Emersons Genius

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self Reliance” essay he starts by defining genius: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men....that is genius.” In saying this Emerson conveys that you should not be ashamed of your thoughts or ideas because there is a good chance that somebody else has the same thought. When he says “to believe your own thought” he saying that you need to put that thought into action before someone else does so and gets the credit for it. Emerson then says to trust in your thoughts and to never have doubts about them because other people are having the same thoughts and when you doubt them, you delay putting them into action. He opens his essay with this statement because it accurately conveys his feelings about the thought of the human mind.  

Was Jefferson a Hypocrite?

Many people believe that it was hypocritical of Thomas Jefferson to be such a famous advocate of freedom and liberty for men of all kind and at the same time to be an owner of over one hundred slaves during his life. Thomas Jefferson was not a hypocrite, instead he was a hard working generous person who loved people and desired to offer them the best he could.

            Jefferson once said “there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more than I would, to relieve us from this heavy reproach [slavery]... we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.” By saying this, Jefferson suggests that slavery is vital to the growing, unstable nation and even though it might not be the right thing to do, it is necessary. He believed that not only his plantation at Monticello but the entire nation would fail without slavery. Jefferson thought that the nations economy was too dependant on slavery to abolish it during his lifetime. He also believed that he was giving his enslaved workers a better life than they would have had outside of Monticello.

            Slave life at Monticello was not as bad as you might think. Many of the workers were allowed to stay in the house with Jefferson and do the household chores while others were specially trained in areas such as nail making, brick making and cooking instead of working outside in the fields. Jefferson also tried as hard as he could to keep slave families together. He would sometimes buy a family of four or more slaves instead of the one slave that he desired so that he could keep the family together. Jefferson was quoted as saying that his slaves were “worth a great deal more” because he kept married slaves and their families together. Jefferson sometimes even explained to his slaves what their lives would be like outside of his plantation to discourage them from running away to a much harsher life. Jefferson did have six children with one of his enslaved workers named Sally Hemings. However, he freed these children of slavery because he believed that they appeared to be white enough to survive in the free world without being discriminated against.

            Jefferson also believed that slaves could not be released during the time that he owned them because they were too important to the young country’s economy. One of the country’s main cash crops was tobacco. Almost all of the plantations in the east grew the plant because it was such a huge money maker. Slaves were vital to this operation because they did everything but sell the tobacco and without them tending to it the economy would have taken a huge hit. Another reason that Jefferson could not free his slaves was because he was in debt for almost his entire life. His slaves made it easier for him to live in debt because he obviously did not have to pay anybody to do the work for him.

            In a letter to Edmund Cole, Jefferson explains to him why he does not think emancipation was necessary at that time. One of the things Jefferson writes to Edmund is "...the hour of emancipation is advancing, in the march of time. It will come; and whether brought on by the generous energy of our own minds; or by the bloody process of St Domingo, excited and conducted by the power of our present enemy, if once stationed permanently within our Country, and offering asylum & arms to the oppressed, is a leaf of our history not yet turned over." He is saying that slavery will be abolished whether they advocate it or not. This was one of the main reasons that Jefferson did not push for the abolition of slavery anymore than he did.

            If Thomas Jefferson was hypocritical about slavery like so many people believe, he would have been violent with them and he wouldn’t have cared about keeping families together like he did so often. He did not like slavery by any means but he knew how important it was t him and the country so he chose to turn a blind eye to the cruel side of slavery and hoped people would treat their slaves the way he did until the nation no longer depended on it.  

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery

Religion and Education Summary

Thomas Jefferson had a unique perspective on religion for his time. He “put his faith in his religion” (Onuf). Although he did not want to make his religious beliefs known, he did believe that there should be “a wall of separation between church and state” (Onuf), he believed that he was a “true Christian” and he believed that his ideas would grow and spread throughout the nation.

            When Jefferson refers to the “wall of separation between church and state” he means that people should not be judged by their religious beliefs or non-beliefs. This is part of the reason that he never made his religious views officially public. For example, when he ran for President of the United States he was especially protective of his beliefs because he did not want citizens to vote for him because he was or was not a Christian. However, if Jefferson were to classify his religion he would call himself a “true Christian”. In saying this, Jefferson believed that his take on Christianity was the correct one. He eliminated parts of the bible that he did not think were true, such as the virgin birth and the miracles performed by Jesus, essentially created the “Jefferson Bible”. He once told a man named Peter Carr “to avoid religion until ‘your reason’ is sufficiently ‘mature’” (Onuf).Jefferson believed that his take on Christianity would eventually grow to be one of the most accepted religions around the world. Even though there were priests in Jefferson’s day that did not accept his theory and even called him “infidel”, he still believed that people would brake away from the “priestly” church and begin to use their reason with their religion as Jefferson did.

