Thomas Jefferson's involvement with and educational support was best known through the establishment of the University of Virginia, which he founded in 1819 as a secular institution after he left the presidency of the United States. Jefferson believed that libraries and books were integral to the individual and institutional education he designed at universities around his library.
In 1779 in "A Bill for the General Dif- fusion of Knowledge," Jefferson proposed a public education system to be funded for 3 years for "all free children, men and women," which was an unusual perspective for the time. period. They are allowed to be present longer if their parents, friends, or family can pay for it independently.
In his book Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), Jefferson has written his ideas for public education at the elementary level. In 1817 he proposed a plan for a country's limited public education system for men only, according to the time. It depends on the general grammar school, and the further education of some of the best students, and those whose parents want to pay for it. Universities are the cornerstone, available only to the best-selected students. Virginia did not establish free general education at the elementary level until after the American Civil War under the Reconstruction era legislature.
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In 1752, Jefferson began attending a local school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister. At the age of nine, Jefferson began studying Latin, Greek, and French; he learned to ride horses, and began to appreciate the study of nature. He studied under Pastor James Maury from 1758 to 1760 near Gordonsville, Virginia. As she boarded the dorm with Maury's family, she studied history, science, and classics.
In 1760 Jefferson entered College of William & amp; Mary in Williamsburg at the age of 16; He studied there for two years, graduating with the highest honors in 1762. In William & Mary, she enrolled in a school of philosophy and studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy under Professor William Small, who introduced Jefferson to the writings of British Empiricists, including John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. He also perfected his French, brought Greek grammar books wherever he went, practiced the violin, and read Tacitus and Homer. Jefferson showed great curiosity in all areas and, according to family tradition, often studied fifteen hours a day.
His closest classmate, John Page of Rosewell, reported that Jefferson "can escape from his closest friends to fly into his study."
While in college, Jefferson is a member of a secret organization called Flat Hat Club, now the name of William & amp; Mary's student newspaper. He nestled and boarded the College in a building known today as Sir Christopher Wren Building, attending a joint meal in the Great Hall, and morning and evening prayers at Wren Chapel. Jefferson often attends the lavish feast of royal governor Francis Fauquier, where he plays his violin and develops an early love for wine. After graduating, he studied law with George Wythe and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767.
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Library
Throughout his life, Jefferson relied on books for his education. He collected and collected thousands of books for his library in Monticello. Most of Jefferson's libraries are also inherited to him in the will of George Wythe, who has a vast collection. Having always wanted to gain more knowledge, Jefferson continued to study throughout his life. Jefferson once said, "I can not live without a book."
In 1815, Jefferson's library included 6,487 books, which he sold to the Library of Congress for $ 23,950 to replace the smaller collection that was destroyed in the War of 1812. He intended to pay off most of his debt, but soon began buying more books. In honor of Jefferson's contribution, the library website for federal legislative information is named THOMAS. In 2007, the 1764 edition of Jefferson edition was used by Rep. Keith Ellison for his oath to the House of Representatives. In February 2011, the New York Times reported that part of Jefferson's retirement library, containing 74 volumes with 28 titles, was found at Washington University in St. Louis. Louis.
Virginia legislature
Notes about the State of Virginia
In 1780 Jefferson when the governor received many questions about Virginia, presented to him by FranÃÆ'§ois BarbÃÆ'Â © -Marbois, then Secretary of the French delegation in Philadelphia, the temporary capital of the united colonies, intending to collect pertinent data on American colonies.. Jefferson's response to Marbois's "Query" would be known as Notes on the State of Virginia (1785). Scientifically knowledgeable, Jefferson is a member of the American Philosophical Society, founded in Philadelphia in 1743. He has extensive knowledge of western lands from Virginia to Illinois. In the course of five years, Jefferson enthusiastically devoted his intellectual energy to the book; he incorporated discussions of contemporary scientific knowledge, and Virginia's history, politics, and ethnography. Jefferson was assisted by Thomas Walker, George R. Clark, and US geographer Thomas Hutchins. The book was first published in France in 1785 and in England in 1787.
It has been classed as the most important American book published before 1800. This book is a powerful argument and often speaks of the nature of a good society, which he believes to be incarnate by Virginia. In it he expresses his belief in the separation of church and state, constitutional government, checks and balances, and individual freedom. He also collects extensive data on the country's natural and economic resources.
