Rot, Riot, and Rebellion

Rot, Riot, and Rebellion PDF Author: Rex Bowman
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813934710
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
Thomas Jefferson had a radical dream for higher education. Designed to become the first modern public university, the University of Virginia was envisioned as a liberal campus with no religious affiliation, with elective courses and student self-government. Nearly two centuries after the university’s creation, its success now seems preordained—its founder, after all, was a great American genius. Yet what many don’t know is that Jefferson’s university almost failed. In Rot, Riot, and Rebellion, award-winning journalists Rex Bowman and Carlos Santos offer a dramatic re-creation of the university’s early struggles. Political enemies, powerful religious leaders, and fundamentalist Christians fought Jefferson and worked to thwart his dream. Rich students, many from southern plantations, held a sense of honor and entitlement that compelled them to resist even minor rules and regulations. They fought professors, townsfolk, and each other with guns, knives, and fists. In response, professors armed themselves—often with good reason: one was horsewhipped, others were attacked in their classrooms, and one was twice the target of a bomb. The university was often broke, and Jefferson’s enemies, crouched and ready to pounce, looked constantly for reasons to close its doors. Yet from its tumultuous, early days, Jefferson’s university—a cauldron of unrest and educational daring—blossomed into the first real American university. Here, Bowman and Santos bring us into the life of the University of Virginia at its founding to reveal how this once shaky institution grew into a novel, American-style university on which myriad other U.S. universities were modeled.

Rot, Riot, and Rebellion

Rot, Riot, and Rebellion PDF Author: Rex Bowman
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813934710
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
Thomas Jefferson had a radical dream for higher education. Designed to become the first modern public university, the University of Virginia was envisioned as a liberal campus with no religious affiliation, with elective courses and student self-government. Nearly two centuries after the university’s creation, its success now seems preordained—its founder, after all, was a great American genius. Yet what many don’t know is that Jefferson’s university almost failed. In Rot, Riot, and Rebellion, award-winning journalists Rex Bowman and Carlos Santos offer a dramatic re-creation of the university’s early struggles. Political enemies, powerful religious leaders, and fundamentalist Christians fought Jefferson and worked to thwart his dream. Rich students, many from southern plantations, held a sense of honor and entitlement that compelled them to resist even minor rules and regulations. They fought professors, townsfolk, and each other with guns, knives, and fists. In response, professors armed themselves—often with good reason: one was horsewhipped, others were attacked in their classrooms, and one was twice the target of a bomb. The university was often broke, and Jefferson’s enemies, crouched and ready to pounce, looked constantly for reasons to close its doors. Yet from its tumultuous, early days, Jefferson’s university—a cauldron of unrest and educational daring—blossomed into the first real American university. Here, Bowman and Santos bring us into the life of the University of Virginia at its founding to reveal how this once shaky institution grew into a novel, American-style university on which myriad other U.S. universities were modeled.

The Founding of Thomas Jefferson's University

The Founding of Thomas Jefferson's University PDF Author: John A. Ragosta
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 081394323X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Established in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the University of Virginia was known as "The University" throughout the South for most of the nineteenth century, and today it stands as one of the premier universities in the world. This volume provides an in-depth look at the founding of the University and, in the process, develops new and important insights into Jefferson’s contributions as well as into the impact of the University on the history of higher education. The contributors depict the students who were entering higher education in the early republic--their aspirations, their juvenile and often violent confrontations with authority, and their relationships with enslaved workers at the University. Contributors then turn to the building of the University, including its unique architectural plan as an "Academical Village" and the often-hidden role of African Americans in its construction and day-to-day life. The next set of essays explore various aspects of Jefferson’s intellectual vision for the University, including his innovative scheme for medical education, his dogmatic view of the necessity of a "republican" legal education, and the detailed plans for the library by Jefferson, one of America’s preeminent bibliophiles. The book concludes by considering the changing nature of education in the early nineteenth century, in particular the new focus on research and discovery, in which Jefferson, again, played an important role. Providing a fascinating and important look at the development of one of America’s oldest and most preeminent educational institutions, this book provides yet another perspective from which to appreciate the extraordinary contributions of Jefferson in the development of the new nation.

