Founding Gardeners

Description:

"From the author of the acclaimed The Brother Gardeners, a fascinating look at the founding fathers from the unique and intimate perspective of their lives as gardeners, plantsmen, and farmers. For the founding fathers, gardening, agriculture, and botany were elemental passions, as deeply ingrained in their characters as their belief in liberty for the nation they were creating. Andrea Wulf reveals for the first time this aspect of the revolutionary generation. She describes how, even as British ships gathered off Staten Island, George Washington wrote his estate manager about the garden at Mount Vernon; how a tour of English gardens renewed Thomas Jefferson's and John Adams's faith in their fledgling nation; how a trip to the great botanist John Bartram's garden helped the delegates of the Constitutional Congress break their deadlock; and why James Madison is the forgotten father of American environmentalism. These and other stories reveal a guiding but previously overlooked ideology of the American Revolution. Founding Gardeners adds depth and nuance to our understanding of the American experiment, and provides us with a portrait of the founding fathers as they've never before been seen"--Provided by publisher

subjects: Gardening,  American Gardens,  Founding Fathers of the United States,  American National characteristics,  Conduct of life,  Political aspects,  Political activists,  Biography,  History,  Gardening, united states,  Gardens, united states,  Statesmen, united states,  National characteristics, american,  United states, history, revolution, 1775-1783,  HISTORY / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800),  GARDENING / General,  Political participation,  Umschulungswerkstätten für Siedler und Auswanderer

Places: United States

Times: 18th century