- Dec 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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What, but education, has advanced us beyond the condition of our indigenous neighbours? and what chains them to their present state of barbarism & wretchedness, but a besotted veneration for the supposed supe[r]lative wisdom of their fathers and the preposterous idea that they are to look backward for better things and not forward, longing, as it should seem, to return to the days of eating acorns and roots rather than indulge in the degeneracies of civilization
This quotation clearly highlights the mindset of Thomas Jefferson when discussing Native Americans. This may have also been the same mindset of many other white men during this white period. The notion of white superiority isn ingrained in this statement, making them believe that there separation distinguishes them from the natives.
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they supposed that the governing considerations should be the healthiness of the site, the fertility of the neighbouring country, and it’s centrality to the white population of the whole state
This sentence in the Rockfish Gap Report highlights Thomas Jefferson's initial intentions when wanting to establish the foundation for the University of Virginia. Specifically, when it states, "it's centrality to the white population of the whole state". The history of the university has been to cater to the white community, dating back to its inception. To say there has been much progression would be highly debatable.
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- Oct 2017
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engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu engagements2017-18.as.virginia.edu
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with the jealousies of the different sects in guarding that equality from encroachment & surprise, and with the sentiments of the legislature in favor of freedom of religion manifested on former occasions, we have proposed no professor of Divinity; and tho rather, as the proofs of the being of a god, the creator, preserver, & supreme ruler of the universe, the author of all the relations of morality, & of the laws & obligations these infer, will be within the province of the professor of ethics;
This quotation is very profound in that it discusses Jefferson's stance on religious education at the University of Virginia. However, it is essential to understand that during this time period the main religion was Christianity. I think that It is vital to understand that many religions and the practice of them were still not accepted with open arms and the notion of ethics diversity is not the traditional understanding of accepting people of diverse backgrounds. It is quite interesting to see how the university's initial form of "diversity" is through different sects of Christianity.
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