Monticello - T. Jefferson's home

We took the tour after eating lunch at the Michie Tavern. We were already in historic mode and were just down the street so we popped in. I had actually been there a few years ago with the intention of seeing Monticello but I didn't arrive in time to get in. So it was on my bucket list even though it wasn't anywhere near the top of the list.

You get a tour time when you buy your ticket. This makes sense since they can only accommodate so many people in each room. We had some time to kill so we hopped on the shuttle and went over to see some of the grounds. They have vegetable gardens that try to replicate what life was like back in TJ's time. Most of the outbuildings are gone but there are maps showing you where things were.

The tour guides are very informative. It's 1 thing to see a sight but it's another when someone knowledgeable is telling you the back story. Interesting that way back when being president wasn't a lucrative gig. Jefferson accumulated $10K in debt during his term as president. I'm sure that was a small fortune back then. Of course when he died his family was left with a lot of debt so they sold off a lot of his property & possessions to stay solvent. He had accumulated 1,600 books as he was an avid reader. He also understood 7 languages and would read different language books.

Slavery was legal back in his time. The guide seemed to be an apologist on that subject. She claimed that he was uncomfortable with the idea of slavery but didn't see how anything would be profitable without it. His farm never turned a profit. Only 1 of his 6 kids lived past the age of 7. He may have fathered 6 more children with 1 of his slaves. 3 of those children also died young.

Since he read a lot he was very curious about gadgets and such. He installed a dumbwaiter in his home and also had a revolving wall so food could be passed into the dining room without the servants having to enter the room.

Enough of the recap. Get down to Charlottesville and take the tour. You can't take pictures in the home, only on the grounds. So no interior house pictures to show.

Interesting about Thomas Jefferson:

The news media today would have had a field day with him. He was not only a slave owner, but he was a hypocrite about it. He supposedly didn't like the idea of slavery, but he didn't see how he could run his farm or household without it, and he was also not above using his female slaves as unwilling sex partners. He was incredibly financially irresponsible, buying thousands of books, furniture, and other trappings while borrowing vast sums that he never paid back. He was in so much debt when he died that his family had to sell the home and land just to pay his creditors. He also was a coward: his famous quote about the tree of liberty being refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants didn't extend to his own blood; when the British got close to Monticello he ran like hell, abandoning his slaves to deal with the invaders.

The docent who led our tour came across as apologetic, as Monello said, and she was clearly a big admirer of Jefferson, but the stories she tells paint the picture of a petty hypocrite of low character. Kind of like our politicians today.

vraiblonde said:

Interesting about Thomas Jefferson:

The news media today would have had a field day with him. He was not only a slave owner, but he was a hypocrite about it. He supposedly didn't like the idea of slavery, but he didn't see how he could run his farm or household without it, and he was also not above using his female slaves as unwilling sex partners. He was incredibly financially irresponsible, buying thousands of books, furniture, and other trappings while borrowing vast sums that he never paid back. He was in so much debt when he died that his family had to sell the home and land just to pay his creditors. He also was a coward: his famous quote about the tree of liberty being refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants didn't extend to his own blood; when the British got close to Monticello he ran like hell, abandoning his slaves to deal with the invaders.

The docent who led our tour came across as apologetic, as Monello said, and she was clearly a big admirer of Jefferson, but the stories she tells paint the picture of a petty hypocrite of low character. Kind of like our politicians today.

Click to expand...

Reading your post has sort of verified something I suspected from reading the John Adams book. I came away from it with a pretty sour taste in my mouth about not only Thomas Jefferson but also Benjamin Franklin. There was quite a lot in the book about Jefferson's spend thriftiness and borrowing habits and about how much debt he amassed. As far as Benjamin Franklin goes, I was really annoyed at the way he treated John Adams when they were in Paris.

Bobwhite said:

Reading your post has sort of verified something I suspected from reading the John Adams book. I came away from it with a pretty sour taste in my mouth about not only Thomas Jefferson but also Benjamin Franklin. There was quite a lot in the book about Jefferson's spend thriftiness and borrowing habits and about how much debt he amassed. As far as Benjamin Franklin goes, I was really annoyed at the way he treated John Adams when they were in Paris.

Click to expand...

I think it's important to remember that our Founding Fathers were just men, and not deify them. That doesn't take away from what they actually did with regard to setting up a new nation, but many of them were quite flawed human beings. Not even by today's standards, but by any moral standard throughout history.

Hero-worshipping strangers, no matter who they are or what their accomplishments, is never a good idea.