The State of Virginia

Going into this I expected this piece to be extremely stylish as the Author, Thomas Jefferson, embodies one of the most eloquent minds of all time. However, the reading ‘The State of Virginia,’ was extremely bland and read much like a textbook at the beginning. On the other hand it was extremely impressive how Jefferson covered every issue ranging from geographic to political issues. Even more impressive was how thorough Jefferson was in explaining each issue.

As I read on I began to see how complex his writing was especially in the chapter ‘Manners. I was daunted by how complex Jefferson was he was able to express many issues in regard to society. He could awe you with his knowledge of the rivers and mountains of the state but also inform you on the educational systems established by the first settlers when the College of William and Mary was founded. Most impressive to me was this excerpt I took from the chapter ‘Manners’:

"The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it; for man is an imitative animal. This quality is the germ of all education in him. From his cradle to his grave he is learning to do what he sees others do. If a parent could find no motive either in his philanthropy or his self-love, for restraining the intemperance of passion towards his slave, it should always be a sufficient one that his child is present. But generally it is not sufficient."

This piece shows Jefferson’s opinion toward slavery and how he felt slaves should not be treated so aggressively. But this piece also shows how deep Jefferson was as he dips into sociological and psychological issues he sees during this time. He sees how imitative humans are and how we learn from what we see. He feels that children need to see their elderly treat others with respect as they will carry on that behavior.

Overall Jefferson addresses countless issues which not only served justice at that time, but could also be used during the current age (in some cases). This proves how original of a mind Jefferson had for his era.