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My Visit With Thomas Jefferson
Pretty sure I heard him rolling in his grave
Earlier this month, I visited Monticello.
My husband and I were visiting a friend in Charlottesville. Her home is about a 10-minute drive from one of the most famous historical sites in the U.S., Monticello.
Which is, of course, the home of Founding Father, third U.S. President, primary Declaration of Independence author, and founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson.
Who was also, during his lifetime, the enslaver of over 600 human beings.
Situated on a rise overlooking a verdant swath of Virginia’s Piedmont region, Monticello is now a World Heritage Site. It’s also the place to visit if you want a visceral sense of the inherent contradictions at the natal core of America — and of Jefferson himself.
I’d been to Monticello some 23 years before, escorting a group of eighth graders on their school-sponsored excursion from California to points of historical interest from Jamestown, VA, to Gettysburg, PA, with several 14-hour days in Washington, DC as the anchor of the trip.
Monticello was a definite highlight.
What impressed me most about Monticello back then was the sheer scope and audacity of Jefferson’s vision and reach for the…
