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Black History Month

Pursuits of Knowledge: Christopher Brown on Antislavery and the American Revolution

Join us in conversation with Christopher Brown for a program reconsidering the Revolution through the lens of antislavery thought and action.

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Past Event

“ .... knowledge is power ... knowledge is safety ... knowledge is happiness”
-Thomas Jefferson to George Ticknor, 1817

Join us for our ongoing Pursuits of Knowledge series exploring the enduring legacy of curiosity, innovation, and learning inspired by Thomas Jefferson, and the people and paths that created the United States.

Event Details

  • Seating open at 5:30pm and the program begins promptly at 6pm.
  • Meet the speaker after the program.
  • Complimentary parking is available at the David M. Rubenstein Visitor Center.

About the Program

As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this program will reconsider the Revolution through the lens of antislavery thought and action. Professor Christopher Brown, a leading historian of slavery, abolition, and the British Atlantic world, will examine how revolutionary ideals of liberty, natural rights, and human equality intersected—often uneasily—with the institution of slavery.

About the Speaker

Christopher Brown is Professor in the Department of History at Columbia University. He is the author of Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism (2006), and co-editor of Arming Slaves: From Classical Times to the Modern Age (2006). His scholarship has received major awards in four different fields of study – American History, British History, Atlantic History, and the History of Slavery, Abolition, and Resistance. At Columbia he directed the Society of Fellows in the Humanities, served as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, and received university-wide honors for excellence in mentoring M.A. and Ph.D. students. Christopher holds degrees from Yale University and Oxford University. The latter he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.  
Headshot of Jane Kamensky in dark-rimmed round glasses, a tweed jacket, light orange-and-green scarf next to one of Monticello's columns.

About the Moderator

Dr. Jane Kamensky is President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. A leading historian of early America and the United States, she earned her BA (1985) and PhD (1993) in history from Yale University.
Full Bio 

Monticello gratefully acknowledges the partnership of More Perfect in our 250th anniversary initiatives.