Notes On The State Of Virginia

"Notes on the State of Virginia" is the only full-length book which Jefferson published during his lifetime. Widely considered the most important American book published before 1800, this book is both a compilation of data by Jefferson about the state's natural resources and economy, and his vigorous argument about the nature of the good society, which he believed was incarnated by Virginia. Contents: An Exact Description of the Limits and Boundaries of the State of Virginia A Notice of the Rivers, Rivulets, and How Far They Are Navigable A Notice of the Best Seaports of the State, and How Big Are the Vessels They Can Receive A Notice of Its Mountains Its Cascades and Caverns A Notice of the Mines and Other Subterraneous Riches; Its Trees, Plants, Fruits, &c. A Notice of All That Can Increase the Progress of Human Knowledge The Number of Its Inhabitants The Number and Condition of the Militia and Regular Troops, and Their Pay The Marine A Description of the Indians Established in That State A Notice of the Counties, Cities, Townships and Villages The Constitution of the State, and Its Several Charters The Administration of Justice and the Description of the Laws The Colleges and Public Establishments, the Roads, Buildings, &c. The Measures Taken With Regard to the Estates and Possessions of the Rebels, Commonly Called Tories The Different Religions Received Into That State The Particular Customs and Manners That May Happen to Be Received in That State The Present State of Manufactures, Commerce, Interior and Exterior Trade The Public Income and Expenses The Histories of the State, the Memorials Published in Its Name in the Time of Its Being a Colony, and the Pamphlets Relating to Its Interior or Exterior Affairs, Present or Ancient

While in London in 1705, Robert Beverley wrote and published The History and Present State of Virginia, one of the earliest printed English-language histories about North America by an author born there. Like his brother-in-law William Byrd II, Beverley was a scion of Virginia's planter elite, personally ambitious and at odds with royal governors in the colony. As a native-born American--most famously claiming "I am an Indian--he provided English readers with the first thoroughgoing account of the province's past, natural history, Indians, and current politics and society. In this new edition, Susan Scott Parrish situates Beverley and his History in the context of the metropolitan-provincial political and cultural issues of his day and explores the many contradictions embedded in his narrative. Parrish's introduction and the accompanying annotation, along with a fresh transcription of the 1705 publication and a more comprehensive comparison of emendations in the 1722 edition, will open Beverley's History to new, twenty-first-century readings by students of transatlantic history, colonialism, natural science, literature, and ethnohistory.

Enlightened Republicanism is the first book-length study of Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia. It reveals the character and intent of his revolutionary politics, which sought to bring political life as much as possible into accord with the complex and varied demands of nature.

This analysis of Thomas Jefferson's only published work demonstrates the political aspirations behind its composition, publication and dissemination.

From the University of Virginia’s very inception, slavery was deeply woven into its fabric. Enslaved people first helped to construct and then later lived in the Academical Village; they raised and prepared food, washed clothes, cleaned privies, and chopped wood. They maintained the buildings, cleaned classrooms, and served as personal servants to faculty and students. At any given time, there were typically more than one hundred enslaved people residing alongside the students, faculty, and their families. The central paradox at the heart of UVA is also that of the nation: What does it mean to have a public university established to preserve democratic rights that is likewise founded and maintained on the stolen labor of others? In Educated in Tyranny, Maurie McInnis, Louis Nelson, and a group of contributing authors tell the largely unknown story of slavery at the University of Virginia. While UVA has long been celebrated as fulfilling Jefferson’s desire to educate citizens to lead and govern, McInnis and Nelson document the burgeoning political rift over slavery as Jefferson tried to protect southern men from anti-slavery ideas in northern institutions. In uncovering this history, Educated in Tyranny changes how we see the university during its first fifty years and understand its history hereafter.