<p>Author <a href="https://revolutiontrilogy.com/rick-atkinson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rick Atkinson</a> 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.</p><p>See the portraits we discuss:</p><p><a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2008.5?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dthomas%252Bpaine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thomas Paine, by Laurent Dabos</a></p><p><a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.65.45?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Dhenry%252Blaurens" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Henry Laurens, by John Singleton Copley</a></p><p><a href="https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2009.111?destination=edan-search/default_search%3Freturn_all%3D1%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_q%3Djohn%252Blaurens" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Laurens, by Charles Willson Peale</a></p>