Until modern times, early childhood was a period of extreme peril.
Child mortality took a heavy toll and it was routine for parents to experience the loss of many children. Women routinely died due to problems related to childbirth. Thomas Jefferson, like many of his peers, experienced devastating losses. When Jefferson began courting Martha Wayles Skelton, a young widow, he was prepared to adopt her son, John Skelton, but he died before reaching five years of age. Jefferson had six children with Martha, but only two of his daughters survived to adulthood and only one daughter survived him. Martha died months after giving birth for the final time due to injuries sustained in childbirth.
Virginia did not have a system of public education in colonial times which meant that only children of the wealthy had meaningful opportunities to improve their minds. Thomas Jefferson was instrumental in the political debate over expanding the narrow base of education to ensure that citizens would be equipped to handle the responsibilities of self-government. His proposals for public education included girls as well as boys, and he had enlightened views by the standards of the times.1 However, he did not view education for his daughters as preparation for taking on public roles.2 Lacking a surviving son, Jefferson devoted much effort to the education of Peter Carr, one of his favorite nephews.
Peter Carr was the son of Thomas Jefferson’s sister and Dabney Carr, one of Jefferson’s closest friends.
Dabney Carr died in 1773 at the age of 29 when Peter was only three years old. Jefferson stepped in as a father figure for Peter. By 1782, Jefferson’s sister and her six children were living at Monticello and Jefferson had taken a special interest in Peter’s education:
“For upwards of a year, he had been teaching the eldest, who came nearer being his son than any other surviving person, and he had been able to give him more attention lately. Peter Carr was reading Virgil and about to start French. Two other boys were coming along, and all of them were ‘very hopeful geniuses,’ he [TJ] said. They must not be abandoned to nature. Also, there were three girls who were now regarded as marriageable and were approaching an expensive period. He really had nine children, all told, and he believed that he owed them a great deal of time and attention.”
Jefferson the virginian, p. 393
Jefferson poured even more efforts into the education of Peter and the other children after the death of his wife in 1782, but he was soon called upon to resume public service. In June 1783, Jefferson was elected as one of Virginia’s delegates to the Continental Congress which took him away from Monticello, and on July 5, 1784, Jefferson sailed to Europe to begin five years of service as Minister to France. Jefferson was accompanied by Martha, his oldest daughter and had to make arrangements for the continued care and education of the other children.
While in France, Jefferson wrote at least two letters to Peter Carr instructing him on various aspects of his education. These letters are quite interesting given the ambitious course of study that was expected of Peter who was just fifteen years old when he received Jefferson’s first letter in the late summer of 1785. Jefferson’s advice is remarkable in terms of the lofty expectations he set for the young man. Apparently, Peter had lost quite a bit of time for unspecified reasons, and Jefferson urges him to waste no more time if he aspires to rise to a position commensurate with his distinguished lineage.
“I am much mortified to hear that you have lost so much time, and that when you arrived in Williamsburgh you were not at all advanced from what you were when you left Monticello. Time now begins to be precious to you. Every day you lose, will retard a day your entrance on that public stage whereon you may begin to be useful to yourself. However the way to repair the loss is to improve the future time. I trust that with your dispositions even the acquisition of science is a pleasing employment. I can assure you that the possession of it is what (next to an honest heart) will above all things render you dear to your friends, and give you fame and promotion in your own country.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
While possession of knowledge will be essential for Peter to live up to his potential, the most important thing is to act with integrity and honor, which must be the first priority. Honorable conduct is important even when no one else is looking.
“Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation or under any circumstances that it is best for you to do a dishonourable thing however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are to do a thing tho’ it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
In times of trouble, Peter is urged to avoid trying to extricate himself through dishonorable means. While acting with integrity might not seem to be a path toward a solution, Jefferson instructs Peter to trust that doing what is right will eventually lead to a solution.
“If ever you find yourself environed with difficulties and perplexing circumstances, out of which you are at a loss how to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations. Tho’ you cannot see when you fetch one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain-dealing, and never fear their leading you out of the labyrinth in the easiest manner possible. The knot which you thought a Gordian one will untie itself before you.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
Honesty is the best policy because telling one lie makes it easier to tell the next one. Soon enough, the liar can’t tell truth from fiction.
