The Classics in Jefferson's Theory of Education

Author(s): Norbert Sand

Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Nov., 1944), pp. 92-98
Published by: Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Inc. (CAMWS)
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THE CLASSICS IN JEFFERSON'S THEORY

OF EDUCATION
"E DUCATION for democracy" is a phrase that is apt to be
heard in any modern discussion of educational principles,
particularly during the present war. To the spirit of this slogan
Thomas Jeffersonwould certainly subscribe;to some of its developments, notably a tendency to eliminate the Greek and Roman
classics from the curriculumin favor of studies having more "current" or "practical" value, he would just as certainly object. Jefferson is rightly regardedas one of America's great political liberals, but in his case the usual charge made against radicals, that
they reject the past and look only to the future, is untrue. Jefferson's interest in the classics was deep and abiding, and nowhere
is this more apparent than in his writings on education.
Jefferson's educational theories can best be understood if his
own training and interests in the classics are recalled. At the age
of fourteen young Thomas went to the Reverend Mr. Maury, "a
correct classical scholar," and was thoroughly grounded in the
Greekand Latin languages.1After 1760 there followed more classical studies at the College of William and Mary. This training was
highly valued by Jefferson,and he never tired of repeating that if
he had to choose between his father's two gifts, the classical education and the estate, he would unhesitatingly take the former.2
No account of Jefferson'sclassical education would be complete
unless it included his relations to George Wythe, under whom he
studied law. Wythe, whom Jefferson called "the best Latin and
Greek scholar in the state," was well read in the classics of many
languages, including the ancient ones. In one legal opinion, for
Gilbert Chinard, ThomasJeferson, the Apostleof Americanism:Boston, Little,
Brown,and Co. (1925),5. Foradditionalevidencethat Jefferson'seducationwastypical
of the time, see Edythe H. Browne,"The Meaningof Monticello,"Commonweal
rv
(1926),275 f.
2 L. H.
Boutell, ThomasJefferson,theMan of Letters:Chicago (1891), 10. See also
the letter to Dr. JosephPriestley,January,1800,reprintedin the Writingsof Thomas
Jefferson,ed. H. A. Washington:Washington,D. C., Lippincott (1853-54),Iv, 317 f.
(Hereafterreferredto as Writings.)

92

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THE CLASSICS AND JEFFERSON

93

example, he included references to Justinian, Juvenal's Satires,

Quintilian, Euclid, Archimedes and Hiero, and the Prometheus
legend.3The two men were lifelong friends, and there can be no
doubt that Jeffersonwas greatly influenced by Wythe's learning.
With such a beginning, it is not surprisingthat for the rest of
his life Jefferson was constantly purchasing and studying the
classics. He was, of course, master enough of Latin and Greek
(that "finest of human languages") to read them in the original. In
fact, he made it a rule to do so,4 and when he directed his nephew,
Peter Carr,in a courseof reading in science and the classics, he advised "readingeverything in the originaland not in translations."5
His first library Jeffersonsold to Congressin 1814, and although
he specified that he be allowed to retain certain books, "chiefly
classical and mathematical," until his death,6 he immediately began his collections anew. George Ticknor, before he set off on his
European travels in 1815, offered to buy books for Jefferson, and
this offer was eagerly accepted.7Altogether, Jefferson's purchases
in the years following 1814were considerable,and included Homer,
Vergil, Aeschylus, Juvenal, and Tacitus in the new German editions so much praised by both Ticknor and Jefferson, together
with Polybius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Aristophanes, and
Suidas in other editions. He also requested information on Livy,
Herodotus, Euripides, and Lucian.8From another source he sent
for Ovid and CorneliusNepos.9
Other phases of classical lore also interested the sage of Monticello. In 1788 he was speculating on the possible veracity of a
rumor that a certain Abbe Vella had discovered a complete translation, in the Arabic, of Livy,10 while to Wythe he lamented,
"How many of the precious works of antiquity were lost while
3 Dice Robins Anderson,"The Teacherof Jeffersonand Marshall,"SouthAtlantic
4 To E. Randolph,February3, 1794. Writings,Iv, 101.
xv (1916),329.
Quarterly
6

To Peter Carr, August 19, 1785. Writings, I, 397 f.

6 To SamuelH.

Smith, September21, 1814.Writings,vi, 383-385.

7 To GeorgeTicknor,February8, 1816.Reprintedby O. W. Long, ThomasJefferson

and GeorgeTicknor: A Chapterin American Scholarship: Williamstown, Mass., privately

printedat the McClellanPress (1933), 16.

8 Long, Thomas Jefferson and GeorgeTicknor, lln., 20.

9 To JosephMilligan,April6, 1816.Writings,vi, 569.

10To James Madison, July 19, 1788. Writings, ii, 432 f.

