Notes on the State of Virginia

Virginians make their everyday items (clothes, etc.) themselves at home and depend on foreign manufactures for other goods. As a result, Virginia itself produces little manufacturing. This shows the strong emphasis on agriculture in the state, which Jefferson sees as one of its strengths. Jefferson extols farmers (“those who labour in the earth”) as “the chosen people of God” who possess “substantial and genuine virtue” (164). Farming thus cultivates moral values like hard work and self-reliance. This chapter shows Jefferson’s high esteem for the agrarian character of Virginia and his distrust of the heavy industry and manufacturing of an urban economy and the coming Industrial Revolution. 

Jefferson discusses Virginia exports: Although formerly tobacco was Virginia’s main export, it is fast being replaced by wheat, owing to issues of both climate and soil. Jefferson expresses satisfaction in the decline of tobacco. It is a hard crop to cultivate, and tobacco farmers suffer greatly in their work; besides, tobacco is useless for food. Jefferson extols wheat as a crop instead: It provides food for both people and animals, preserves the soil, and requires less strenuous labor.

The only downside to wheat is the destructive presence of weevils, but Jefferson suggests a remedy to get rid of these pests (168).