Presidency
Military Academy at West Point
The idea for a national institution for military education was circulated during the American Revolution. It was not until 1802 when Jefferson, following the advice of George Washington, John Adams and others, finally convinced Congress to authorize the funding and construction of the United States Military Academy at West Point on the Hudson River in New York. On March 16, 1802, Jefferson signed the Military Peace Establishment Act, which directed that a group of engineers were established and "stationed at West Point in New York state, and would become a Military Academy." The law will provide well-trained officers to professional soldiers. The officers will be reliable republican supporters of a closed elite like in Europe, because the cadets will be appointed by members of Congress, and thus reflect the nation's politics. In May 1801 War Secret Henry Dearborn announced that the president had "decided in favor of the immediate establishment of a military school at West Point and also on the appointment of Major Jonathan Williams", Benjamin Franklin's nephew, to direct "necessary arrangements, in place for the commencement of school." On July 4, 1802, the US Military Academy at West Point officially began its role as an institution for scientific and military learning.
Next year
Planning a systematic education
In 1785, Jefferson proposed a Commonwealth school system for the Commonwealth of Virginia in the interest of "spreading knowledge more generally through the masses of the people". According to Jefferson, "The end result of the whole educational scheme is the teaching of all children reading, writing, and arithmetic states: producing [some] every year a superior genius, taught well in Greek, Latin, geography, and arithmetic branches which is higher: produce another... every year, from the part that is still superior, which, for the learning branches, should add the sciences as championed by their genius. "As a by-product, this plan will provide" to the richer parts of the comfortable schools of people, where their children can be educated, at their own expense. "
The plan is for the education of children in three successive stages associated with the three types of schools: primary school, that all children, regardless of financial capabilities of their parents, will be able to attend at least three years; middle school, for students who excel in elementary school, as well as for children whose parents are willing and able to pay for it; and universities, for students whose parents are willing to pay.
Stage I: primary school (ages 6-8 )
Jefferson proposes creating several school districts of five to six square miles, called "wards" or "hundreds," all over Virginia, where "the mass of the people will receive their instructions." Each district will have an elementary school and a tax-backed tutor to the people in the district. Every family in the district will be entitled to send their children to school for three years, at no cost. The family can continue sending the child after three years, but the family has to pay for it.
These schools will teach "reading, writing, and arithmetic"; "general understanding of geography"; as well as the history of Greece, Rome, Europe and America. It is important that all children learn history because "telling them about the past will enable them to assess the future." According to Jefferson, "the main foundation of future order will be laid here" and "the first elements of morality can also be implanted into the minds of [children]".
Jefferson opposes giving children in these schools religious texts, because he believes children will be "at an age when their judgment is not mature enough for religious questions". However, he supports showing children that happiness "does not depend on the conditions of life in which opportunity has placed them, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, work and freedom in all pursuits."
Stage II: high school (ages 9-16 )
Every year, an official will visit Fayoy's school and choose one son - a boy whose parents are too poor to provide further education to their child - to continue for at least one or two (and possibly up to eight) years in one of twenty Commonwealth grammatical schools. Other parents who are willing and able to pay for it can send their children as well.
In grammar schools, children will learn Greek and Latin; advanced geography; branches higher than numerical arithmetic; geometry; and the basic principle of navigation.
Jefferson believes that a child's memory is most active between the ages of 8 and 16. Because he thinks that learning language mostly involves rote, he thinks this period is an ideal time to learn "the most useful and modern language." Linguists have found that people learning additional languages ​​are easier if started at a younger age. Jefferson thinks this age group is also best able to acquire mental "tools for future operations", including "useful facts and good principles". He cautioned that "if this period suffers from inaction, the mind [will become] lethargic and impotent, as well as the body that he left behind if not executed during the same time."
After about two years, the "best genius" of each grammar school will be selected to continue another six years studying this subject, while the rest will be dismissed. According to Jefferson, "By this means the twenty best geniuses will be swept from garbage every year, and instructed, on public expenditure, as far as grammar schools go."
Stage III: university (ages 17-19)
At the end of the grammar school, half of the boys will be fired. This half will include master of grammar school of the future. The other half, "chosen for their section excellence and disposition," will continue to study three more years at the university, "in studies of such sciences they will persuade". Jefferson regards the university as the cornerstone of the educational system. To accommodate the inclusion of students, Jefferson proposed that the College of William and Mary be enlarged "and extended to all useful science".