            Although Jefferson’s ideas did not spread like he hoped they would, he was very successful with his theory on the “wall of separation between church and state”. In fact, he was so successful with this theory that it is still used today and is still believed to be a vital piece of our government.

Thomas Jefferson Tattoo

Thomas Jefferson was extremely deserving of his accomplishments. He seemed to be most proud of his never-ending desire for knowledge and the fact that he founded the  University of Virginia. If he were to create a tattoo for himself, I believe that he would incorporate both of these things into the design. The tattoo would be placed on his right arm and it would be a book with the University of Virginia logo on the cover of it.

            Jefferson would have wanted a book to be part of his tattoo because books were such a huge part of his life. He loved books because he believed they made everyone that read them more intelligent about the world they were living in. He had multiple libraries during his lifetime and even owned upwards of 4,000 books at one point. Jefferson was even quoted as saying “I cannot live without books”.

            Jefferson thought non-religious controlled education was vital for a successful country, which is part of the reason he founded the University of Virginia in 1819. He would want this to be a part of his tattoo because it was such an important part of his life that he listed it as one of his three greatest accomplishments on his tombstone along with being the author of The Declaration of Independence and writing the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom. He was involved in everything from designing the buildings on the campus to deciding how people would be accepted into the University.

            Thomas Jefferson was a lover of knowledge, education, and books. Therefore a tattoo incorporating a book and the University of Virginia logo would be a good choice for him.  

  

    

Dear Mr Jefferson

Dear Mr. Jefferson,

                The field of architecture is something I have been interested in for some time.  As I approach the point in my life where I can now begin to consider a future career, I realize that my interest in architecture has only grown through the years.  I know that you have an extensive collection of books in the field of architecture.  There is one in particular that I respectfully ask if I may borrow.  The book that is of interest to me is called Palladian Architecture by Andrea Palladio.  I feel this book would significantly meet my needs as it would provide valuable information in my chosen career path.

                When I was in the seventh grade, I did a Science experiment that taught me the best way to build a structure.  The assignment, according to my teacher, was to “create a structure that can withstand the weight of three textbooks.”  Throughout the project, I had to experiment with several different geometric designs.  I found the trial and error required in the experiment to be not only challenging, but also thrilling.  The pride my group felt in determining the best design was immense.  What we discovered was that the best design for building a structure was to design the frame using triangles.  I was amazed at the sheer strength the triangle shape allowed.  It was during this time that I determined that architecture could be a potential career choice for me.

                In keeping with this interest, last summer I had the opportunity to work for a custom home builder, assisting in the construction of a two-story home.  The builder allowed me to meet the architect and observe his plans.  I noticed that the triangle principle learned in seventh grade was utilized in the plans for this house.  It was also exciting to me to notice that this same style of architecture is used at your University of Virginia where the Palladian style was incorporated.

                Thank you for considering my request to borrow Palladian Architecture by Andrea Palladio.  I feel that this book could provide considerable help to me as I begin a career in architecture. 

Sincerely,

Tanner Hollinger

Thomas Jefferson's Religion

Webster’s defines deism as belief in a god’s existence based on reason rather than on divine revelation.  Thomas Jefferson did not reveal his religion to the public because he did not want people to judge him for his beliefs.  However, many people believe that Jefferson may have been a deist based on a few beliefs that were made public.

Christianity is based on the belief that Jesus, the son of God, was born from a virgin named Mary.  Many deists believe that this could not have happened, and so did Jefferson.  He believed that since it is not possible for a human to become pregnant while still being a virgin that it was not possible for even the son of God to be born of a virgin.  To believe in a virgin birth, faith in a God that cannot be seen is necessary.  Jefferson likely struggled with the faith needed to believe this.  This is a perfect example of Jefferson’s reasoning getting in the way of his religion.  It is also one of the reasons that he decided that he would create his own Bible, but in doing so, would eliminate parts of the Bible that he did not believe in.  Jefferson did not acknowledge things like Jesus feeding a multitude of people with a very small amount of food or instances where Jesus healed the sick.  It seemed Jefferson struggled to accept the miracles that Jesus performed, and while he believed and acknowledged some parts of the Bible, those aspects that required faith to believe, he simply eliminated.

His struggle with miracles, his disbelief in a virgin birth, his own intelligence and reasoning hindering his ability to believe, all lead one to believe that Thomas Jefferson was a deist.  Although he attempted to hide this fact from the public, the evidence points to deism.