Altered Painting Shows Which Founding Fathers Owned Slaves

Declaration of Independence, John Trumbull’s famous 1818 painting which hangs in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, has been virtually defaced by Arlen Parsa to show which of the founders’ (faces covered by red dots) were slaveowners. Only a handful did not own slaves.

Parsa writes: “There were no gentle slaveholders. Countless children were born into slavery and died after a relatively short lifespan never knowing freedom for even a minute.” Many of those children were fathered by their owners.

Read more: Open Culture