Thomas Jefferson's Lives

Thomas Jefferson's Lives PDF Author: Robert M. S. McDonald
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813942926
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
Who was the "real" Thomas Jefferson? If this question has an answer, it will probably not be revealed reading the many accounts of his life. For two centuries biographers have provided divergent perspectives on him as a man and conflicting appraisals of his accomplishments. Jefferson was controversial in his own time, and his propensity to polarize continued in the years after his death as biographers battled to control the commanding heights of history. To judge from their depictions, there existed many different Thomas Jeffersons. The essays in this book explore how individual biographers have shaped history—as well as how the interests and preoccupations of the times in which they wrote helped to shape their portrayals of Jefferson. In different eras biographers presented the third president variously as a proponent of individual rights or of majority rule, as a unifier or a fierce partisan, and as a champion of either American nationalism or cosmopolitanism. Conscripted to serve Whigs and Democrats, abolitionists and slaveholders, unionists and secessionists, Populists and Progressives, and seemingly every side of almost every subsequent struggle, the only constant was that Jefferson’s image remained a mirror of Americans’ self-conscious conceptions of their nation’s virtues, values, and vices. Thomas Jefferson’s Lives brings together leading scholars of Jefferson and his era, all of whom embrace the challenge to assess some of the most important and enduring accounts of Jefferson’s life. Contributors:Jon Meacham, presidential historian * Barbara Oberg, Princeton University * J. Jefferson Looney, Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello * Christine Coalwell McDonald, Westchester Community College * Robert M.S. McDonald, United States Military Academy * Andrew Burstein, Louisiana State University * Jan Ellen Lewis, Rutgers University * Richard Samuelson, California State University, San Bernardino * Nancy Isenberg, Louisiana State University * Joanne B. Freeman, Yale University * Brian Steele, University of Alabama at Birmingham * Herbert Sloan, Barnard College * R. B. Bernstein, City College of New York * Francis D. Cogliano, University of Edinburgh * Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University * Gordon S. Wood, Brown University

The Cavernous Mind of Thomas Jefferson, an American Savant

The Cavernous Mind of Thomas Jefferson, an American Savant PDF Author: M. Andrew Holowchak
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527541142
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
While every biographer has something to say concerning Thomas Jefferson’s cavernous mind—his varied interests and the depth of his understanding of them—there has never been, strange as it might seem, a non-anthology dedicated to fleshing out key features of his mind, exploring Jefferson’s varied interests through his varied personae. This book—studying Jefferson as lawyer, moralist, politician, scientist, epistolist, aesthetician, farmer, educationalist, and philologist—does just that. In tracing out the many “hats” Jefferson wore, there are many disclosures here. For instance, personal growth and human betterment were driving forces throughout his life, and they shaped his liberal and agrarian political philosophy, which, in turn, shaped his philosophy of education. Moreover, Jefferson was a great lover of beauty, but beauty for him was always second to functionality. That had implications for his views on agriculture, morality, aesthetics, philology, and even the Fine Arts. The structure of this book—covering an array of topics related to the mind of Jefferson—will make it appeal to a large audience. In addition, scholarly details in each chapter will make it must-read for Jeffersonian researchers.

Wisdom's Workshop

Wisdom's Workshop PDF Author: James Axtell
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691247587
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
An essential history of the modern research university When universities began in the Middle Ages, Pope Gregory IX described them as "wisdom's special workshop." He could not have foreseen how far these institutions would travel and develop. Tracing the eight-hundred-year evolution of the elite research university from its roots in medieval Europe to its remarkable incarnation today, Wisdom's Workshop places this durable institution in sweeping historical perspective. In particular, James Axtell focuses on the ways that the best American universities took on Continental influences, developing into the finest expressions of the modern university and enviable models for kindred institutions worldwide. Despite hand-wringing reports to the contrary, the venerable university continues to renew itself, becoming ever more indispensable to society in the United States and beyond. Born in Europe, the university did not mature in America until the late nineteenth century. Once its heirs proliferated from coast to coast, their national role expanded greatly during World War II and the Cold War. Axtell links the legacies of European universities and Tudor-Stuart Oxbridge to nine colonial and hundreds of pre–Civil War colleges, and delves into how U.S. universities were shaped by Americans who studied in German universities and adapted their discoveries to domestic conditions and goals. The graduate school, the PhD, and the research imperative became and remain the hallmarks of the American university system and higher education institutions around the globe. A rich exploration of the historical lineage of today's research universities, Wisdom's Workshop explains the reasons for their ascendancy in America and their continued international preeminence.

