James Madison’s Montpelier

On Wednesday morning I drove the rental car about 45 minutes from Charlottesville to visit Montpelier, home of James Madison. It’s about a third of the way between Charlottesville and Washington, D.C. I took the very informative tour of the mansion, and I walked around and took pictures. Before the tour, I visited the family cemetery, which includes Madison’s burial site.

Just before I left to go back to Washington, I visited the very worthwhile slavery exhibit, which is in the basement of the main house. Upon driving away from the property I thought about Montpelier, as well as Highland and Monticello, and Mount Vernon (which I visited last year), and I was overcome with emotion as I reflected on the horrors of slavery. I am glad that these historic sites in Virginia feature exhibits and educational tours about slavery, which is such a sad part of our nation’s legacy.