Madison: The first environmentalist.

Each president clearly expressed different passions for their gardens and nature. Washington seemed to favor his gardens for pleasure and relaxation, while Jefferson seemed to care about the studying the environment and experimenting with botany. Madison, however, seemed to have more of a passion for nature, combining both pleasure and science. Madison had a deep passion for nature and the environment.

At Montpelier, Madison's genuine interest in the well-being of the environment would shine through in the landscape and home he created. Montpelier was surrounded by vast forests. The grounds of the estate were described to blend seamlessly into the wilderness. Madison incorporated flowers and blooms in the immediate gardens around his mansion, but the large lawn between the home and the forest he only placed large trees, allowing his property to grow wilder as it reached the wild forests.

 In an 1818 speech delivered to the Agricultural Society of Albemarle, Madison expressed his concerns of the rapidly developing new world and warned that America could not continue to cut the forests at such a rapid rate. Like Jefferson, Madison understood how harmful the vast tobacco farms were to the soil and knew that something needed to be done. Madison was most accurately the first environmentalist  seeing the need to protect the environment and nature that he loved so much. He seemed to genuinely relish in nature, flourishing personally not only among his gardens, but in the midst of nature. 

Close Friends Make Closer Neighbors

     

James Madison, revolutionary leader and fourth president of the United States, was born in King George County, Virginia. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson probably met in early May 1776 while serving as members of the Virginia House of Delegates. Before the year was over, both men chose the paths which led to their famous futures: Jefferson, at age 33, went to Philadelphia to become the author of the Declaration of Independence. Madison, at age 25, stayed in Williamsburg to become a member of the convention which drafted Virginia's first constitution. Their friendship became warmer in 1779, however, during Jefferson's tenure as Governor of Virginia, when Madison served as a member of his official advisory council. By the early 1780's, as their new country emerged from the chaos of revolution, their close personal ties and political collaboration were cemented.

They shared a love of the Virginia countryside; the fertile lands of the Piedmont offered both men the opportunities to study and discuss practical and financial questions of gardening, agriculture and forestry. Both kept careful records of local temperatures and rainfall while they exchanged seeds and farming tips. Jefferson asked Madison and another good friend, James Monroe, to move near Monticello in order to build "a society to our taste." Monroe did take up residence nearby at Ash Lawn-Highland.

      

     





     
     As classically educated men, both found the Greeks and Romans to be not only sources of information on principles' of government but also as an inspiration for the architecture of their homes. Both Montpelier and Monticello show classical influences: Montpelier's graceful Garden Temple, for example, resembles Jefferson's sketches for his garden buildings. The two often discussed house plans and sent sketches in their letters; they shared the services of local craftsmen as well. During the first renovations of Montpelier, Madison ordered nails from Jefferson's nailery. James Madison reassured his dying friend and reconfirmed the quality of their intertwined lives in his last letter to Jefferson:

"You cannot look back to the long period of our private friendship and political harmony, with more affecting recollections that I do. If they are a source of pleasure to you, what ought they not to be to me? ... Wishing and hoping that you may yet live to increase the debt which our country owes you, and to witness the increasing gratitude, which alone can pay it, I offer you the fullest return of affectionate assurances."

Jefferson’s Heart and Head

One of the keys to understanding Thomas Jefferson is articulated in the second chapter of Andrea Wulf’s Founding Gardeners. She points out that Jefferson is a complex man, to the point of being described as an enigma. His dual nature, present in all men, is seen at the surface in a letter in which he describes the opposing forces of “Heart” and “Head”. Wulf goes on to say that though the dialogue is revealed in a love letter expressing the internal conflicts present within a man’s love for a woman, the same message is applies to his role as a gardener and reveals his attitude towards the natural world and his home at Monticello.  Through immaculate prose, Jefferson relays the beauty of his plantation. “With what majesty do we there ride above the storms! How sublime to look down into the workhouse of nature, to see her clouds, hail, snow, rain, thunder, all fabricated at our feet! And the glorious Sun, when rising as if out of a distant water, just gilding the tops of the mountains, and giving life to all nature!” Here, clearly the Heart, filled with emotion, is struck by the aesthetic appeal of Monticello’s sweeping mountaintop landscape. Jefferson’s selection of a mountaintop as the location of his home is, in itself, a victory of his Heart over a more practical, and surely more profitable, location along a river or lush valley. Jefferson’s strong Heart and love for the natural beauty of the world is complimented by his more pragmatic Head. While in England, on a tour of Woodburn Farm, Jefferson was most pleased by the way in which “the beautiful could coexist with, and indeed complement, the practical.” He found harmony in the balance between Heart and Head, and in no place was this balance more near and apparent than at Woodbury Farm; a place that planted the seed for his vision of Monticello, and in a broader sense America, as a place “of both sublime beauty and vast lands that would feed the nation.”

