Author Rick Atkinson brings to life two men who played outsized roles during the founding of the United States— one a rich slave trader, the other a pamphleteer who died penniless. They both stood for liberty and equality, but their stories illustrate how the democratic ideals written into the Declaration of Independence often clash with historical reality.

See the portraits we discuss:

Thomas Paine, by Laurent Dabos

Henry Laurens, by John Singleton Copley

John Laurens, by Charles Willson Peale