a kind of retreat for jefferson and he would go down there while it was under construction and so he would have been there at the same time that these children of his were also there so while jefferson is building. this plantation operation he is also elaborated this neoclassical monument at its center his main house which is an essay in architecture and particularly in the classical tradition. as his understanding of a change ove

i had no idea jefferson owned slaves. these are folks who bought plane tickets, got hotel rooms and came to the site is a pilgrimage to see the home of one of the founding fathers, and get had no idea he was an enslaver. it made it clear to me there are millions of people who do not understand the history of slavery. i think part of what monticello and part of what is out of these places and plantations, madison's plantation, washington's plantation, they are, in different ways, grappling with how to talk about the things these men contributed to the american project. while also not shirking away from the moral responsibility to also talk about the ways these men were inconsistent with the very principles they were espousing. >> let's hear from our viewers. clint smith is our guest, "how the word is passed" is the name of the book. go ahead and make your comment or question. >> i would like to know if you are familiar with the well-established black doctor at tulane university, james puckett carter. he wrote "racketeering

malone has spent 50 years writing about jefferson and said jefferson the 17 '90s i don't really understand what he is doing. it's been 50 years we don't understand what is doing. what he's doing is lying it is a treasonable. he is stabbing washington in the back. i might be wrong, kevin tell me, i have often said to students and i hope i was right, jefferson wrote to martha when he became president he was close to mount vernon, can i come see you? she never answered i don't think. she said that washington said i never want that man on my property. >> is right after washington's death in particular martha has a very powerful statement for jefferson. let me bring up a little more at language here were going to talk about union quite a bit. it is all through this address the word union appears so much he will think you are reading for abraham lincoln. it's all through this address unity and union which constitutes is also known due to the word now jumps out at me. it's the edifice for the real independence for your tranquility at home of peace abroad of safety, of prosperity and the very libe

i think jefferson repeats it. i'm familiar with it through jefferson. he sends his kids, not his kids but to columbia rather than to william & mary. he becomes a trojan horse in the middle of virginia in some sense. that is that. the other thing is the west. you know, i think john was mentioning that first farewell address the circular letter of 1783, that is his most lyrical statement of all-time in terms of his vision for the republic. you can see it implied in the farewell address but you would have to know about it beforehand. that is, america's future is not with europe but to the west. lafayette says, come with me and we will do a grand tour. we will do paris, rome, we will do berlin. i don't think we'll do london. [laughs] he says, now, you come with me we will do detroit, we will do new orleans, we will do savannah. that is the future. that is the future out there. as a young man in the seven years war, he knows about what that is out there more than most other political leaders at the time. when you get to the louisiana purchase, it is funny be

i think, to jefferson. and that's something that the nick gordon-reed describes that that this multiracial united states truly was beyond his comprehension and believe when rose as well. now on the flip side of that, i mean, i don't think that he would have truly appreciated there are a few descendants of people enslaved at monticello who work at monticello today. jefferson the history you know that's that idea of madison taking care of him. when did madison didn't do too good of a job of that but but speaking seriously i think that with jefferson in particular there's there is always the hope for future even beyond i think i would venture this even beyond his enormous limitations. i think the is what i've described. i think there's the possibility there certainly for his vision of the united states for it to turn out a little bit differently than his precise idea for how it should look. yeah, that was beautifully said. i think that hope for the future expresses a lot and i think certainly the the founding

placed, very near, jefferson's rotunda. you can see here, an aerial shot, where you can see the lit up memorial at the bottom, in jefferson's rotunda above it. and this, major walkway, for anybody visiting the university. so, in close proximity to jefferson's academical village, here, in this moment, in our presence -- in our president, the scholarship of a large team of students, working, for years, has been able to make visible what was, deliberately, suppressed for more than a century. it it has helped the university's president acknowledge, and memorialize, it's passed, as an important step in that university, being able to have conversations about its more inclusive future. so, thank you, and i am looking forward to your questions, and our conversation. [applause] >> who will be brave, and be the first to go? yes? >> [inaudible] >> we have a mic for you. >> do you mind coming up here, to this? come on up. yes, standard there, and it will pick you up. >> firstly, thank you for being here. i know, in the presentation, an

many volumes have been written about jefferson and slavery. but in short it is worth keeping in mind the following that jefferson himself wrote in notes on the state of virginia. in which he spoke about the corrupting influence of slavery. there must doubtless be an unhappy influence on the manners of our people produced by the existence of slavery among us. the whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions? the most unrelenting despotism on the one part and degrading submissions on the other. the man must be a prodigy who can retain his manners and morals underpraved by such circumstances. jefferson had written that in 1785. he knew well the cost of slavery. he knew well the corrupting influence of slavery yet. he never worked to end it. and here at the end of his life in the 1820s. he knew. that it was absolutely central to the success of his institution. in fact, it was part of his reason for founding the university of virginia. he wrote that in its founding the university. he was hoping to

washington overheard, this was recorded in jefferson -- jefferson right to down saying at some point in his presidency if slavery should divide the country, i will go with the northern part. that is a statement from a virginian. there are 300 and enslaved people, half are owned by washington at half by the state of martha's did deceased husband and become the property of grandchildren. responsible for all this. washington decided he's going to free his slaves. their these accounts of washington at the fireside with his family at mount vernon, is not there looking back with a benign smile on his face. his lips, his wrestling with what do i do when it comes to slavery? didn't want create a situation for martha, it was so complicated. i think he recognized this would be the biggest challenge, his involvement with slavery. one of the things i did people to get from this book is a sense of how far washington travels not in terms of miles across the country but as a human being. he is almost born into the institution of slavery. he comes to doubt the assumptions of his childhood. but he's