            Jefferson’s dual nature may be rooted in the mixture between his upbringing and status in the upper echelons of Virginia society and his highly cultivated intellect and moral fiber. In his Head, he knew that he needed agricultural success to achieve financial stability and sustainability, but his Heart longed to achieve this within a beautiful setting and aesthetic landscape. As a child of privilege, he nurtured an admittedly expensive taste and an appreciation for the finer things in life. Wulf notes that he was known for traveling to Paris and London for shopping sprees, a luxury still only enjoyed by those of significant wealth. His high brow taste coupled with his infinite love for nature and the natural world, shaped his strong Heart and made him sensitive to the emotional side of being. However, his sharp mind, extensive education, worldly experience, and patriotism kept his Head strong and clear, and gave him a pragmatic tendency that defined his brilliance.

            The struggle between Heart and Head is something that exists within all of us. As Wulf shows through Jefferson, the key to finding happiness is in seeking to balance those forces and find equilibrium. For Jefferson, that equilibrium was found in the pastoral life he lived on the mountain at Monticello. Today people still are found searching for that balance. In the modern world, new ways of finding happiness and balance have unfolded, but we cannot loose sight of the wonders that the natural world holds. We should all try to see the world as Jefferson saw it, and continue to search for refuge in its natural landscape while finding practicality in its resources.

Republican Simplicity

            For George Washington, his home at Mount Vernon embodied “his vision of republican simplicity, and his personal statement of independence.” After years of studying the humanities, especially American history and political science, I have found Washington himself to be the person that embodies republican simplicity most precisely and the way of life and structure of society that it facilitates. Andrea Wulf’s rare glimpse into Washington’s life as a gardener leaves the reader with no doubt that republican simplicity, whatever it is, is the accurate description of our first president. However, defining republican simplicity, what it means, how it is attained, and what it represents, is not easy to articulate.

            Merriam-Webster defines republic as “1: a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and is usu. a president… 2: a government in which supreme power is held by the citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives governing according to law.” So to be republican is, not only to support this system of government, to be one who is in command of his own life and lives free and independent of coercive forces, functioning in his own capacity in a virtuous way. To be republican does not mean to only look out for ones own needs and individual expression. By living a life of virtue, a natural by-product will be a positive impact on the whole of society. This is by no contract between peoples or the government, but simply through living a life that seeks what is good and repels vice. George Washington, at his home in Mount Vernon, lived this life by, not only revolutionizing agricultural practices, seeking plants that provided sustenance and resources, and striving for independence through self-reliance, but by appreciating the “sheer beauty of American flora”, thereby fusing “beauty and utility in a fresh and original way.” Though he lived (or longed to live) as a simple farmer, his actions carried larger implications that would eventually establish the United States as an independent, thriving nation. So for him, living a life of republican simplicity simply meant to live the life of which he fantasized. He wanted to be left alone at his estate to cultivate the masterpiece that was Mount Vernon, while experimenting with new methods farming, collecting the vast species of native plants, and searching for his budding nation’s identity through gardening.

            Mount Vernon was the symbol of the new independent nation for Washington, but the way in which he crafted his landscape was just as symbolic. When he was selecting plants to include on his grounds, he did not pay attention to impressing visitors by having only rare, expensive, or exotic plants. On the contrary, he threw this old convention out and strove to include all native species. Our nation’s motto, E pluribus unum, “out of many, one”, is embodied in his landscape by his diverse foliage. “The plants were American and that was all that counted because this part of the garden celebrated America…” Not only did his selection of plants directly correlate with the nation’s motto, but his hands-on role in the process was the genesis of American patriotism and the American Dream. Though he had people in charge of the grounds and crews of slaves, he often would work along side them and labor himself. He saw no shame in this, but “talked proudly of the trees ‘which my hands have planted’.” He may have alarmed other members of Virginia or Maryland society who frequented Mount Vernon as visitors, but he reveled in the fact that he was able to work in unison with nature and sculpt the landscape to his amusement and benefit. He loved his life of gardening at Mount Vernon, and this is perhaps what most defined his republican simplicity.

