tes Americans around a shared legacy of freedom. As a great grandson of slaves, he believes that the promise of liberty has always belonged to all Americans. For some, only their heirs would be the full beneficiaries. Nonetheless, the Declaration of Independence marked the inevitable death of the ancient world as surely as it proclaimed the birth of a new nation. Jackson sees the history of America as the epic story of flawed human beings achieving an unprecedented victory for freedom. He does not wallow in the bitterness of the past, but inspires all Americans to embrace the promise of liberty.