A film by Martin Doblmeier

A story that tears at the heart of America, this critically acclaimed film explores Thomas Jefferson and his personal and public dilemma about race and slavery.

For centuries people have asked how it was possible that the man who wrote the creed for America, declaring that "all men are created equal and entitled to the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," could also live his life as a slaveholder. Saying that Jefferson was simply a man of his day is too simple for the man whose words both shaped and divided a new nation. The film explores Jefferson's paradoxical relationship with slavery - he owned many slaves and wrote that he considered most blacks to be "dull and anomalous," yet he believed blacks deserved a position of equality in society, and recent DNA tests indicate he had an affair and offspring with a house slave, Sally Hemmings.

The documentary brings Jefferson's words and ideas to life through dozens of Jefferson's original handwritten letters, excerpts from his original manuscripts, deeds of slave manumission, period newspapers, his will, political cartoons, and every known image of Jefferson painted during his lifetime.

A host of acclaimed performers lend their voices to the program including Edward Herrmann, Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, and Robert Prosky. The readings compliment interviews with noted historians including Pulitzer Prize winner Gordon Wood, civil rights leader Julian Bond, former congresswoman Barbara Jordan, U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Mary Francis Berry and many others.

"Elegant and well-told." - USA Today

"Brings Jefferson somehow closer to us." - Los Angeles Times

"Impressive, deftly handled." - Washington Post