The Shinning City on a Hill

It is still pretty astonishing today to think that political ideology has a benchmark going back 200 years in the way the capital was designed. It would be like watching HGTV today and basing designs and colors due to your political beliefs. "That wall better be red because I am Republican or only blue flowers in the garden because I am a Democrat." More of a headache than anything else, but what  sounds like nonsense today had quite the impact it did over 200 years ago. The Federalist wanting the capital to represent and envisioned America of "BIG and BEAUTIFUL" structures and gardens while the Republicans who sought to bring the level of "big and beautiful" to a more country side estate dwelling. With Washington representing more of a Federalist view, Jefferson representing that of a Republican view and Madison caught in the middle; the history behind their personal thoughts and inputs into how they wanted the capital to represent their own envision of America was more interesting than I was willing to comprehend. But I got it all.

When the locations and design for the the capital began, Washington was President and his vision of creating a big capital city that represented all of the characteristics of his "envisioned America" were being planned out. However, there was always people that disagreed with his design, but hey, its George Washington, and it does not matter even if you are Thomas Jefferson. It will be built the way Washington wants it too, or as long as he is alive. Fast-forward to the second president, Mr. Madison. He on the other hand just hated the location. Being from Pennsylvania, the most populated and (what he thought to be the better location for the capital to be) ran the first three years of his presidency from that city. Making several trips during his tenure to see how the construction of the capital was making progress. To Madison, he felt it more important to follow that of Washington's example, and after some time, put a little thought into the design of it. Well, after losing an "ugly and messy" election to his Vice President Mr. Jefferson, the capital took on a new look of "no-progress."Jefferson being the self-proclaimed botanist he was, never planted a single tree on the capital grounds, let alone even a garden. This really baffled me as a reader, but hey, its Thomas Jefferson, if he does not want to plant a garden he does not have to. It did seem though, that he was more interested as using the capital grounds more as a botanist observatory then a place that was supposed to represent the "future America." As Jefferson wanted it to, the capital design never really improved, nor tried to improve us funds for certain designs were fluctuated elsewhere as Jefferson saw fit. Jefferson wrote about his time in the White house saying that it was "a very agreeable country residence... free from the noise, the heat, the stench, and the bustle of a close built town." For now it was a republican capital.