This line is particularly fascinating because the document says that "This doctrine"--which is that civilized man must strive for education and self-amelioration throughout each generation--"is the genuine fruit of the alliance between church and State". According to the First Amendment of the US Constitution,"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". We oftentimes cite this amendment when we declare "separation of church and state", which was implied but never directly stated in the Constitution. As a clear principle in the Constitution, I find it very ironic that this document references this "alliance between church and State" and deems education its product. This suggests a truly religious nature of the foundation of the University if the founding document considers education to be the child of the alliance between church and state.

The cost for each dormitory is $350. While reading this, I am confused if this number refers to the cost per student for room and board, or if it is simply the cost to construct each dormitory. (If anybody can clarify that, it would be much appreciated!) But either way, I found this handy website that converts 1817 money to its equivalent in 2017 money. Apparently, $350 back then would be about $6,129.02 nowadays. If this is the price of room and board, then it's actually incredibly consistent. According to UVa's website, our housing expense is $6,270. So if this $350 price tag is truly for room and board, then I find the consistency really astounding!

In my engagement class, we discussed the presence of slavery at UVA prior to 1865, and as part of that, the student/slave relations. One particular instance that stood out to me was a story about a ten-year-old slave girl who responded "What?" to a student when she didn't hear his question. He later returned to the boarding house at which she worked, knocked on the door, and beat her. This story stuck with me, especially considering that someone my age would be capable of such violence against a ten-year-old. In relation to this report, the student could have been as young as 15, which really emphasizes the deep roots of this mentality of white supremacy and slave culture. It's sickening enough to think of young adults committing such violent crimes, but kids who would be sophomores in high school in these times were attending college in the 1800's, and some of the brutal student/slave interactions could have easily been with teenage boys.

Since William Paxton and his relatives donated quite a bit of land to what would become the University, I thought it would be interesting to look into who this man was. According to ancestry.com, William was very involved in Rockbridge County. He served in the church and was a leader in the militia. He also was “compensated in 1775 for supplies and service during Dunmore’s Expedition in 1774”. Paxton died in 1796, and left his sons William, James and Elisha his heirs-at-law, meaning the 860 acres of land acquiesced to John Robinson that originated from William Paxton were sold by his heirs, but as typical of a society that emphasized patriarchal family values and heritage, it is Paxton accredited with this transaction.