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Ken Burns: Thomas Jefferson

Series: Ken Burns
4.5
(323)
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Episodes
2
Rating
TVG
Year
1997
Language
English
Publisher
PBS

About

As one of America's founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson is considered by some to be the man of the millennium, analogous to the progress of the first 200 years of American history. He was a man of freedom and expansion, yet he had the restraint that is necessary to succeed with that freedom--the commitment to becoming learned and skilled. As the third president of the United States, Jefferson was responsible for doubling the size of the country with the Louisiana Purchase and for assigning Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to their historic expedition of the West--moves that were symbolic of Jefferson's yearning for personal growth. In this episode, Jefferson's battles with the Federalist movement are explored; as well as his controversial relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings; his retirement to Monticello; and the ensuing personal tragedies that surrounded him towards the end of his life.

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Episodes

1 to 2 of 2

1. 01-Life/Liberty: Our Sacred Honor

1h 30m

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As one of America's founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson is considered by some to be the man of the millennium, analogous to the progress of the first 200 years of American history. He was a man of freedom and expansion, yet he had the restraint that is necessary to succeed with that freedom--the commitment to becoming learned and skilled. As the third president of the United States, Jefferson was responsible for doubling the size of the country with the Louisiana Purchase and for assigning Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to their historic expedition of the West--moves that were symbolic of Jefferson's yearning for personal growth. In this episode, Jefferson's battles with the Federalist movement are explored; as well as his controversial relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings; his retirement to Monticello; and the ensuing personal tragedies that surrounded him towards the end of his life.

2. 02-Liberty: The Age of Experiments/ the Pursuit of Happiness

1h 30m

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Thomas Jefferson is by most accounts the most admired and greatest figure in American history. However, he was a man whose behavior in many ways contradicted his public declarations. He supported resistance and revolution in America and France, yet was not a charismatic politician or front-line soldier. His eloquence was immortalized in the Declaration of Independence, which declared that "All men are created equal." He disapproved of the slave trade, yet owned over 200 human beings and had no intention of granting them their freedom. A Renaissance man in his own right, Jefferson was an architect, writer, surveyor, statesman and scientist. In part 1 of Ken Burns' biographical portrait of Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson's beginnings in Virginia are detailed from his education at William & Mary, the building of Monticello, to his marriage and children. Jefferson is called to Philadelphia as a statesman, and to Paris after the American revolution as an official diplomat. While Jefferson was laying the foundations of a new government and country, his work was tragically interrupted by a series of personal losses at his Monticello home.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

Ken Burnsproducer

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