and certainly among them anything that jefferson that jefferson spoke about democracy was one of them and with the explosion of the french revolution. and then with the presidential mansion so that moment was very real. and then came the presidential election of 1800. with the polarization came to a peak. then with a time of extreme polarization effort like a turning point. before and after the election of 1800 on the conviction that jefferson described by federalist as a french loving infidel radical way take the nation at this key moment of decision down a path of destruction. this was grounded on predictions and symbolism and ideology and campaign rhetoric rather than any actual actions he had a chance to take as president and you can see the free-floating us versus them hatred within the first year as president like the one informing jefferson of the assassination plot brewing in new york and as he often wrote shocking nothing seems to have come of it but jefferson sees that not long after becoming president but then a little bit after that that referred to among other things you

but he also brought in thomas jefferson. a fellow virginian who had been an absolute disaster as a wartime governor, basically saying, i cannot do this, and abandoned the state at the worst of times. but also a brilliant man. this is the guy who wrote the declaration of independence. he had spent the last five years as minister to france. so what he thought -- he had not participated in the constitutional convention, but his good friend james madison had, and he was a supporter of it. he actually worked in concert with hamilton in promoting the constitution. so, washington decides, you know, he brings in hamilton, but he also reaches out to thomas jefferson. whom he'd had a bit of a prickly relationship with during the revolution. but he recognizes his gifts. in typical fashion, jefferson takes a while to respond, he's responding from france. it wasn't until march, almost a year after washington's inauguration, that he becomes a part of washington's cabinet. and from the start, he is very skeptical about what is going on. he

him and he just kind of ignores them in jefferson's. so madison is important in the bill of rights and he shapes it and he's looking at are the best provisions in various states and and all the rest of it. so he is and he's coping out of it. but washington plays a much bigger role than is conventionally understood in the bill of rights and does so for geostrategic reasons, in part to bring north carolina and rhode island back on board. first of all, i want to thank you for being and for speaking so eloquently to us today. thank you. you talked a lot about the washingtonian element, especially of the design of the executive branch. and what i'm kind of curious about is looking at the you know, the the last several decades, especially perhaps the. four years, the hearings and january six. do you that do you think that perhaps the office itself, given its its washingtonian nature at the now appears flawed that perhaps the office itself is in need of serious reform? i wonder if you would comment on that. it's a year we're now we're talking,

we reached out to the great, great grandson of jefferson davis.s legacy for those to see davis as a hero of white supremacy. the night before meeting, we slept in the home of joseph basis, jefferson's brother and mentor. >> you said your davis divorce and then the mississippi. you better be ready. it brings responsibility. people are assuming that you are going to be a davis. somebody asked me, why don't just supply kim. >> hayes davis still holds on to artifacts from is great, great grandfather. a bookie signed, a letter he said, a chair he said. and >> is there more residents with something that you own than something in a public square? >> to me, yes, absolutely. because everything that's handed down this chair has remembrance to me. a confederate statue, when those first put it up, it had reference to them. >> how do you balance or reconcile or wrestle with the dual americans around jefferson davis? one, that we've all heard is the first and only president of the confederacy. on the other hand, there's 52 years of his life before the civil war

jefferson: i think every generation looks for a new way to express themselves.the civil rights movement takes hold in the sixts and seventies and the black power movement, when we start to refer to ourselves as black, you can ke pushing the envelope, and you can keep talking about that march to emancipation and et cetera. so it's an evolution as to how far you can go and what it is that you have to say. sanders: the art in that particular era grew out of that. if you can imagine that we were hungry for expressions of those long-held, deep-seated feelings of, on the one hand, frustration, on the other hand, hope, and the art reflects that, a kind of empowerment. the art became confrontational. it was accusaty. it was saying, "here i . i'm blk, and if you don't like it, too bad, but this is the way i feel." davis: the period really represents kind of renaissance. might not even be a renaissance, you know. a renaissance is a rebirth. this could have been like a first birth, you know, a real first opportunity for minority artists to showcase their work. loyer: there

thomas jefferson. and for the purposes of our story today, what we also know is that when madison realizes that we do need this thing called the bill of rights, amended to our constitution, one of the first things he does is travel to gunston hall and consult with mason about how best to accomplish that. mason lives long enough to see the bill of rights amended to the constitution and ultimately dies at gunston hall after a very brief illness in 1792. thomas jefferson was the last person to see last visitor to see him before he passed. and unfortunately, monroe was trying diligently to get there, but could not get there in time. so as we think about what all this means in its global context, there are a couple of key things that i'll just share by way of how i would define the global impact. most particularly of the virginia declaration of rights, and i've kind of got this divided down into a couple of different categories. one, it motivated other declarations. you know what? mason was able to do was c

jefferson introduced spaghetti to the american diet.s well as such foods as french fries, asparagus, ice cream, and vanilla. some of the finest meals ever prepared in america were made in his kitchen and though his political ideas were a tremendous advance over the ancient romans, his preparation at this were virtually the same, involving the huge applications of labor, heat, and time with the same inevitable shrinkage and drying out of. even the arrival of the iron horse and industrial revolution did not substantially change methods approved preparation, as can be seen in this virginia city nevada home built a century ago and reserved in its original functional state, including kitchen. the 19th century age of iron and steel made cooking by the hearth obsolete. relatively cheap and efficient iron ranges could be readily installed in the most modest pioneer cabin or city dweller apartment. yet without convenience foods it still involved as much time, heat, and effort as in the stone age. even the modern oven using gas or electricity wit