“It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual, he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
With instruction on moral and ethical conduct completed, Jefferson turns to Peter’s education. It should be no surprise that Jefferson urges Peter to read what we now refer to as The Great Books. The course of study he proposes would be rigorous for anyone and might have seemed overwhelming for a fifteen year old, especially because Jefferson advocates reading in Ancient Greek and Latin rather than translations. However, this is how Jefferson himself was educated and it was expected that the leaders of Virginia would read widely from primary sources in a variety of disciplines.
“For the present I advise you to begin a course of ancient history, reading everything in the original and not in translations. First read Goldsmith’s history of Greece. This will give you a digested view of that field. Then take up ancient history in the detail, reading the following books in the following order. Herodotus. Thucydides. Xenophontis hellenica. Xenophontis Anabasis. Quintus Curtius. Justin. This shall form the first stage of your historical reading, and is all I need mention to you now. The next will be of Roman history. From that we will come down to Modern history. In Greek and Latin poetry, you have read or will read at school Virgil, Terence, Horace, Anacreon, Theocritus, Homer. Read also Milton’s paradise lost, Ossian, Pope’s works, Swift’s works in order to form your style in your own language. In morality read Epictetus, Xenophontis memorabilia, Plato’s Socratic dialogues, Cicero’s philosophies.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
Books were expensive and unavailable in Virginia at the time, so Jefferson ordered several books from London to be shipped to Peter.
“I have ordered the following books to be sent to you from London to the care of Mr. Madison. Herodotus. Thucydides. Xenophon’s Hellenics, Anabasis, and Memorabilia. Cicero’s works. Baretti’s Spanish and English dictionary. Martin’s philosophical grammar and Martin’s philosophia Britannica. I will send you the following from hence. Bezout’s mathematics. De la Lande’s astronomy. Muschenbroek’s physics. Quintus Curtius. Justin, a Spanish grammar, and some Spanish books.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
Today, it would seem impossible for a teenager to pursue such a course of study and have any remaining time available for sports or exercise. But in Jefferson’s world, there were far fewer distractions and, obviously, no electronics. As a result, it might have been possible for Peter to pursue Jefferson’s recommendation to devote at least two hours per day to exercise. He particularly recommended walking and wrote that Peter should not take books with him. Peter is told to walk wherever he can rather than relying on horses.
“Never think of taking a book with you. The object of walking is to relax the mind. You should therefore not permit yourself even to think while you walk. But divert your attention by the objects surrounding you. Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
Jefferson was an advocate of a fixed and regular routine, waking early in the morning and going to bed early rather than staying up late. Those who habitually stay up late injure their health and impede their mind. Although Jefferson would remain in France for the rest of Peter’s childhood, he asks for regular updates after giving further advice on how Peter should structure his days:
“Having ascribed proper hours to exercise, divide what remain (I mean of your vacant hours) into three portions. Give the principal to history, the other two, which should be shorter, to Philosophy and Poetry. Write me once every month or two and let me know the progress you make. Tell me in what manner you employ every hour in the day.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785
Fast forward two years.
In the late summer of 1787, Peter was seventeen years old and was beginning a course of study under George Wythe. Jefferson had studied law under Wythe’s supervision from 1762 to 1767 and Peter was following in his footsteps. Jefferson was thrilled and wrote that Peter would find this education to be “one of the most fortunate events of your life, as I have ever been sensible it was of mine.”
Jefferson enclosed another reading list and offered to send Peter any books that were not already in Dabney Carr’s library. Jefferson urges Peter to prioritize great attention to learning Spanish in addition to French, which was of course assumed. We can already see that Jefferson anticipated closer relations with Spain in the decades to come and understood that Spanish was the language of much of the Americas. While Italian is a “delightful language”, Jefferson fears that learning it would be a distraction for Peter.
Moral philosophy is a subject that Jefferson considers important at this stage of Peter’s education.
“The moral sense, or conscience, is as much a part of man as his leg or arm. It is given to all human beings in a stronger or weaker degree, as force of members is given them in a greater or less degree. It may be strengthened by exercise, as may any particular limb of the body.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
Jefferson believed that Peter was now mature enough to consider the question of religion. Later in his political career, Jefferson was accused of being an atheist, but this was not the case. Jefferson, however, did advocate examining religion using human reason and applying the same rigor to questions of religion as to any other subject.
“Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear. You will naturally examine first the religion of your own country. Read the bible then, as you would read Livy or Tacitus. The facts which are within the ordinary course of nature you will believe on the authority of the writer, as you do those of the same kind in Livy and Tacitus.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
When the Bible includes information consistent with “the ordinary course of nature”, the credibility of the Bible should be judged in the same way as any other writing according to Jefferson. In other words, Jefferson did not believe in accepting the Bible as the inerrant or infallible word of God. Jefferson provides some advice to Peter regarding judging aspects of the Bible that “contradict the laws of nature”:
“But those facts in the bible which contradict the laws of nature, must be examined with more care, and under a variety of faces. Here you must recur to the pretensions of the writer to inspiration from god. Examine upon what evidence his pretensions are founded, and whether that evidence is so strong as that it’s falsehood would be more improbable than a change of the laws of nature in the case he relates. For example in the book of Joshua we are told the sun stood still several hours. Were we to read that fact in Livy or Tacitus we should class it with their showers of blood, speaking of statues, beasts &c., but it is said that the writer of that book was inspired. Examine therefore candidly what evidence there is of his having been inspired.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
Jefferson advocates weighing what we know about nature, in this case astronomy, with the claims of the Bible and is clearly skeptical about the historical accuracy of such events. At the same time, he acknowledges that millions of people believe supernatural accounts in the Bible and that it cannot be dismissed lightly.
Jefferson does not tell Peter what to believe, but he does tell him to be unafraid of the consequences of conducting an inquiry.
“Do not be frightened from this enquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it ends in a belief that there is no god, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise, and the love of others which it will procure you. If you find reason to believe there is a god, a consciousness that you are acting under his eye, and that he approves you, will be a vast additional incitement. If that there be a future state, the hope of a happy existence in that increases the appetite to deserve it; if that Jesus was also a god, you will be comforted by a belief of his aid and love. In fine, I repeat that you must lay aside all prejudice on both sides, and neither believe nor reject any thing because any other person, or description of persons have rejected or believed it. Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven, and you are answerable not for the rightness but uprightness of the decision.”
Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
Is it possible to evaluate religion based on human reason and to accept the truth of a religion without faith? I am skeptical. I wrote about Jefferson’s views on religion in more detail earlier this year, focusing on what is known as The Jefferson Bible. In his version of the New Testament Gospels, Jefferson retained the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus while excising all of the miracles. This turns Jesus from the son of God into just another moral philosopher which was probably Jefferson’s intention. While Jefferson’s views on religion were no doubt unorthodox for his times, he never asserted the absence of God and charges of atheism were unfounded. Jefferson more closely resembled what we refer to as an agnostic today.
Jefferson concludes his letter to Peter with a warning about the inducements of travel, especially at a young age. While Jefferson conceded that travel can broaden one’s horizons and result in more wisdom, he believed that travel tends to make people unhappy. Upon returning home, life might seem dull in comparison with the “pomp and pleasure” of travel: “Their eyes are forever turned back to the object they have lost, and its recollection poisons the residue of their lives.” Jefferson seems to be counseling Peter to focus on his education and being useful in Virginia. Jefferson himself loved France and his advice on travel is a bit baffling for the modern reader.
Peter Carr completed his education and became a moderately successful politician in Virginia, albeit never coming close to the prominence of his famous uncle. Carr died in 1815 at the age of forty-five. Thomas Jefferson died eleven years later on July 4, 1826 at the age of 83.
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- I recommend Dumas Malone’s Jefferson The Virginian for background on Thomas Jefferson’s efforts to promote public education. In particular, Chapter 20, Church and School, provides details regarding Jefferson’s proposals for public education for boys and girls, with the unfortunate exclusion of slaves. [↩]
- Jefferson was interested in the education of his daughters primarily because he expected them to take a leading role in the education of his grandchildren: “The chance that in marriage she will draw a blockhead I calculate at about fourteen to one, and of course that the education of her family will probably rest on her own ideas and education without assistance.” (Jefferson the Virginian, p. 405) [↩]