Gardens, Politics, and the Shaping of a New Capital

In chapter six of Wulf’s book she discusses the creation of the city of Washington. From this chapter one can learn that the building of our nation's capital was not a simple task. It took many years to build and make many of the buildings inhabitable and took even longer to construct gardens and parks throughout the city. What made this process difficult and drawn out was the politics that were involved. Washington, Madison, and Jefferson all had a view for the city that reflected their personal and political beliefs, and these different views caused the building process to drag on for many years.

             One can see politics playing a role in the building of the city from the very beginning. Choosing where the new Capital would sit caused strife between the Federalists and the Republicans as well as between the Northern and Southern states. The Northern states wanted the new capital to be in situated in a place like New York while the Southern states wanted the Capital to be situated closer to their land. The Federalists wanted to place the capital in a city but the Republicans insisted on the capital being in a rural area. These different views on where the capital should be placed shows the divide present in the new nation between becoming a nation of merchants and traders and a nation that would be based on an agrarian society. Washington ultimately picked the new site for the capital, and he chose an area on the banks of the Potomac. This location was a sign that Washington, along with Jefferson and Madison who contributed to the decision, had decided to move the nation towards an agrarian society.

             When the city was to begin construction, politics emerged once again. Washington favored a grand vision of the city while Jefferson favored a simpler vision. Washington, who favored a mighty and dominant government, wanted to build the city on a grand scale as a way to portray and symbolize a strong government through its many buildings, gardens, and roads. Jefferson, who favored a smaller and weaker government, envisioned a simple city that contained beautiful, yet small buildings, and large gardens that were also simple in nature. Jefferson wanted his city to favor a small farming town while Washington envisioned his city to be large and “magnificent”. This political struggle also effected the way each man envisioned the many gardens. Like the rest of his city, Washington envisioned big, grand gardens that contained French grandeur and formality mixed with English garden designs. Adams, who looked upon gardens and gardening as a way to relax, favored a garden that would be designed to favor the Bingham Garden. Jefferson planned a garden that would contain only native trees and would embody the simple air of a rural farm town garden. All three men failed at achieving these goals for the new capital's gardens, but the many plans and diagrams show that when designing the gardens, politics played a role in design.

             Out of the three men, Jefferson made the most progress with the gardens within Washington. When he took office for his second term, gardens became an important matter within his presidency. Up until that time, the gardens surrounding the White House and the city of Washington had been left unfinished from Madison’s presidency, and Jefferson decided to take action. The reason Jefferson took a sudden interest in the gardens is not truly known, but from studying the book one can assume it was for political reasons. Jefferson longed for the new nation to take on the shape of an agrarian country and by pushing for, and designing gardens throughout the city, he was able to stimulate a farming society within the city. Wulf points out in her book that Jefferson would purchase seeds and hand them out to citizens in the area, would stop to survey the land and gardens, and would encourage the growing of crops by sending his steward to pay the highest price for the crops produced from citizens’ gardens. Jefferson also had plans for the White House garden and got so far as to draw up diagrams and begin preparatory work. Jefferson’s plans for the garden were simple and meant to portray an air of a rural garden, but when Jefferson left office he had not had the time or money to plant any vegetation within the garden. Although Jefferson’s garden was never finished, it was clear that his designs held insight into his political lifestyle and his direction for the new nation. By designing a simple, country garden and encouraging a farming life within the city, one can see that Jefferson hoped to use his gardens as a way to lead the country to a farming lifestyle.

             From this chapter of Wulf’s book, one can learn that the construction of Washington and the gardens within it was much more than just the building of our Nation’s capital. It was a political struggle between many people and the struggle was fought through the construction of the city and the gardens that surrounded it. Each man had a different view on how America should be shaped, and this was evident in how they felt the city should be built and maintained.