Thomas Jefferson—Revolutionary

Thomas Jefferson—Revolutionary PDF Author: Kevin R. C. Gutzman
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1250010810
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
"In this lively and clearly written book, Kevin Gutzman makes a compelling case for the broad range and radical ambitions of Thomas Jefferson's commitment to human equality." - Alan Taylor, Pulitzer Prize winning author of American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 Though remembered chiefly as author of the Declaration of Independence and the president under whom the Louisiana Purchase was effected, Thomas Jefferson was a true revolutionary in the way he thought about the size and reach of government, which Americans who were full citizens and the role of education in the new country. In his new book, Kevin Gutzman gives readers a new view of Jefferson—a revolutionary who effected radical change in a growing country. Jefferson’s philosophy about the size and power of the federal system almost completely undergirded the Jeffersonian Republican Party. His forceful advocacy of religious freedom was not far behind, as were attempts to incorporate Native Americans into American society. His establishment of the University of Virginia might be one of the most important markers of the man’s abilities and character. He was not without flaws. While he argued for the assimilation of Native Americans into society, he did not assume the same for Africans being held in slavery while—at the same time—insisting that slavery should cease to exist. Many still accuse Jefferson of hypocrisy on the ground that he both held that “all men are created equal” and held men as slaves. Jefferson’s true character, though, is more complex than that as Kevin Gutzman shows in his new book about Jefferson, a revolutionary whose accomplishments went far beyond the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Riot, Rebellion, and Revolution

Riot, Rebellion, and Revolution PDF Author: Friedrich Katz
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400860121
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 605

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Book Description
Since the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920, Mexico's rebellious peasant has become a subject not only of history but of literature, film, and paintings. With his sombrero, his machete, and his rifle, he marches or rides through countless Hollywood or Mexican films, killing brutal overseers, hacienda owners, corrupt officials, and federal soldiers. Some of Mexico's greatest painters, such as Diego Rivera, have portrayed him as one of the motive forces of Mexican history. Was this in fact the case? Or are we dealing with a legend forged in the aftermath of the Revolution and applied to the Revolution itself and to earlier periods of Mexican history? This is one of the main questions discussed by the international group of scholars whose work is gathered in this volume. They address the subject of agrarian revolts in Mexico from the pre-Columbian period through the twentieth century. The volume offers a unique perspective not only on Mexican riots, rebellions, and revolutions through time but also on Mexican social movements in contrast to those in the rest of Latin America. The contributors to the volume are Ulises Beltran, Raymond Buve, John Coatsworth, Romana Falcon, John M. Hart, Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Friedrich Katz, William K. Meyers, Enrique Montalvo Ortega, Herbert J. Nickel, Leticia Reina, William Taylor, Hans Werner Tobler, John Tutino, Arturo Warman, and Eric Van Young. Originally published in 1988. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Founders as Fathers

Founders as Fathers PDF Author: Lorri Glover
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300178603
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Explores the family life of the Founding Fathers, providing intimate portraits of the households of such revolutionaries as George Mason, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.

Anatomy of a Duel

Anatomy of a Duel PDF Author: Stuart W. Sanders
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081319847X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
When the popular musical Hamilton showcased the celebrated duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, it reminded twenty-first-century Americans that some honor-bound citizens once used negotiated, formal fights as a way to settle differences. During the Civil War, two prominent Kentuckians—one a Union colonel and the other a pro-Confederate civilian—continued this legacy by dueling. At a time when thousands of soldiers were slaughtering one another on battlefields, Colonel Leonidas Metcalfe and William T. Casto transformed the bank of the Ohio River into their own personal battleground. On May 8, 1862, these two men, both of whom were steeped in Southern honor culture, fought a formal duel with rifles at sixty yards. And, as in the fight between Hamilton and Burr, only one man walked away. Anatomy of a Duel: Secession, Civil War, and the Evolution of Kentucky Violence examines why white male Kentuckians engaged in the "honor culture" of duels and provides fascinating narratives that trace the lives of duelists. Stuart W. Sanders explores why, during a time when Americans were killing one another in open, brutal warfare, Casto and Metcalfe engaged in the process of negotiating and fighting a duel. In deconstructing the event, Sanders details why these distinguished Kentuckians found themselves on the dueling ground during the nation's bloodiest conflict, how society and the Civil War pushed them to fight, why duels continued to be fought in Kentucky even after this violent confrontation, and how Kentuckians applied violence after the Civil War. Anatomy of a Duel is a comprehensive and compelling look at how the secession crisis sparked the Casto-Metcalfe duel—a confrontation that impacted the evolution of violence in Kentucky.

The Law School at the University of Virginia

The Law School at the University of Virginia PDF Author: Philip Mills Herrington
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813939461
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a masterwork of Thomas Jefferson, the "Academical Village" at the heart of the University of Virginia has long attracted the attention of visitors and scholars alike. Yet today Jefferson’s original structures make up only a small fraction of a campus comprising over 1,600 acres. The Law School at the University of Virginia traces the history of one of the eight original schools of the University to study the development of the University Grounds over nearly two hundred years. In this book, Philip Mills Herrington relates the remarkable story of how the Law School and the University have used architecture to reconcile a desire for progress with a veneration for the past. In addition to providing a fascinating history of one of the oldest and most influential law schools in the United States, Herrington offers a valuable case study of the ways in which American universities have constructed, altered, and enhanced the built environment in response to the ever-changing demands of higher education and campus life.