Perhaps he was known as a contradictory man because he was in fact a contradictory man. Take, for instance, his positions on slavery. read more
Jefferson's views on slavery and race are the thread woven throughout the three-hour plus portrait. Paradoxically, his words were used to both condemn and support slavery. The four years Burns spent producing Thomas Jefferson was time well spent from historical and storytelling perspectives. read more
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia. He was a draftsman of the U.S. Declaration of Independence; the nation's first secretary of state (1789-94); second vice president (1797-1801); and, as the third president (1801-09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase. read more