4 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2017
    1. 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. Education, in like manner engrafts a new man on the native stock, & improves what in his nature was vicious & perverse, into qualities of virtue and social worth

      The intriguing part of this argument is the suggestion that education "improves what is in [the student's] nature." In the present day, education is conceived as a way to increase students' knowledge and in some cases endow them with practical skills, but it is not, as far as I have seen, regarded as a way to fundamentally change a person's nature or character. The suggestion that an increase in knowledge and skills can extend beyond their own scopes and penetrate the very nature of a person is a testament to the commissioners' reverence for knowledge and education.

    2. It may well be questioned whether fear, after a certain age, is the motive to which we should have ordinary recourse. The human character is susceptible of other incitements to correct conduct, more worthy of employ, and of better effect. Pride of character, laudable ambition, & moral dispositions are innate correctives of the indiscretions of that lively age; and when strengthened by habitual appeal & exercise, have a happier effect on future character, than the degrading motive of fear; hardening them to disgrace, to corporal punishments, and servile humiliations, cannot be the best process for producing erect character.

      The writers were ahead of their time as they seem to have reached a conclusion about motivation and discipline that modern psychologists have only recently began to establish. The passage contains an innate understanding that intrinsic motivation to behave well, described here as "pride of character, laudable ambition, & moral dispositions," is a more lasting form of motivation than extrinsic inducements such as the fear of "disgrace, [...] corporal punishments, and servile humiliations." Furthermore, there is an indication of understanding of developmental stages as well, since the writers only question whether fear is inappropriate "after a certain age," which aligns with the discovery that simple systems of rules and consequences are most effective when employed with children, not young adults.

    3. its appendix of dormitories, being already far advanced, and with one other pavilion, & equal annexation of dormitories, being expected to be compleated during the present season

      Assuming that "dormitories" had the same meaning when this was written as it does today, it is heartening to see that the writers were conscious of the need to construct housing for scholars. It is reminiscent of the large growth of student housing over the last several decades. UVA has added new first-year dorms to accommodate the school's growing population, but as we have all undoubtedly noticed, the buildings are farther away from Central Grounds, raising concerns about students' equal access to classes, clubs, and other activities.

    4. In conformity with the principles of our constitution, which places all sects of religion on an equal footing, 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

      I just want to take a moment to appreciate this very concise summary of the Constitutional principles of freedom of religion, which seem especially relevant today. As members of the Christian right complain that preventing schools from requiring students to read the Bible or pray infringes on their "religious freedom," a reality check about the true meaning of religious freedom seems appropriate. It means that people are allowed to hold (or not hold) whatever religious beliefs they choose and to practice their religions in any way that does not break laws or prevent others from exercising their own rights, religious and otherwise. It does not mean that people of one religion should be free to impose their beliefs on others, since that would deny them the religious freedom of believing something else.