For all his accomplishments and advanced thinking, Thomas Jefferson could not get beyond his own limited perspective in matters of race. Drawing from new archaeological work and previously overlooked evidence, historian Henry Wiencek examines the factors that led Jefferson, once an emancipationist, to keep some of his own children as slaves.

Wiencek’s talk is based on his newly-published book Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves. He is a past winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award.

Co-presented with the Truman Library Institute; co-sponsored by KCUR’s Up To Date.

Watch at c-span.org