Monticello's powerful introductory film orients all Monticello visitors to key notions regarding Jefferson's ideas and accomplishments, especially his core concepts about liberty that have reached far beyond his place and time in history to the present day.

Thomas Jefferson's World illustrates how Jefferson's vision for America and his optimism about the future were driven by his fundamental beliefs in democratic values, personal freedom, and equal rights.

The film also acquaints viewers with the other people - both enslaved and free - who lived and worked on Jefferson's mountaintop, the activities of the plantation, the main house, and to the extraordinary landscapes of Monticello for which Jefferson had such deep affection.