Topic: Education
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The Compleat Auctioner
In this 1750 print, the “Compleat Auctioneer” sells books to women and men seeking “Learning” and “Wit.” The plainly dressed man on the right is not a gentleman. In the...
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Thomas Jefferson’s Books
Jefferson had thousands of books on various topics in his library at Monticello. These volumes contain the writings of ancient Greek authors, including the historian Thucydides. Jefferson believed that knowledge...
Lesson Plan
Thomas Jefferson’s Expectations
Using Jefferson quotes and primary and secondary sources, this lesson focuses on the importance of education and why we need to value education today. The goal of the lesson is...
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To the Speakers of the House of Delegates, and of the Senate
In this 1801 speech, Governor James Monroe made a powerful case in favor of public education in Virginia. Governments that depended on the people for their talents and support, he...
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Type Improved Compound Microscope
Thomas Jefferson purchased a microscope in Europe in 1786. Seventeenth-century scientists used the earliest microscopes to study biology. By the eighteenth century, these instruments were also available to wealthy men...
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University of Virginia, Charlottesville, & Monticello
This print shows the University of Virginia in 1856, when approximately 600 students were attending it. Charlottesville appears in the distance, and Monticello lies beyond the town atop its mountain....
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Views of Williamsburg
This print depicts the chief buildings in Williamsburg, Virginia’s colonial capital. The top row shows the Governor’s Palace. The second row features the Wren Building at the College of William...
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Virgil’s Aeneid
This Latin edition of Virgil bears the signatures of both Thomas Jefferson and his close friend Dabney Carr. The two men met as students at a Latin school in Albemarle...
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Webster’s Dictionary
Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828. Webster was a strong nationalist. Like the spelling books he had produced since the 1780s, his dictionary was...
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