            

Lastly, he was an innovator. The section of land that he set aside as his Botanical Garden allowed him to experiment with cutting edge agricultural practices and technologies. He saw that farmers in America were using antiquated farming methods, and instead of maintaining the status quo tasked himself with finding new and improved methods. This entrepreneurial spirit has defined American success, and can be seen clearly in Washington’s character. Innovation and advancement has allowed society to progress to where it is today, but has sadly caused much of society to loose sight of the very ideals that Washington embodied. This nation has a lot to be proud of, but much room for improvement. A renaissance of republican simplicity would surely be a good step in setting society back on course to the path that George Washington laid before his great nation.

James Madison and Slavery

In chapter nine, we learn about James Madison and his relationship with his slaves. Like many others, James Madison owned slaves. He actually did not believe in slavery and thought it was wrong. In the chapter, it says that he treated his slaves very well. Their housing was fifty yards away and they had wooden floors, instead of dirt, and glass windows. This could leave a reader feeling as though these slaves were treated as humans, with respect. It somewhat allows a reader to feel as though slavery by Madison, was ok and justifiable due to his treatment to his slaves were significantly better. If one believes that slavery is wrong, then that person should not have over a hundred slaves.

Madison struggled with his personal beliefs and the beliefs of society. He spoke more than the previous presidents on slavery and his anti-slave beliefs.  He also wanted his wife and himself to maintain their lifestyle. None of this would be possible without 100 free laborers. So of course, he kept them all. Once James Madison died, he did not free a single slave. Actions speak louder than words.

I think we have to keep in mind that his slaves were referred to as his slaves not people. They were property. I do not see an respect in calling one human another humans property. Just because their living conditions are better than a dog, it does not mean that they were treated well. Slaves were taken away from their families, freedom stolen, and worked all day long for no pay. A simple decorative plate does not make the life of a slave any more glamorous or comfortable than the fact of the matter. Don’t sugar coat the situation. There’s nothing refreshing or positive about it. A slave is a slave.

Louisiana Purchase

I feel like for Thomas Jefferson to buy the land from Napoleon Bonaparte changed the ways for America. He bought the land for 15 million which is equivalent to 250 million in today’s U.S currency. The amount of land was tremendous in 800,000 miles of land. This provided for 15 states and 2 Canadian providences. In purchasing this land, it double the size of the United States.

Buying this land was one of Jefferson’s greatest achievements. Jefferson wanted to expand west, this was one of his goals during his presidency. Doing so, would provide great new resources as well as allow for the exploration and curiosity of how far west America could expand. France and Spain had a secret treaty ceding the Louisiana Purchase to France. The change of ownership could end trading ports for America. So buying this land was necessary due to the fear that if not, it may cause a war with France.  Prior to the Louisiana Purchase, France wanted to build an empire in North America. But due to a slave revolt in Haiti, and an impeding war in Britain, France decided to leave those plans and sell the land.

What would America be like today, if Thomas Jefferson did not purchase Louisiana? That is something I have to wonder. Would Thomas Jefferson be such an important president? Did this purchase effect America in such a great way? I think that America would be significantly smaller, obviously. We would not have nearly as many resources. If France controlled New Orleans, would America even be a loud to export from the port. This could breakout into another war. Personally, I think America would eventually get the territory that it wants. France did not have the population nor the strong military in comparison to the United States. The way the territory came into our possession would be different but I still think we would have achieved it. Because the purchase was such a huge accomplishment for Thomas Jefferson, without it, his presidency would not be as great.

The Washington, D.C. and the White House Creation Story

When John Adams arrives in the new capitol of the United States of America in Washington, D.C. he was expecting more than what was presented to him rolling up on his horse wagon. He expected elegant houses and shaded gardens he saw ruts in the road and no record of the streets from a architect viewpoint. Adams writes letters where he describes feeling sorry for the men that have ruled under this roof, talking about the White House. To show why the capitol when Adams arrives Wulf takes us back to how it was in the condition it was in because of Washington and Jefferson. 