Father of the university
- Visible also: History of the University of Virginia
After leaving the presidency, Jefferson continued to be active in public affairs. He also became increasingly concerned with establishing a new institution of higher education, in particular a free church influence, in which students could specialize in many new areas not offered at other universities. Jefferson believes educating people is a good way to build organized societies, and also feel that schools should be paid for by the general public, so that underprivileged people can also get student memberships. A letter to Joseph Priestley, in January, 1800, showed that he had been planning the University for decades before it was founded.
His dream was realized in 1819 with the founding of the University of Virginia. Upon its opening in 1825, it was then the first university to offer a full selection of elective courses to his students. Engaging close to the university until his death, Jefferson invited students and school teachers to his home; Edgar Allan Poe was among the students.
One of the largest construction projects at that time in North America, the university was renowned for being library-centered rather than church. Jefferson did not include the campus chapel in his original plan.
Jefferson is widely recognized for his architectural planning at the University of Virginia and its grounds. Its innovative design is a powerful representation of its aspirations for state-sponsored education and agricultural democracy in the new Republic. His educational idea of ​​creating a special physical learning unit was expressed in the configuration of his campus plan, which he called "Academic Village." Individual academic units are designed as distinct structures, represented by Pavilions, facing grassy lawns, with each class of Pavilion housing, faculty offices, and residences. Although unique, each is visually equally important, and they are linked together with a series of open air arcades which are the front facade of student accommodation. The vegetable garden and plot are placed behind the surrounded by serpentine walls, confirming the importance of an agricultural lifestyle.
The highly organized Jefferson site plan forms a building ensemble around a central rectangular rectangle, called The Lawn, which is lined on either side with academic and arcade teaching units connecting them. The quad is covered at one end with a library, a storehouse of knowledge, at the top of the table. The remaining sides across the library remain open for future growth. The grass rises gradually as a series of stepped terraces, each several feet higher than the last, up into the library, which is set in the most prominent position at the top.
Jefferson is a proponent of Greek and Roman architectural styles, which he believes best represents American democracy by historical associations. It's popular during the federal period across the United States. Each academic unit is designed with a two-story temple facing a rectangle, while the library is modeled on the Pantheon of Rome. The ensemble building around the quad is a statement of the importance of secular general education, while putting aside the religious structure strengthens the principle of separation of church and state. Campus planning and architectural care are considered to be the paradigm of ordering artificial structures to express intellectual ideas and aspirations. A survey of American Institute of Architects members identified the Jefferson campus as the most important architectural work in America.
The University is designed as the cornerstone of the Virginia education system. In Jefferson's vision, every white citizen of a young man from the Commonwealth can attend school if he has the abilities and achievements needed as a student beforehand.
Jefferson's view of his citizens' education
Jefferson is a public education advocate. In a 1786 letter to George Wythe, he said that "the most important bill in our whole code, is that for the dissemination of knowledge among people." He believes that "no other definite basis can be designed for the preservation of freedom and happiness" and that failing to provide public education will "leave people in ignorance." But Jefferson does not believe in forcing parents to place their children in school, stating that "it is better to tolerate the rare instances of parents who refuse to let their children be educated, than to surprise general feelings and ideas by forced asportation [abolition] and infant education against the will of the father. "
Views on classical learning
"For classical learning, I've been a passionate supporter." - Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1814. ME 14: 200
"When we advertise that ancient classical languages ​​are regarded as the foundation preparation for all science, we always have schools scattered across the country to teach these languages, which are often the final term of education, that these languages ​​are inserted at the age nine or ten years, in which the parents of age will not want to send their children from every part of the State to distant and distant universities, and when we observe that... there are a small number of them, we may conclude that the Greek and Latin is the object of this college... and that they are meant as a portico entering the university. "- Thomas Jefferson to Wilson C. Nicholas, 1816. ME 14: 452
"For whom [these classical languages] are useful, of course not for everyone, there are conditions of life that they have to go through forever, and there is also the age of life, after which the effort to achieve them will be extraordinary, mismanagement of time. they must be the occupation of our early years alone, when the memories are vulnerable to deep and lasting impressions, and reason and judgment are not strong enough for abstract speculation. "- Thomas Jefferson to John Brazier, 1819. I 15: 209
"[Latin and Greek]... is the basis of good education, and it is indispensable to fill the character of an 'educated man.'" - Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Board of Visitors Minutes, 1824. ME 19: 444
