It's interesting that throughout this document there is so much emphasis on the "morals" of the students. There seems to be a consensus that morals can be strengthened through education. However, this seems contradictory, since at this time slavery was being practiced, and this document speak of African Americans and Native Americans in a very derogatory manner. How can people have "strong morals" when horrific discrimination and slavery was occurring? This specific quote reminds me of the engagement classes titled "Does reading literature make us more ethical? Really?" as well as "Mortality and Morality." Obviously, there is still an emphasis on developing and strengthening morals in our present University.

It's interesting thinking about this proposition that states the students (all male) should come from relatively close by in order to safeguard their "ordinary wants" and care in cases of sickness. This seems to suggest that the students were not capable of taking care of themselves and being on their own. Now, looking at our current student population, students come from all over the United States, as well as around the world. (Also, both females and males attend UVA now.) Then again, my home is an hour away from grounds, and both of my parents have visited frequently for reasons that could be categorized as my "ordinary wants" and "cases of sickness." Now, students are treated more as adults rather than adolescents who still need parental supervision and assistance. I doubt the authors of the Rockfish gap could've foreseen such a diverse population, that comes from all over the world, as well as the mature capability of the students that now attend the University.

It's interesting that the white man was seemingly accepting of all religions, in accordance with the Constitution, but strongly not accepting of other cultures, like the American Indians and African Americans. The white culture was only accepting of differing religions within the white culture, excluding other races and their differing religions. The excerpt displays that the writers stand strongly with the concept of separation of church and state, but this concept only pertains to the white culture. The writers state that every sect of religion in the University can have, "the means of further instruction in their own peculiar tenets," which represents an acceptance of the unordinary practices of another religion. Although the white culture was accepting of other religions on grounds that the ideology conformed with the principles in the constitution, the white culture was opposed to other "inferior," cultures, and not accepting of the differing religions they employed.

This excerpt demonstrates the notion that the white man believed a furthering of academic education separated himself from the barbaric American Indian, and further, the inferior African American. The white man philosophy of this time emphasized that education and modern civilization was the only morally and socially correct way to approach life and engage with others. The white man condemned the "degenerate" civilization of the American Indian, and separated their white culture from the Indian culture because of this. Instead of recognizing and accepting another's culture, like the America Indians, the white man sought to label their culture as "barbaric," "wretched," and lacking in civilization. This influenced the white man's assertion of Manifest Destiny, which lasted from 1812 to 1860, where the white man spread west into the United States, usurping most of the American Indian's land. The white culture believed they had a God given right to take any land they pleased in the New World, and the justification relied on the idea that the American Indian was not educated and utilized a degenerate civilization, thus did not have valid enough or deserving ties to their land. This ideology of superiority in the white race transcends throughout the decades in most of all American history.