The death of Virginia Senator John Randolph in 1833 set off a legal battle that would have lasting ramifications. Randolph, a cousin of Thomas Jefferson, stipulated in his will that 383 of his enslaved people be freed, in one of the largest and most publicized manumissions in American history.

In this live conversation, historian Gregory May, author of A Madman's Will: John Randolph, Four Hundred Slaves, and the Mirage of Freedom,  moves from the legal spectacle of the contested will through the freedman’s dramatic flight and horrific reception in Ohio, revealing a story about the alluring promise of freedom and its tragic limitations