"Sumptuary" is defined as "relating to or denoting laws that limit private expenditure on food and personal items" (Google search). The fact that this is an archaic term in our current dialect reminds that this document was written in a different cultural era; thus, the language of the document is subject to a dialect different from that of present day. This cautions against reading the document literally; it should be translated with contemporary dialect to extract true meaning. Beyond linguistics, the idea of limiting private expenditure does not seem to be integral to life on UVA campus today. The meal plans are generous, but there is no determent to spending one's money at any restaurant or store on or off campus. In fact, adding plus dollars is encouraged and advertisements for businesses near campus (i.e. the Corner) are commonplace. Would Thomas Jefferson see this as a problem?

It is a powerful claim to allot the ability to change the innate personality of a person to Education. This suggests that Thomas Jefferson and the Commissioners agreed with the idea in the field of personality psychology known as malleability--the ability of one's personality to change throughout their lifetime. This is an interesting facet since it was not until later in psychology research that studies began supporting the malleability of personality through one's life. Enlightenment thought, which had great influence on Thomas Jefferson, is a likely source of this innovative perspective on personality relative to his time. However, today, most researchers would not support the idea that time spent in a university could so drastically shift a "vicious & perverse" person to one who has "qualities of virtue"; they would argue change would only happen very gradually over a lifetime. It seems the claim that the college curriculum could transform a person could have come from an overexcitement for the potential of the university.

In modern day, 15 years old seems premature for college--first years would be too young for a license, to vote, to give legal consent, even to watch 'R' movies! However, back in the early 1800s, 15 years of age was a completely different stage of life. Legacy.com lists the average life expectancy of the population of the U.S. for the first half of the 19th century as 37 years old (Life and Death in the Antebellum Period). Although the mean life expectancy of the white males intended for the university would have exceeded this average, 15 years was still a larger chunk of their lives than it would be of the people's lives today. The students attending in the 1800s would need to obtain a higher education earlier on in life in order to take over their father's role as a provider--a father that would be retiring proportionally early. Yet, physiologically the 15 year old male's brain in the 1800s was at the same level of development as a 15 year old male in present day. Thus as life expectancy increased, the opportunity to start university students later on in their development was jumped on. Description

The specific word choice in this line immediately invokes a popular philosophy of the time (early 1800s): the Manifest Destiny. This doctrine stated that the US expansion was inevitable, and right. No doubt, Thomas Jefferson's plans for the university were influenced by these ideals; Jefferson's Louisiana purchase during his presidency exemplifies his accordance with and support of the belief. This right to expand would have inspired Jefferson to create an institution that could produce individuals that would then go on and spread their knowledge to new frontiers. Thus, the curriculum would need to reflect the knowledge the assembly wanted to be spread through the entire nation, and possibly other parts of the globe.