The Founding Fathers are revered by Americans for their bravery, patriotism, political genius, and leadership. However, there is another aspect of these mens’ lives worth admiring. Many of the Founding Fathers did not consider themselves heroes or politicians. They viewed themselves as farmers, stewards of the land. Their belief in America as an agrarian society shaped the way that our country was organized. An analysis of Andrea Wulf’s book, “Founding Gardeners”, shows the significant influence that agriculture had on shaping America.
Washington had grand ideas for his Mt. Vernon estate. His plan was vastly different from the gardens of that era. Most gardens were modeled after the luxurious and ornamental European gardens. In a display …show more content…
American’s viewed Europe as a dull land that had nothing left to discover. Europe’s farms had been farmed for hundreds of years, waterways had been charted and explored, the landscape had been tamed. Early Americans loved to discover, explore, and break the mold of European life. A quote by Michael Collins, an Apollo 11 astronaut, embodies the spirit of exploration in America. “It’s human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice, really; it’s an imperative.” Exploration is a desire rooted deep in everyone’s soul. There is a thrill or natural high that comes with discovery. Americans believed that this untamed and unknown land of vast potential was a direct correlation to American identity. The earliest Americans reflected the fiercely independent and untamed qualities of the New World. The Founding Fathers saw America’s economic future as a country founded on agriculture. They were opposed to the industrial and mercantile economies of Europe. In our textbook, Farm: A Multimodal Reader selections from Notes on the State of Virginia support this belief. “While we have land to labour then, let us never wish to see our citizens occupied at a workbench, or twirling a distaff” (Kinked 59). The section then explains that it is better to send supplies across the Atlantic to be manufactured in Europe than to have large scale manufacturing in America. They believed that men …show more content…
One of those similarities is how these great men viewed agriculture as a form of patriotism. They believed that one of the highest acts of service that could be performed for the young country was to experiment with plants and farming practices. The information collected from these experiments wasn’t kept secret. They were quick to share the new information with anyone engaged in agricultural pursuits of their own. News and information about agricultural successes had to be spread to establish a strong economy. Thus working the land and developing new practices was a service to the
Washington had grand ideas for his Mt. Vernon estate. His plan was vastly different from the gardens of that era. Most gardens were modeled after the luxurious and ornamental European gardens. In a display …show more content…
American’s viewed Europe as a dull land that had nothing left to discover. Europe’s farms had been farmed for hundreds of years, waterways had been charted and explored, the landscape had been tamed. Early Americans loved to discover, explore, and break the mold of European life. A quote by Michael Collins, an Apollo 11 astronaut, embodies the spirit of exploration in America. “It’s human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice, really; it’s an imperative.” Exploration is a desire rooted deep in everyone’s soul. There is a thrill or natural high that comes with discovery. Americans believed that this untamed and unknown land of vast potential was a direct correlation to American identity. The earliest Americans reflected the fiercely independent and untamed qualities of the New World. The Founding Fathers saw America’s economic future as a country founded on agriculture. They were opposed to the industrial and mercantile economies of Europe. In our textbook, Farm: A Multimodal Reader selections from Notes on the State of Virginia support this belief. “While we have land to labour then, let us never wish to see our citizens occupied at a workbench, or twirling a distaff” (Kinked 59). The section then explains that it is better to send supplies across the Atlantic to be manufactured in Europe than to have large scale manufacturing in America. They believed that men …show more content…
One of those similarities is how these great men viewed agriculture as a form of patriotism. They believed that one of the highest acts of service that could be performed for the young country was to experiment with plants and farming practices. The information collected from these experiments wasn’t kept secret. They were quick to share the new information with anyone engaged in agricultural pursuits of their own. News and information about agricultural successes had to be spread to establish a strong economy. Thus working the land and developing new practices was a service to the