I started 'Undaunted Courage' last night. It's pretty good so far. We're reading it in the book club I'm in.

The idealist in me was profoundly disappointed in the life of Virginia plantation owners, especially Jefferson and Lewis. Not only did they live off of slave labor, which is completely horrible and reprehensible. They also raised tobacco (a crop with no redeeming value that badly leaches the soil of nutrients) through unsustainable agricultural methods. But back to the real problem: Jefferson knew slavery was horrible. He knew that any child raised as a slave owner would tend to be permanently warped. But he held that it couldn't be abolished in his generation, that the next generation would abolish it having tasted freedom (from England). Talk about rationalization. He said Virginia would lead the way. Instead, they later led the way in resisting the change.