Liberty & Slavery (2016)

Revolutionary America was a place of extraordinary paradox. America's Founding Fathers were men yearning for a nation of individual liberty and unprecedented independence. Thomas Jefferson expressed this desire for freedom from England in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 by writing: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." But, the origins of America were already overflowing with a deep-seated and cruel paradox. On one hand our Founding Fathers were rallying the colonists to liberty, while on the other hand they were active participants in the barbaric institution of chattel slavery. Indeed, our Founding Fathers were simultaneously promoting both liberty....and slavery. This paradox of American history leaves us many important questions to consider. The biggest of these questions is: what exactly did the Founders mean when they wrote "All Men are Created Equal"? Did the Founders really believe that "ALL Men are Created Equal", or did they only mean white males? Or, was this famous phrase really meant by the Founders to include blacks, women and Native Americans as well? If so, is it possible that the Founders were brilliant visionaries that set up a mechanism by which American slavery could -once and for all- be abolished by future generations? After all, Thomas Jefferson had claimed in his original draft of the Declaration of Independence that the American colonists were unfairly dragged into institutionalized slavery as handed down from King George III? Many of our Founders reportedly would not free their slaves for fear of the ensuing race riots. Or, is it that America's Founders were racist plantation owners, blinded by greed, that were addicted to chattel slavery in order to grow their plantations? Were they simply men of contradiction that willing chose to be on the wrong side of history in pursuit of money? It is also worth considering that if our Founding Fathers had pushed for the abolition of slavery in the 1780's, almost assuredly the U.S. Constitution would never have been ratified. Of course, this would have resulted in the 13 original colonies never becoming the United States of America. "Liberty and Slavery" explores these difficult questions, all while examining the unlikely paradox of America's liberty loving, slave-owning Founding Fathers. Watch as our documentary investigates the complex characters of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Samuel Adams, among others. Discover the plantation slaves' world of Jefferson's Monticello and Washington's Mount Vernon. Listen and learn as "Liberty and Slavery" sits down for in-depth conversations with historians, theologians, and award-winning professors, all to explore Revolutionary America's most glorious victories, and indeed our most heinous sins.