Agrarian Republic

For Thomas Jefferson,  Monticello became a place of virtue and escape from reality. During his final years of his presidency he encountered rough economic times. Europe was at war again and Jefferson knew better than to get involved, he introduced the Embargo Act in December 1807, banning all foreign trade. The Embargo Act took a huge toll on the newly fragile American economy. Jefferson felt guilty, but he did what he thought was best for the country now and for its future. Jefferson was put into a situation where he had to pick the lesser of two evils. But this decision would have a profound effect on his garden at Monticello. Monticello became a place of passion and scientific revolution as far as botany was concerned. Jefferson's goal was to make this place not only an escape from stress, but a place that represented a Jeffersonian view of America. A place that represented the "New World," a world that was more spectacular than the the old one. Jefferson knew that America had to be independent from Europe. It had to become a place that could develop and harvest more and better crops than Europe. Jefferson wanted that represented at Monticello. 

The Lewis and Clark expedition was a reminder of the treasures that lay in the West, it captured Jefferson's vision of an "Agrarian Republic." Monticello had become the nexus of Jefferson's world. As  America's wilderness became apart of the national identity, it became an object of pride that Jefferson wanted to capture at Monticello. When first arriving at Monticello at the bottom of the mountain, many saw it as a "noble forest" and "extremely grand and imposing." But as visitors further traveled up the mountain, the forest grew more manicured, this was the "Grove," as Jefferson came to know it by hard work and extensive labor.  From the ornamental Grove, to the flower garden at the front and back of the house, from the wild, rugged and picturesque to the more composed, refined and beautiful. What became really impressive was the vegetable terrace, Jefferson's favorite retirement project. It was a scientific garden, a laboratory for horticultural experiments, it was a testing ground for potentially useful plants and would allow Jefferson to grow hundreds of varieties and vegetables. The sheer scale of the vegetable terrace made Jefferson the most extraordinary gardener in the United States. The unique location of the vegetable terrace on the southern side of the mountain harnessed this unique microclimate to grow "hot" vegetables. If one species in a hundred is found useful and succeeds, it was worthy the trial Jefferson believed. Jefferson was a pioneer and believed in America's "endeavor to make every thing we want within ourselves."