Party Lines and the Maple Tree Army

Republican, Democrat, Independent, Conservative, Moderate, Libertarian or whatever other label you may associate yourself by, these political standings are attached to specific ideas, specific philosophies, and specific stereotypes. But our party divided country did not start out that way, nor before reading this would I have ever guessed that party lines began from a debate over farming or industry. What Jefferson and Hamilton birthed by virtue of their disagreements forever changed the political landscape of the United States. 

As Wulf mentions, the founding fathers began to separate in politically, no longer having the same goal of freedom in mind. This was not to say that the fight for American freedom was over. Where Jefferson and Madison looked for a true Republican economy free from British influence, Hamilton fought to free the young American economy with industry and a national bank.

Thomas Jefferson was the reluctant politician; in his growing age, his heart longed for the sweeping lands of Monticello. This growing passion awakened in him a resolve to establish the young United States as an agrarian republic. His success with introducing rice to the colonies gave him hope and was an accomplishment he revered with the writing of Declaration of Independence. Both Jefferson and Madison were weary of Hamilton's ambition for a strong government and "Wealth acquired by speculation..." as Jefferson critiqued. To them, there was more value and virtue in dedication to botany. A good deal of Washington's humility can be seen in Jefferson here; as if he was beginning to really understand all the merits a humble farming life could bring to him. 

Cementing the United States' agrarian economy was vital and a pressing matter, and Jefferson and Madison's tour of the Hudson River Valley gave Jefferson just how to do so. As he reflected during his walks "the drudgery of business was to blame" for the persistent headache that plagued him in Philadelphia. Here amongst the wood, leaves, bark that he and Madison so carefully documented in their letters could he finally think. It was in those very woods that he found his answer: the sugar maple tree.

The push for the maple tree was genius. It solved the demand for expensive sugar cane from the West Indies, and promoted the independence of families to farm for themselves a basic good. It was also so relatively low maintenance to produce sugar from that families could have the opportunity to be exporters. Once again nature to front seat to making a political statement in the young, budding country. To think that a mere native tree became the crucial point that changed the our political and economic landscape is astounding, yet it was the both metaphorical and literal "line in the sand" between Hamilton and Jefferson.