page_title: Thomas Jefferson and education
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas Jefferson and education
context_page_description: Thomas Jefferson's involvement with and support of education is best known through his founding of the University of Virginia, which he established in 1819 as a secular institution after he left the presidency of the United States. Jefferson believed that libraries and books were so integral to individual and institutional education that he designed the university around its library.
  In 1779 in "A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge," Jefferson proposed a system of public education to be tax-funded for 3 years for "all the free children, male and female," which was an unusual perspective for the time period. They were allowed to attend longer if their parents, friends, or family could pay for it independently.
  In his book Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson had scribed his ideas for public education at the elementary level. In 1817 he proposed a plan for a system of limited state public education for males only, in keeping with the times. It depended on public grammar schools, and further education of a limited number of the best students, and those whose parents wanted to pay for them.
context_section_description: Thomas Jefferson's involvement with and support of education is best known through his founding of the University of Virginia, which he established in 1819 as a secular institution after he left the presidency of the United States.  Jefferson believed that libraries and books were so integral to individual and institutional education that he designed the university around its library.
  In 1779 in "A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge," Jefferson proposed a system of public education to be tax-funded for 3 years for "all the free children, male and female," which was an unusual perspective for the time period. They were allowed to attend longer if their parents, friends, or family could pay for it independently.
  In his book Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), Jefferson had scribed his ideas for public education at the elementary level.  In 1817 he proposed a plan for a system of limited state public education for males only, in keeping with the times.  It depended on public grammar schools, and further education of a limited number of the best students, and those whose parents wanted to pay for them. The university was to be the capstone, available to only the best selected students.  Virginia did not establish free public education in the primary grades until after the American Civil War under the Reconstruction era legislature.
caption: Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, 1800
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