In The Shadow Of Liberty Summary

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The Mount Vernon Public Library and Friends of the Mount Vernon Public Library had the pleasure of welcoming back author and historian, Kenneth C. Davis, to discuss his latest book, In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives.

As a true Mount Vernonite, Davis was a student at Holmes School, Traphagen Junior High, and Mount Vernon High School. He also was born Mount Vernon Hospital, learned how to swim at the YMCA and spent a lot of his time at the library learning from the greats.

“The library really shaped me as a reader and a writer... I remember reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair [at the library] and the book mobile that came around the neighborhood… It was great”, he said with a smile. …show more content…
During the event, Davis presented a synopsis of slaves that “belonged” to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Andrew Jackson. These slaves were Billy Lee and Ona Judge (owned by Washington), Isaac Granger Jefferson (owned by Jefferson), Paul Jennings (owned by Madison) and Alfred Jackson (owned by Jackson).

Lee was the only slave Washington freed in his will. Judge was Washington’s wife’s seamstress who ran away to New Hampshire. Jefferson was a slave who may or may not have been the inspiration behind Thomas Jefferson’s letter denouncing slavery. Jennings was Madison’s valet and Jackson was one of four slaves Andrew Jackson went into debt to pay legal fees over for a crime which they were eventually acquitted.

Davis went on to explain how the past connects to the present and how we can change the future to have a more balanced view of history.

“I made a career of telling stories of people who were left out of my history books... I’m not trying to tear down our heroes. I’m just trying to balance the scale. Yes, they accomplished great things, but it came at an enormous cost,” Davis

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