Thomas Jefferson

S1 E2: Revered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, the most sacred document in American history, yet condemned as a lifelong owner of slaves, Thomas Jefferson remains the enigma that is America. A young Jefferson from the Virginia wilderness is transformed by the fire of Enlightenment into his country's most articulate voice of human liberty. Torn between serene family life at Monticello and his passion for politics, Jefferson suffers great personal loss, even as he gives voice to a new era of democratic government. Ken Burns examines the life and works of the third President of the United States, while showing how this one man advanced the cause of religious, political and intellectual freedom everywhere and changed the course of human events.