Monday, August 01, 2011

Monticello

Today Cardgrrl and I drove out to Charlottesville, Virginia, to see Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. Highly recommended. If you somehow went in not understanding what a complicated, interesting, and influential man he was, the visit will set your mind straight. You will, of course, also be left with that central conundrum in understanding his life of contradictions: How could a man who wrote so eloquently about and labored so diligently for liberty and equality own 600 slaves? (The tour guides, incidentally, are careful about their language. They never mention "slaves." Now the politically correct term is "enslaved workers." Who knew that slaves had PR people still working on their behalf to straighten out our language?)

Many photos to process, but it may be several days before I get to them. For now I'll just leave you with these two.






4 comments:

Memphis MOJO said...

Nice images.

Lucypher said...

Definiteley one of our most important Founders. Author of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Virginia, President of the United States, fortified US Navy and routed pirates of Barbary Coast, made historic Louisiana Purchase, etc., etc.

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angeroo said...

Hmm. Somehow I think this ineffectual euphemism was cooked up more to protect Jefferson's legacy than to protect slaves and their descendants. Think about it. This sounds like slave-owner PR, not the other way around.