According to a quick google search, "$350 in the year 1818 is equivalent to $6,479.25 in 2017." This is a small sum of money considering UVA has since spent millions on construction and redoing dorms. A large part of this discrepancy in expenses is likely due to the fact that slave labor was used to build UVA originally which means the only expenditures would be on materials. Nowadays a large percentage of the budget for a construction job is allocated to paying the workers rather than purchasing material meaning that UVA would have been hugely more expensive had slaves not been utilized. I am curious if UVA could have been built to the same level of grandeur (or even at all) if the laborers had been paid as it would have been a much more expensive project and may not have had adequate funds.

The idea that the fertility of the soil was such a prominent factor in the location of the university is interesting to note as it reminds the reader of the time at which UVA was founded. UVA is by no means an agricultural school today, however, in the 1800s every school required an aspect of agriculture as that is how students got their food. Students now seem to have a hard time envisioning the gardens as anything other than study spots and areas where fancy receptions are held, but realistically they once served a far more practical and important role that has been almost entirely lost over the past 200 years.

Throughout history a signature has carried an extreme amount of weight both legally and socially. By emphasizing that each member signed the document it gives the document validity as well as expresses that each member backs the argument made. The detail that the signatures were made in each member's proper handwriting makes the event of signing far more official and meaningful as the signatures are not casually written. Once a member has signed, their name is forever connected to the endeavor and they will be held at least partially responsible for any outcomes which motivates signers to give their all to the University.

The formation of the University directly resembles the formation of the United States government. The aspects that the founding fathers were forced to consider are also valuable to consider when forming any sort of organization, for example, a university. Both the United States government and the University of Virginia developed a protocol for problems such as what to do if a leader can no longer serve. By thinking of the school as a type of governing body it sets up the heads of the school to deal with immediate problems as well as the future problems that Jefferson could not even imagine.