"[Regarding] the extent to which classical learning is to be done in our country... The utility we get from the remnants of Greek and Latin is, first, as a model of pure taste in writing." For this we must be indebted to a rational and pure style from a modern composition that greatly distinguishes nations familiar to these languages ​​... Secondly, among the values ​​of classical learning, I estimate the luxury of reading Greek and Roman writers in all their original beauty And why should not the luxury that this innocent and elegant state takes its superior position in front of all that is intended only for understanding?... Thirdly The third value is in real science stores stored and transmitted us in these languages, to wit: in history, ethics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, natural history, etc. "- Thomas Jefferson to John Brazier, 1819. ME 15: 208
"[Greece is] the first of the civilized countries [which] presents an example of what man should be." - Thomas Jefferson to A. Coray, 1823. MY 15: 481
"I think the Greeks and Romans have left us today's models with good compositions, whether we examine them as works of reason, or style and delusion, and for them we may owe the characteristics of this modern composition. I know there is no composition of other ancient people who are most deserved to be regarded as a model for matter or style.For all this I add, that to read the Latin and Greek writers in the original language is a lofty luxury, and I consider the luxury in science to be at least justified as in architecture, painting, gardening, or other art. "- Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Priestley, 1800. ME 10: 146
"It may actually be said that the classical language is a solid foundation for the most part, and an ornament for all the sciences." - Thomas Jefferson to John Brazier, 1819. I am 15: 211
"I made a rule to never read a translation where I can read the original." - Thomas Jefferson to Edmund Randolph, 1794. I 9: 280
"In fact, no translation can [adequate representation of the glorious of the original]." - Thomas Jefferson to A. L. C. Destutt de Tracy, 1811. ME 13:14
"I have not, however, taken so far [some] to do my ideas on the importance of Latin and Greek hypercritical knowledge.I believe enough to have a substantial understanding of their authors." - Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1814. MY 14: 200
Appearance in text book
Jefferson does not oppose textbooks, and believes that in most cases an individual professor, not a school superintendent, should be the one who chooses a particular text to be used in the professor's course. One exception is the case where a professor wants to teach using texts that advocate federalism. In such a case, Jefferson believed that the guardians would be justified in order to override the professor to "keep the principles propagated among our youth."
Views on professors
Jefferson supports students who are studying from professors, and believe that professors should have "the talent of communicating... knowledge with the facility". In addition, Jefferson believes that professors should have knowledge not only from their own profession, but "must be well-educated for science in general, able to communicate in understanding with the scientific people with whom they relate, and to assist in councils- faculty on every subject of science where they may have the opportunity to negotiate. "An uneducated professor will" scatter... humiliation, and bring disappointment to the institution. " Jefferson also supports selecting professors based on their political inclinations.
Views in the timeline
Views in content settings
"I hope the need, at length, be seen from the establishment of institutions here, as in Europe, where every branch of science, useful today, can be taught at its highest level." - Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1814 ME 14: 151
"What is the purpose of a useful American [college] education? Classical knowledge, modern languages ​​and especially French, Spanish, and Italian: Mathematics, Natural philosophy, Natural history, Civil history and Ethics In the philosophy of Nature I intend to include Chemistry and Agriculture, and in Natural history, to include Botany, as well as other branches of the departments. "- Thomas Jefferson to J. Bannister, Jr., 1785. I 5: 186, Paper 8: 636
"This will be a lost time... to attend professors of ethics, metaphysics, logic, etc. This first one can be well acquired in a closet like that of a living lecturer, and presupposes the latter two means the science of mind, the simple reading of Locke , Tracy, and Stewart will give him as much as possible in the branch as well as true science. "- Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1820. ME 15: 265
"Agriculture... is a science of the first order, including among the most respectable of sciences, such as Chemistry, Philosophy of Nature, Mechanics, General Mathematics, Natural History, Botany In every College and University, a professor from the farm, and the class of his disciples, may be honored as the first. "- Thomas Jefferson to David Williams, 1803. ME 10: 429
"In my view, no knowledge can be more satisfying to man than his own skeletons, their parts, their functions and actions, and my Botanical rank with the most valuable sciences, do we consider his subjects to be the major subsistence producers of life for humans and animals, delicious varieties for our tables, beverages from our gardens, our flower border decorations, shade and perfume from our garden, materials for our buildings, or medicines for our bodies For men it is certainly more interesting than Mineralogy I do not mean, however, undervalue), and more in hand for entertainment, and for a family the country is a big part of their social entertainment No gentleman country should be without what entertains every step he enters into his field. "- Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1814. ME 14: 201
