Free Program in conjunction with traveling exhibition, "Freedom: History of US" from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.   Visit the exhibition before or after the talk.

 Scott Stroh, Director of George Mason’s Gunston Hall, will discuss George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights that was ratified on June 12, 1776, in Williamsburg.  This defining document pressed the ideology of the American Revolution and was foundational to the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.  What was the historical relevance of the Article I declaration “That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights…” and the continuing contemporary relevance of this important document.  What were Mason’s views of on slavery and the contradictions evident when considering Mason’s ideas, choices, and actions specific to enslavement?