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94

NORBERT SAND

they were preserved only in manuscript!'1

He hoped to see the

Turks driven out of Greece, for then the "language of Homer and
Demosthenes" might be restored; modern Greek, he was sure,
could easily return to its classical form.l2
The literature of the ancients was always a retreat for a man
weary of public life. In 1812 Jeffersonwrote to John Adams that
he had given up newspapers in favor of Tacitus and Thucydides,
and found himself "much the happier."'3True, ancient times had
had their Tarquins, Catilines, and Caligulas, but they also had a
Livy, a Sallust, and a Tacitus to brand these villains with "the
censures of infamy, a solace we cannot have with the Georgesand
Napoleons but by anticipation."l4
Although there had been a time, shortly after the turn of the
century, when his joy in the classics, especially the poets, seemed
to vanish, and he was "left at last with only Homer and Vergil,"l5
this mood passed, and at the end of his life he was readingas freely
as ever.
In view of the foregoing discussion, it is not surprisingthat Jefferson should have given to the classics a place of prime importance in his educational system. In 1800, when he wrote to Joseph
Priestley concerningthe proposed University of Virginia, Jefferson
rejected the "Gothic idea" that men must look backwardsfor the
improvement of the human mind, or "recur to the annals of our
ancestors for what is most perfect in government, in religion, and
in learning."'6On the contrary, man's condition is to be "progressively ameliorated"by science and education.7
If he is to be taken at his own word, Jeffersonsaw three reasons
for the study of the classics in America. These were, first, as
models of pure style and taste in writing; second, the happiness
and satisfaction to be derived from the ability to read the authors
11To George Wythe, January 16, 1796. Writings, iv, 129.
12 To John Adams, July 28, 1785. Writings, I, 365.
13 To John Adams, January 21, 1812. Writings, vi, 37.
14To Colonel Duane, April 4, 1813. Writings, vi, 109 f.
15 The
Writings of ThomasJefferson, ed. Lipscomb: Washington, D. C., published under the auspices of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association (1903), xvIII, 448.
16 To Dr. Priestley, January 27, 1800. Writings, iv, 318.
17 To M.
Jullien, July 23, 1818. Writings, vii, 106.

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THE CLASSICS AND JEFFERSON

95

in the original; and last, "the stores of real science deposited and
transmitted in these languages." It will be noted that all of these
values, with the possible exception of the last, can be obtained
only by reading in the original. This explains Jefferson's dislike
for translations, already commented upon. Knowledge of the classics is essential to men of the professionalclasses, while for tradesmen, farmers, and workers of other sorts it may have only a
decorative value. "To sum the whole, therefore, it may truly be
said that the classical languages are a solid basis for most, and an
ornament to all the sciences."18
The philosophy summarized in the preceding paragraph forms
the backbone of his theories of education. Jefferson'sgeneral educational work has been treated at length in several places; hence
the object of the following discussion will be to indicate precisely
the scope he gave to the study of classical literature in these writings on education.
Jeffersonhas been called a "consistent utilitarian" in his educational theories, and this is true enough; he found the classics useful
as well as enjoyable.19As will be seen, however, his definition of
utility involves broader conceptions than are at first apparent.
The emphasis on practicality runs through even the early letters.
In 1785 the objects of a "useful" Americaneducation are set forth
as including "classical knowledge, modern languages, chiefly
French, Spanish, and Italian; mathematics, natural philosophy,
natural history, civil history, and ethics."20
A brief review of his projected educational reforms in Virginia
will throw light on this subject. His 1799 "Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge"planned for the division of the state
into hundreds or wards, each ward being about six miles square.
The children in attendance at these schools were to read such
books as would teach "the main facts of Greek, Roman, English,
and American history," together with writing and arithmetic.
18The material in this
paragraph is a summary of a letter to John Brazier, August 24,
1819. Writings, viI, 130-133. Cf. also a letter to Thomas Cooper, October 7, 1814,
Writings, vi, 390.
19Roy J. Honeywell, The Educational Work of Thomas Jefferson, "Harvard University Studies in English," xvI: Cambridge, Harvard University Press (1931), 146.
20 To
John Bannister, Junior, October 15, 1785. Writings, I, 467.

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96

NORBERT SAND

Next, twenty-four grammarschools were to be maintained by the

state, in which the boys of greatest promise from near-by ward
schools were to be given a groundingin Greek,Latin, and English,
together with geography and arithmetic. So completely did Jefferson rely on the grammar schools to teach the boys the ancient
languages that he wished to discontinue the instruction in these
subjects at the College of William and Mary. This school system
failed of achievement due to lack of legislative support.
When Jeffersonset about organizingthe University of Virginia,
he was more successful in accomplishinghis desires for a curriculum. His emphasis on the classics was as strong as ever, and he
made several declarations of his belief in their value.21His plans
are outlined in his "Report of the Commissionersto Fix the Site
...