This is the sketch Jefferson used to layout the capitol. He describes it as a small town with two squares should be allocated for the president's house and gardens. Jefferson's model requires only 1500 acres of land. In contrast Washington saw the capitol as a magnificent city. He proclaimed a mighty, dominant central government. He dreamed up a capitol that required 5,000 acres. Washington's layout was similar to Jefferson in the way the land was in a rectangular and regular grids. Washington was a very futuristic ideas with the buildings and in-bodying the American Revolution, the Constitution, and the Union. 

The capitol has grown from both the presidents ideas of the layout of the buildings and gardens. I think that Washington's and Adams idea of the capitol was the right direction for America at the time. Looking towards the future was a key thought process of building the American peoples new way of thinking. Being its own country, giving the people something to be proud of and fight for beyond the freedom. Presenting a strong capitol presents to the people the dedication of the leaders of the country to moving past British influences. You know maybe we as American people would be at the same place in our power as a country but i do believe that the way Washington and Adams approach the capitol at that point in history was a key to the mindset of the people as much as the actual land and buildings.  

The Overlooked Founding Father?

When you bring up the subject of founding Fathers most Americans are quick to name George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and some will name Adams, but how many would quickly shout out James Madison. James Madison was the fourth US President serving from 1809-1817. What would happen during his two terms and after would lead the country into a new era of time but never allow the light to shine fully on what he accomplished. His predecessors Washington, Adams, and Jefferson would catch a lot of the fame and glory. Without the Madison family America and the Office of the White House may not be what it is today. When looking into the Presidency of Madison the first question you might ask is where to start.

Madison had to carry the country through another War for independence, from Great Britain who was still trying to control the newly founded nation. This war would produce the a poem written by Francis Scott Key which would later become our National Anthem "Star Spangled Banner." Madison would also be faced with having to gather enough men to fill and army from State Governor's unwilling to cooperate with the Federal Government. It would finally be the strong US Navy that helps win the war.

During his Presidency his Wife Dolly Madison would begin to shape the First Lady role into what it is today. She would partially establish this when in 1814 the British Army would march in to DC and set fire to Capitol building and the White House. She would stay behind and make sure that the painting of George Washington and other valuables made it out of the White House safely. She was also instrumental in redecorating the White House with the help of Latrobe. Dolly set the style for the ages when she began wearing empire-waist dresses topped off with her turban. What really started it for the iconic role is when ordinary citizens began writing her asking her to donate to their charity organization or to even ask for the President to pardon a family member.

The Affair of all Affairs would give the Madison's the political team name when Dolly, Jefferson, James, started the Merry Affair when Anthony Merry the British Minister to the US came with his wife to visit Jefferson and later a dinner with the Madison's would be seen as breaking a Treaty.

Should James and Dolly be given more credit and fame than the Presidents and wife's that came before them? James Madison would add two new States to the union, Louisiana and Indiana. During his last year as President the Country he had seen go through two major wars was beginning to climb into a new era. A Steam boat route was started that ran on the Mississippi River that connected New Orleans to Kentucky. And the first American City was lit up like fire works when Baltimore used gas to light up its city lights.

When Dolly and James finally returned home to Montpelier in Virginia. James would be appointed to President of the University of Virginia in 1826. Dolly would also be given an honorary seat in the house of representatives following the death of her Husband James.

The Gardens of Today

The Gardens of Today

            Andrea Wulf, in her novel Founding Gardeners, describes the Founding Fathers in a different way than how the history textbooks and schools generally describe them. They were gardeners and had a passion for agriculture and nature. Washington, Jefferson, and Madison had beautiful gardens and homes that they constantly thought about day in and day out. Washington thought of Mount Vernon during the war and could not wait to return. Jefferson was devoted to his home back at Monticello, writing detailed letters to his daughters to understand every detail of every aspect of hid garden. Madison had his estate of Montpelier and, like Jefferson, used nature and gardens to retreat from the stresses of politics. Jefferson's passion for growth and nature helped influence his purchase of the Louisiana Territory and push for westward expansion. Adams was intrigued with farms and his simple garden back home. All of these men promoted self preservation and some desired America to be an agrarian society. Gardening and agriculture was centered around our Founding Fathers' lives. 

