Rubenstein said he was inspired to visit Monticello after purchasing four copies of the Declaration of Independence and mulling Jefferson's assertion that "all men are created equal," a phrase later echoed in struggles for women's suffrage and civil rights. To understand the words, you have to understand what Jefferson was trying to do with them, said Peter Onuf, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and author of "The Mind of Thomas Jefferson." "The reaction that it's hypocritical because he owned slaves is really a boring response," Onuf s...