Query 3 is the shortest in the book:
"Qu. 3. a notice of the best seaports of the state, & how big are the vessels they
can receive?
"Having no ports but our rivers and creeks, this query has been answered under the preceding one (Rivers)."
This is a misleadingly curt statement, since Hampton Roads is one of the largest natural harbors in the world, and Norfolk was Virginia’s largest and most promising city. The chief focus of Jefferson’s discussion of Virginia’s rivers, however, is their connection to the western back country; the eastern seaboard is of little interest to him. This is perhaps a majority view in Virginia, but not a unanimous one; and it put him profoundly at odds with mercantile New England and the Middle Atlantic.
"Qu. 3. a notice of the best seaports of the state, & how big are the vessels they
can receive?
"Having no ports but our rivers and creeks, this query has been answered under the preceding one (Rivers)."
This is a misleadingly curt statement, since Hampton Roads is one of the largest natural harbors in the world, and Norfolk was Virginia’s largest and most promising city. The chief focus of Jefferson’s discussion of Virginia’s rivers, however, is their connection to the western back country; the eastern seaboard is of little interest to him. This is perhaps a majority view in Virginia, but not a unanimous one; and it put him profoundly at odds with mercantile New England and the Middle Atlantic.
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