            Are there leaders or even citizens in America that are as passionate about gardening today? I feel that there are, but I also think that our gardens today are more metaphorical. People's gardens today vary from their passion and also where they take refuge. For some, their garden is actually a garden or maybe a farm. For others, its their house, constantly retreating to their home and adding new decorations, pictures, or furniture. For my dad, it was his small 7 1/2  acre ranch. After a busy week of constant proposals at the office, he would take refuge on the tractor and just take care of the land and horses. Most people would hate to come home to work on the land but for my dad it was relaxing and enjoyable. 

My dad's ranch home

 For others, it might be their family, working and keeping the relationships of every member. Some people might have a garden of a collection they might have such as coins. As for me, my garden would have to be the church and the people I know. I put forth the most service to the church and try to work and keep the relationships that I am in. If something is wrong, I put my energy into it until everything is fine. Relationships are hard work such as a garden. The church is where I can worship to God, relax, serve, and get revived. God is who I live for because of the grace given through my savior Jesus Christ, first and foremost, and it is what He has created and the people He has put in my life that I strive to work and keep. Gardens are different for many people and I think today they are more metaphorical than the gardens we see in the time of our Founding Fathers. So, what is your garden?

Gardening: A Man's Hobby?

    
 

             Gardening: A Man's Hobby?

            Can gardening be a man's hobby? The culture today presents men as strong, aggressive, athletic, hunters, leaders, and "wild", etc. Men do not cry, garden, watch "chick-flicks", and other things that women are perceived to do. I disagree with this culture and according to Wulf's book Founding Fathers, the founding fathers would as well. Yes, men should be strong, though there are different forms of strength; they should be courageous and stand up for others, especially women; they should step up as leaders. However, being strong, courageous, and a leader should not determine the hobbies a man has or the activities that are acceptable for him to do. Our very founding fathers were all gardeners. "For the founding fathers, gardening, agriculture, and botany were the elemental passion" (Wulf). Gardening should be a hobby for more men.

            George Washington, the great general of the Revolutionary War that set the standard of the presidency, was so caught up in his garden on Mount Vernon, that it was what he thought about often during the revolutionary war. He shaped his garden and was constantly sovereign over it. Washington designed Mount Vernon to incorporate and aspect of all thirteen colonies and even faced it West to signify growth and expansion. George Washington spent most of his life experimenting with plants. After the war, he used the garden as a nursery.Washington cherished the tulip poplars' upright white-orange flowers, roses, and fruit trees. Even during the war, Washington was thinking of his garden and even had the soldiers grow their own gardens for food and to keep their mind sober. He and Jefferson had their own pleasure gardens where they planted their favorite trees and plants.

            John Adams, the statesman, diplomat, and leading advocate of American independence, had his own small farm and garden. He and Jefferson took time in Europe to tour all of the fascinating gardens Europe had to offer while they were in London forming trade negotiations in 1786. They used gardens as their sanctuaries and freedom from politics. Also, by touring in Europe, they gathered ideas for their own gardens back in America. It was Jefferson's passion for gardening and making the U.S. a agrarian society that devoted him to Western expansion and the Lewis and Clark expedition. The most cherished thing in Jefferson's life was Monticello. Even as the president, he constantly wrote letters to his daughters asking for every minor detail of the garden: when the flowers bloomed and died, when the trees began to produce fruit and seeds, and how the plants were being trimmed and flowers pruned. Jefferson experimented with rice on his window sill when he was stuck in Washington because gardening was his passion and hobby. One of James Madison's love was Montpelier and the grounds around the mansion. He expanded the original garden of his father to a more ornamental garden. Madison and Jefferson took a botanical journey through West Virginia and the other parts of New England as a means to take refuge from politics. 

            Gardening and agriculture were these nationally honored and heroic founders of our country, and yet they were also considered great men. A man should not be judged by his hobbies or passions, especially if they might be contrary to culture's stereotypical man. Genesis 2:8 of the Bible says "the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed." Adam was placed in the garden to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion" (Gen. 1:28). God placed man in the garden before the corruption of sin, due to the fall of man, to cultivate and work so that God's glory would grow and spread. Man was told to "subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on earth" (Gen.1:28). So, even God had man as gardeners in the beginning of Creation to work and keep it but also to be lords and servants under God's authority. So I'll ask it again: is gardening an acceptable man's hobby?