Monticello Museum

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Museums today serve the vital role of remembering and retelling the past for the benefit of the future. Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, is a museum which tries to represent and retell the story a man who embodied American democratic liberty, despite his many contradictory flaws, to the public. For the story of Jefferson, a man who penned the Declaration of Independence, founded the University of Virginia, and wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, to be made both important in the context of today, attracting both visitors to the museum grounds and inspiring the public, Monticello must tell the story of Jefferson in a way that is relevant for the benefit of the future. However, for museums, such as Jefferson’s …show more content…
First, exhibits must remind people that even though times were once different, mankind has always been largely the same—humans have always fought over differences and made fatal mistakes. Even though the motives of past men and women are oftentimes respective to their own times, museum-goers must be reminded that the underlying emotions or traits—such as greed or pride—span both the times of yesterday and today, resulting in much of humanity’s errors. Second, the exhibit must allow the public to study the past in the context of its time and apply the past contextual similarities to today, allowing visitors to realize how to change and control the continuous detrimental human qualities. By studying the roots of past mistakes, or the underlying human emotions or poor reasoning that has led to each problematic action, the public can learn to caution themselves and avoid indulging in the same …show more content…
As a result, there was a lot of fiery infighting between members of congress as well as Washington’s and Adam’s cabinet, both of which Jefferson was a part of and witnessed. Both Jefferson and Hamilton, fought vigorously with each other, both claiming that the other would lead to the downfall of the union. Due to the failure of bringing about compromise and having successful communication between different viewpoints, or political powers, many issues arose as a result. For example, during Adam’s presidency, due to lack of communication between the Republicans and Federalists the unconstitutional Alien and Seditions Act, silencing freedom of speech and press. However, during Jefferson’s presidency, Jefferson adamantly sought to bridge the divisions between both parties, and he could do so mainly because of his dinners. As a result, Jefferson’s presidential dinners symbolize that the ideal of compromise and a willingness to listen and work with others can overcome even the strongest of political turmoil. Mankind must put aside selfish beliefs that pertain only to the strictest members of their party and look to other side of things, seeing
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