Spent y'day at montecello in c'ville.

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oaktonhokie
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Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:48 pm

Spent y'day at montecello in c'ville.

Post by oaktonhokie »

That Jefferson feller was pretty smart.

Gotta say though, that while the residence was impressive, I expected something bigger, more palatial.

It was not versailles.

It was impressive, to be sure. I suspect my expectations were out of line.

They said the floors were 90% original. They were all covered with rugs and mats, but I managed to step on some of the floor on the other side of the ropes, in order to have stood where Jefferson himself stood.

His three most admired men in history above all others were francis bacon, issac newton and john locke.

No mention of da vinci which I found interesting as imo, Jefferson and davinci were similar in a lot of ways. Seeking knowledge for the sake of knowledge and improving many simple things around the home to make life better.

I was impressed with the way in which they handled the slavery thing. They mentioned that Jefferson wrote and spoke often of the horrors of slavery, but was a large slave owner. He never freed any of his slave while living and granted freedom to only five at this death. They said that Jefferson fathered five (?) kids with sally hemmings. The guide acknowledged that there has been debate on this for years, but with dna and other evidence, the position of the montecello society (?) is that Jefferson did father children with hemmings.

They did not excessively harp on Jefferson for being an evil slaveholder, nor did they gloss over the issue of slavery in that time and his dalliances with hemmings.

I was tempted to talk to an older black couple on the tour to ask how they felt about the slave history of Jefferson and the united states. The couple seemed very nice and would have been interesting to speak with. The opportunity never presented itself.

The big surprise was that Jefferson mentioned only bacon, newton and locke.

No mention of the receptical.
If you bend over backwards long enough,
eventually you'll fall down.
Florida Hokie
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Re: Spent y'day at montecello in c'ville.

Post by Florida Hokie »

oaktonhokie wrote:I was tempted to talk to an older black couple on the tour to ask how they felt about the slave history of Jefferson and the united states.
I would have paid BIG money to watch that.
hokie80
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Re: Spent y'day at montecello in c'ville.

Post by hokie80 »

Florida Hokie wrote:
oaktonhokie wrote:I was tempted to talk to an older black couple on the tour to ask how they felt about the slave history of Jefferson and the united states.
I would have paid BIG money to watch that.
Yep.

A complete white stranger goes up to a black couple and asks them about this out of the blue.
oaktonhokie
Posts: 11324
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:48 pm

Re: Spent y'day at montecello in c'ville.

Post by oaktonhokie »

Wow, you and the minstrual automatically assume that a conversation with black people about slavery would be .... what, inappropriate, confrontational, demeaning....I know, racist.

Why?


hokie80 wrote:
Florida Hokie wrote:
oaktonhokie wrote:I was tempted to talk to an older black couple on the tour to ask how they felt about the slave history of Jefferson and the united states.
I would have paid BIG money to watch that.
Yep.

A complete white stranger goes up to a black couple and asks them about this out of the blue.
If you bend over backwards long enough,
eventually you'll fall down.
Florida Hokie
Posts: 3676
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 1:05 pm
Alma Mater: Virginia Tech
Party: Like a Rock Star

Re: Spent y'day at montecello in c'ville.

Post by Florida Hokie »

oaktonhokie wrote:Wow, you and the minstrual automatically assume that a conversation with black people about slavery would be .... what, inappropriate, confrontational, demeaning....I know, racist.

Why?
Because of the person asking the question.
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