In [elementary school] will be taught reading, writing, general arithmetic, and general idea of ​​geography.In [district college], ancient and modern language, full geography, higher level of numerical arithmetic, measurement, and basic navigation principle. In [the university], all the sciences are beneficial in the highest order. "- Thomas Jefferson to M. Correa de Serra, 1817. I 15: 155
"I am not fully informed about the practices at Harvard, but there is one of which we will surely vary, even though it has been copied, I believe, by virtually every college and academy in the United States, meaning that students hold all for one program determined for read, and not allow exclusive apps only to branches that qualify for the particular call he or she prefers.Instead, we will let them uncontrolled choices in the course they will choose to attend, and require only basic qualifications, and sufficient age. "- Thomas Jefferson to George Ticknor, 1823. I am 15: 455
"This institution [ie, the university] will be based on the unlimited freedom of the human mind, for here we are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may cause, or tolerate any error as long as the reason is left free to fight it." - Thomas Jefferson to William Roscoe, 1820. I am 15: 303
"We do not expect our schools to change their alumni who are at the top of their respective sciences, but only so far progress in each one to be able to pursue their own, and become Newton and Laplaces by energy and diligence to continue through life. "- Thomas Jefferson to John P. Emmet, 1826. MY 16: 171
"In most public seminary textbooks it is prescribed for each of the several schools, such as the docendi norm at that school, and this is generally done by the authority of the guardians.I should not propose this in general at our university, because I believe none of us so much science in some branches to do this, and therefore it would be better left to the professors until there is a chance to intervene.But there is one branch where we are the best judges, in the heretical may be taught so interesting character for our Country itself and to the United States, such as to make it our duty to lay down the principles that must be taught... It is the government... [A new professor may be one of the quondam federalism schools, now consolidated, it is our duty to guard against the principles of self- the principle that is disseminated among our youth and the diffusion of the poison, with the preceding recipe of the text to be followed in their discourse. "- Thomas Jefferson to -----, 1825. MY 16: 103
"The objects... the basic education that determines the character and the limits are: To give every citizen the information he needs for his own business transactions, to enable him to calculate himself, and to express and preserve his ideas, contracts and her account in writing, to improve, by reading, her morale and ability, to understand her duties to her neighbors and country, and to exit with the competence of functions given to her well, to know her rights, to execute with their command and justice. he defends, to vote with the fiduciary wisdom of the delegated, and to pay attention to their behavior with diligence, with candor and judgment, and in general, to observe with the intelligence and loyalty of all the social relationships in which it will be placed. "- Thomas Jefferson: Report for the University of Virginia, 1818.
"The reading in the first stage, where [the people] will receive their entire education, is proposed.. to be primarily history.History by telling them about the past will enable them to judge the future; it will exploit them from the experience of time other times and other states, it will make them judges of human action and design, this will enable them to know ambitions under every possible assumed disguise, and to know it, to defeat their views. "- Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XIV, 1782. EP 2: 106
"Such a level of learning should be given to every member of society because it will enable him to read, rate and vote with understanding of what is going on." - Thomas Jefferson to Littleton Waller Tazewell, 1805.
"A major obstacle to good education is the overwhelming passion common to novels, and the time lost in the reading should be used instructively.When this poison infects the mind, it destroys its tone and rebels against a healthy reading. and unadorned, denied.Nothing attracts attention except to dress in all silly notes, and nothing so bad comes.It results are a swelling imagination, painful judgment, and disgust for all real-life business.did, however, not without distinction, some of the modeling of some of their narrations, albeit fictitious, in real life incidents, has been able to make them an attractive and useful vehicle of healthy morality... For the same reason, too, many poems should not be spoiled. Some are useful for shaping styles and tastes: Pope, Dryden, Thompson, Shakespeare, and France, M oliere, Racine, Corneilles, can be read with pleasure and repair. "- Tho mas Jefferson to Nathaniel Burwell, 1818. I am 15: 166
"Promote in every male sequence a level of instruction that is comparable to their condition and their outlook on life." - Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Cabell, 1820. I am 15: 292
"Every stupidity must turn, and I think, to learn independently and self-sufficiently: to reject the knowledge gained in the past, and to begin with a new foundation of intuition.When conscious of experience, I hope our successors will turn their attention to educational benefits. education on a wide scale. "- Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1814. ME 14: 150
Thomas Jefferson is a pragmatist with regard to education. He emphasized its practical benefits. However, its emphasis on practice does not limit learning solely to career-focused activities; he believes that reading classical literature makes a practical contribution to education, as it enhances critical thinking and awareness of the world at large.
