Friendships Dissipated and Friendships Anew

Friendships Dissipated and Friendships Anew

            In 1791, after the establishment of the new Constitution, there becomes a shift in political views within the founding fathers. The unified Union with a now strong central government started to be divided by the debated ideas of national interests by the political elites, especially between Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and Hamilton. At this time, George Washington was the first president of the United States. John Adams was his vice president, Alexander Hamilton was secretary of the treasury, Jefferson was secretary of state, and Madison was a leading member of Congress. Surprisingly, three of these five political officials hated their job and would have much rather been on their farms or back home working on their gardens. Only Madison and Hamilton enjoyed their roles in politics. Throughout chapter four in Andrea Wulf's Founding Gardeners, you see that Hamilton and Adams have a far different view for the new country than Jefferson and Madison do while tying these ideas with their joy and passion for gardens and beauty. 

            

     

            The first political parties started to form here with the "differences in what the revolutionary generation believed ought to be the fabric of American society--the dream of a nation of farmers versus the vision of a merchant and trader elite" (Wulf, 83). Hamilton and Adams pushed for a strong central government and strong trading links with Britain while Jefferson and Madison pushed for rights and powers of the states, individual liberty, and keeping away from British ties. Jefferson and Madison believed the country to be a country of independent farmers and self-sufficiency. Jefferson even tried to changed rice cultivation in the South. Hamilton, however was trying to put his Assumption Plan into motion which would consolidate all of the states' separate debts into one that would be controlled by the federal government.

            Adams and Jefferson had become great friends during their time in Europe to form treaties. They had toured all of England's grand gardens and found a connection with their love for gardens and what was symbolized  in them. Since that time, Adams and Jefferson had separated from their political views. They had opposing views of the British constitution and greatly antagonized each other's views on the French Revolution. These discrepancies pushed Hamilton and Adams to unite in the Federalist Party and paved a way for the new friendship of Jefferson and Hamilton and formation of the Republican Party.  

   

(Madison & Jefferson)

            Jefferson and Madison, with the united goal of making America a land of farming and self-sufficiency and headaches from political disputes, decided to go on a botanical excursion while attending to their own political agenda. It is fascinating how Jefferson, in the heat of politics and forming a nation, was able to turn to nature for comfort and inspiration and attach that to his work as a political official. Virginia had just become the fourteenth state, and Jefferson and Madison were mostly traveling up the Hudson River observing and documenting trees and plants that were not yet known and rare in Virginia. Jefferson even wrote letters to his daughters on the bark he tore off trees so that he could continue to work on his garden in Monticello.  Madison and Jefferson had a friendship centered around agriculture. They sent letters and seeds to each other, and Jefferson used Madison's position as a congressman to distribute seeds to other politicians. This excursion became a battle against Hamilton in a secret way as well. Jefferson wanted to switch trade from Britain to France, unlike Hamilton, and stopped at a wine distillery with Madison to persuade the owners that France had better spirits than the molasses from Britain. Jefferson's main weapon against Hamilton was the native sugar maple.   

             "American sugar maple orchards chimed with Jefferson's and Madison's vision of a country of small farmers, because the trees had the potential to rid America of its dependence on British West Indies sugarcane" (94).  Sugar maple trees do not require large plantations or slaves to produce like sugarcane does so it was perfect for Jefferson's and Madison's idea of a small farming nation.

The sugar would not only be produced by the U.S. but be exported as well. The rest of the trip revolved around gaining knowledge on these trees and how to grow it. Also, Jefferson got the owner of Vermont Gazette, Anthony Haswell, to run a piece in his paper to gain national support and show its necessity. By this, Jefferson and Madison were able to gain new friends and form party loyalties. At their final stop at William Prince's nursery Jefferson bought all of the sugar maple seeds. 

            Even with Hamilton's success as well with the push for a national bank and finding a city for manufacturing in the Great Falls of the Passaic River, Jefferson and Madison accomplished what they had set out to do and more. As Wulf puts it on page 99, "the tour cemented Jefferson's and Madison's friendship and political alliance...their friendship was for life, and ... never interrupted in the slightest degree for a single moment." What a vision for our country that now is the leading agricultural exporting country in the world. A country built on agriculture while also being influence by the industry started by Hamilton. How the first parties started from small disagreements on the national visions of the United Sates is not surprising but also in a way saddening. Even Washington said to Jefferson, "I regret-deeply regret- the difference in opinions which have arisen, and divided you and another principal Officer of the Government" (98). I never knew how much gardening and agriculture influenced the beginning of our country and the founders themselves, however have found that the two are rather cohesive.