[of the University of Virginia]." Primary schools were to pro-

vide for the fundamentals of an education. Next came the district

schools, intermediatebetween the primary schools and the University. At the district school the boys-even those who were not to
go on to the University-were to be given the rudiments of Latin
and Greek,and "renderedable to read the easier authors" in these
tongues. Naturally, the University would draw only the finer
scholarsfrom these schools. These boys would finish their classical
education by a study of the more difficult authors, and would
then proceed to their field of specialization.22
When Jeffersondrew up his Report in 1818, he provided for ten
professorships,heading the list with "Languages, ancient."23As
finally arranged by the visitors in 1824, there were only eight
schools, but that of ancient languages was retained.24The problem
of securing a suitable occupant for this chair vexed Jeffersonconsiderably, and for a time he had to put up with ill-preparedstudents and "Connecticut Latin ...

[a] barbarous confusion of long

and short syllables, which renders doubtful whether we are listen21 To

Joseph Priestley, January 27, 1800. Writings, iv, 316 f. Cf. also letters to Governor Nicholas, April 2, 1816 (Writings, vi, 565), and to
, December 22, 1824
(Writings, vII, 385).
22 Cf. Honeywell, op. cit., 248-260, for the text of this report.
23 Ibid., 252.
24 Cf. ibid., 106, for the text of this report. The schools finally decided upon were
those of ancient languages, modern languages, mathematics, natural history, natural
philosophy, anatomy and medicine, moral philosophy, and law.

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THE CLASSICS AND JEFFERSON

97

ing to a reader of Cherokee,Shawnee, Iroquois, or what." In the

end, Jefferson secured George Long, of Liverpool, who took a
milder view of the "Connecticut Latin," saying that "A little
training was all that was wanted."2
Jefferson did not withdraw from the scene after the University
was under way, but continued to oversee its activities, and occasionally to select texts which he felt would bear out his objectives.
In 1825 he suggested for a course in ancient history, "the usual
suite of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Diodorus, Livy, Caesar, Suetonius, Tacitus, and Dion," these to be read "in their originals if understood, and in translations if not." After such a general course, the gaps might be filled in at lesiure "in the progressof
life" with Arrian, Q. Curtius, Polybius, Sallust, Plutarch, Dionysius, and others.26
Some idea of the emphasislaid on the classics in the new university may be obtained when it is seen that in Jefferson's first list
of books for the library there are 409 volumes relating to the
classics, as compared with 367 on jurisprudence (Jefferson had
been trained as a lawyer), 305 on modern history, 175 on religion,
160 on pathology, 118 on philosophy, and smaller numbers on
other subjects.27
Thomas FitzHugh feels that the characteristicfeatures of Jefferson's educational theories include his supreme confidence in the
value of the classical discipline for all ranks and classes. Jefferson's proposalsare "the Magna Charta of democraticeducation."28
Miss Margaret Alterton summarizes the theory behind the University of Virginiaby saying that it was Jefferson'shope to instill
into the teaching there "the ideals of Greek reason, critical
thought, and moderated judgment."29
Certainly Jefferson recognized the supreme importance, for a
democratic government, of universal education. And this educa25 To WilliamB.
Giles, December26, 1825. Writings,vI, 429. ThomasFitzHugh,
"Lettersof ThomasJeffersonConcerningPhilologyand the Classics,"Universityof

Virginia Alumni Bulletin, third series, xII (1919), 164 passim.

26 To
, October25, 1825.Writings, vII, 411 f.
27Honeywell, op. cit., 86.
28FitzHugh, loc. cit., 158, passim.
29

MargaretAltertonand HardinCraig,Poe: New York,AmericanBook Co. (1935),

xx sq.

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98

NORBERT SAND

tion must above all things teach men to think clearly and independently, for only by so doing will they be able to perpetuate a
democracy. Thus it becomes clear what Jeffersonmeant when he
found the classics "useful." True, they might be valuable in a
man's profession,but they possessed a higher utility. Jeffersondid
not think it enough that students be trained in the latest theoriesof
a rapidly advancing science, or that they be thoroughly familiar
with the various problems of the day. Instead, he believed that a
study of the ever-vital civilization of Greece and Rome would, in
one way and another, have great relevance for the contemporary
Americanscene.
Thus, in making men familiar with these great cultures, in dedeveloping breadth of vision and judgment, the classics were to
serve a supremely useful end, the preservation of the democratic
ideal. Jefferson loved the classics for their own sakes, but above
and beyond that, he found in them a means of helping to preserve
something even dearerto his heart: the government he had helped
to build and which he servedso long and well.
NORBERT SAND

MichiganState College

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