Display on educational quality
Appearance on educational adjustment
"Man is an artificial animal, this quality is the germ of all education in him, from the cradle to his grave he learns to do what he sees by others." - Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XVIII, 1782. MY 2: 226
"The discipline article is the most difficult in American education.The idea of ​​premature self-reliance, too little pressed by parents, gives birth to a spirit of defiance that is a major obstacle to science with us and the main cause of its decay since the Revolution." - Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1822. I am 15: 406
"The rock I fear the most is institutional discipline, and that is where most of our public schools work.The deterioration of our youth is now the biggest obstacle to their education We may reduce the difficulty, perhaps, by avoiding too many governments, by not demanding useless devotion, nothing will only multiply the opportunity for dissatisfaction, disobedience, and rebellion by referring to the smaller discipline of the small discipline, the sculptor to the civil judges. "- Thomas Jefferson to George Ticknor, 1823. MY 15: 455
"The consequences of foreign education worry me as an American... Take your eyes off America Who are the most learned people, from some of the eloquence, most beloved by their compatriots and most trusted and promoted by them? the people who have been educated among them, and the polite, moral and custom are very homogeneous with people from the country. "- Thomas Jefferson to John Banister, Jr., 1785. (*) MY 5: 188, Papal 8: 637
"I do not rely on any profit earned... from acquaintances familiar with the principles of government [which have] been given... tyrannical aristocracy, more likely to give pain than good ideas to America." - Thomas Jefferson to John Banister , Jr., 1785. (*)
"[One of] the weaknesses of sending youth to Europe [for education is]... he is fascinated with the privileges of the European nobility, and sees, with hatred, the beautiful equations enjoyed by the poor with the rich of his own country." - Thomas Jefferson to John Banister, Jr., 1785. I 5: 186, Paper 8: 636
"Although I do not, with some fans, believe that human conditions will ever advance to such a state of perfection there will be no more pain or ugliness in the world, but I believe it is vulnerable to many improvements, and most of all in governmental and religious affairs , and that the dissemination of knowledge among men is to be the means through which it is. "- Thomas Jefferson to Pierre Samuel Dupont de Nemours, 1816. ME 14: 491
"I sincerely hope that in the spirit that exists today to the great assemblies of humanity the blessings of teaching, I see the prospect of great progress in the happiness of mankind, and that this can go on indefinitely, though not to the degrees limited. "- Thomas Jefferson to Cornelius Camden Blatchly, 1822. I am 15: 400
"We have spent the prime of our lives giving [the youth] the glorious blessing of liberty, let them spend it in showing that it is the mother of great science and virtue, and that a nation will be great in both, always in proportion because it is free." - Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Willard, 1789. ME 7: 329
"Preach... a war against ignorance, build up and improve the law to educate the common people, let our people know that the people themselves can protect us from this [monarchical] crime." - Thomas Jefferson to George Wythe, 1786.
Views on simplicity vs. complexity in education
Jefferson wanted education to be simple enough to be understood by the layman, but wanted it to be complicated so that they could produce the wise men of the university. This process creates more professors in the country and helps further education in the state.
A view of religion in school
"The desire of instruction in the various beliefs of religious faith that exists among our citizens presents... a gulf in a generic institution of useful sciences.But it is estimated that this desire, and belief in every society of instruction in itself doctrine, is a crime which is less dangerous than permission to the public authorities to dictate the mode or principles of religious teaching, or from the opportunities given them by providing stimuli or ascending to one of the other upper sects. "- Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Visitor Minute Board, 1822. I 19: 414
"Having declared a constitutional reason for the general formation of any religious instruction, we advocated the wisdom of encouraging various religious sects to build, each for himself, the teacher's position of their own teachings at university boundaries, so close as those students could attend college there and have free use of our library and any other accommodation we can give them, preserve, however, their independence from us and each other.It fills our resentment, as a flaw in the institution claiming to give instruction in all the sciences useful... And by bringing the sect together, and mixing it with the masses of other students, we will soften their pretense, liberalize and neutralize their prejudices, and make the common religion a religion of peace, reason and morality. "- Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1822. MY 15: 405
References
Bibliography
- Malone, Dumas (1948). Jefferson, The Virginian . Jefferson and His Time. 1 . Little Brown. OCLCÃ, 1823927.
- McDonald, Robert M. S. (2004). Military Academy Thomas Jefferson: Establishment of West Point . Jeffersonian America. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2298-0.
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