Jeffersonian Architecture: The Virginia State Capital

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Jeffersonian Architecture: The Virginia State Capital

Most people know Thomas Jefferson for his political achievements such as writing the Declaration of Independence or becoming the third President of the United States, however, most people don’t know he was a polymath, or jack-of-all-trades. Jefferson was everything from a political philosopher, diplomat, and mathematician, to a farmer or violinist and everything in between (Howard 10). Even though, in a political sense, he was one of the most influential figures in American history, he influenced American history in other ways as well, including architecture.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the greatest political thinkers of his time and allowed that political thinking to influence his ideas on architecture. In fact, he often intentionally instilled political ideas in his architecture as a reaction against the British (Howard 10). He was also a classicalist, which meant he studied ancient arts like Greek or Roman arts, focusing mainly on the works of Palladio. His goal was to introduce classical architecture into American society a...

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