- Dec 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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Some of these have rendered the elements themselves subservient to the purposes of man, have harnessed them to the yoke of his labours, and effected the great blessings of moderating his own, of accomplishing what was beyond his feeble force, & of extending the comforts of life to a much enlarg[ed] circle, to those who had before known it’s necessaries only.
Despite this idealistic view of the progress of sciences and arts, the reality of the world at that time, to me, seems much different. While technology did improve agriculture, the "yoke of his labours" seems to be more that humans enslaved other humans to do their work for them, to become the animals. Chattel slavery was only enhanced by all of these new advances in the sciences and arts, which, while beneficiary, were lacking in moral application. "The comforts of life" were not extended "to a much enlarged circle", in fact, for some, it was removed, and compared to today, the life expectancy in the colonies was horrendous.
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We should be far too from the discouraging persuasion, that man is fixed, by the law of his nature, at a given point: that his improvement is a chimæra, and the hope delusive of rendering ourselves wiser, happier or better than our forefathers were. As well might it be urged that the wild & uncultivated tree, hitherto yielding sour & bitter fruit only, can never be made to yield better: yet we know that the grafting art implants a new tree on the savage stock, producing what is most estimable both in kind & degree.
The Rockfish Gap Report says here that basically, any person can improve and better themselves. The use of the word chimæra is most interesting as well, which does not have its usual meaning of the Greek mythological creature here that has multiple creatures mixed together. Chimæra here, according to a dictionary, means "a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve." Thus, what the Rockfish Gap Report is saying here is that improvement of students is not just something hopeful, but is indeed possible, and should be sought after. The technique of grafting, of inserting or transplanting a part of a sapling onto a branch to for it grow, also refers to knowledge. However, the diction used here has some troubling implications, such as "the wild and uncultivated tree" and "the savage stock". The authors of the Report seem here to be arrogant, elitist and snobbish, looking down on those they deem as uncivilized, ignoring their own (many) faults and assuming that by inserting their views onto potential students, it will make them into 'civilized,' 'cultivated' yet chained subjects.
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- Oct 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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that of proposing a plan for its buildings; and they are of opinion that it should consist of distinct houses or pavilions, arranged at proper distances on each side of a lawn
The University was centered around the Lawn, and in some ways, it still remains that. I do wonder at what the university's plans for expansion were, would it just be an expansion of the Lawn or building around the Lawn, as UVA actually did? Also, students and families were intended to live together in order to create a real academic community.
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establishing an auction, or as pledging the location to the highest bidder.
The University, while willing to take money for the noble goal of public education--despite those who were excluded from such an education--did not want to sell off the University or allow it to be indebted to the rich by allowing them to pick the cite of the university. There is some irony in this however, with the members of the University owning and using slaves bought, in some cases, from auctions.
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