Thomas Jefferson: Apostle of Liberty or Father of American Racism?February 20, 2023 at 7–8 p.m.

Thomas Jefferson: Apostle of Liberty or Father of American Racism?

Lecture on Monday, February 20, 2023
at 7 p.m. in Alumni Hall, Johnson Student Union
The lecture is free and open to the public.

The Gustavus History Department is honored to welcome Dr. Paul Finkelman to serve as the 2022-2023 Rydell Professor.

Thomas Jefferson has been called the "Apostle of Liberty" because he was the author of the Declaration of Independence and supported religious liberty in Virginia. But he also owned many hundreds of enslaved African Americans throughout his adult life, including some of his own children, and he articulated "scientific" claims that Blacks could never be equal to Whites. So, how do we understand the third President. Should we revere him, hold up our hands in horror, or both? This lecture will explore these issues.

Dr. Paul Finkelman is a specialist on American legal history, U. S. Constitutional law, race and law, American Jewish history, the law of American slavery, the First Amendment, religious liberty, the history of the Second Amendment, African American history, the American Civil War, and legal issues surrounding baseball.