Slaves, Freedpeople, and the University of Virginia

Historians have considered slavery in Virginia and in Albemarle County at length. The issue of slavery at the University of Virginia, however, has never been explored. The study of slavery at UVa adds to the discussion an exploration of the coexistence of Jeffersonian ideals and Southern ideals in one place. Robert McColley began this discussion in his 1964 book Slavery and Jeffersonian Virginia. McColley explains that the coexistence of Jefferson's "racist fears and profit-motives" and his noble ideas of freedom formed an unstable relationship. McColley ends his book in 1820, the end of the Jeffersonian era. Jefferson, however, lived for six more years and the institution of slavery existed for forty-five more. My work shows the incompatibility and yet coexistence of Jeffersonian ideals of freedom and liberty and the Southern ideals of slavery and racism. Jefferson's self-proclaimed hobby of his old age, UVa, inherited the struggle between liberty and slavery from its father.

Undergraduate honors thesis.

Thesis originally deposited on 2015-04-15 in version 1.28 of Libra. This thesis was migrated to Libra2 on 2016-11-30 15:25:52.