3 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2017
    1. 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

      It seems here that Jefferson is referring to Native Americans. He is asserting that their society is barbaric and backwards because they do not educate themselves. This shows a clear lack of understanding of other cultures and indifference towards the virtues and differences between them.

      • cat
    2. agriculture, manufactures & commerce

      It's so interesting that Jefferson envisioned graduates of the university entering these fields when, with the exception of commerce, it is unusual for current day grads to enter farming of manufacturing. However, it makes perfect sense for the time as America was much more agrarian.

      • Cat
  2. Sep 2017
    1. To enlighten them with mathematical and physical sciences which advance the arts & administer to the health, the subsistence & comforts of human life:

      Alludes here to a liberal arts education, how all spheres of learning interact and impact one another. How balance and variety are essential for a comfortable human life