Thomas Jefferson was instrumental in rebuilding the Library of Congress when he sold the bulk of his book collection to the United States government in 1815. During the War of 1812, British forces entered Washington, D.C., burning the Capitol building and the 3,000-volume library inside it.
What made it self-sufficient was whether it had enough land and serfs which could produce enough food for people to survive on the amount of food that they would produce.
