Founding gardeners
Subtitle: the revolutionary generation, nature, and the shaping of the American nation
By: Andrea Wulf
Edition: 1st American ed.
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 349
ISBN-13: 9780307269904
Subjects: Gardening; American Gardens; HISTORY / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800); Founding Fathers of the United States; American National characteristics; GARDENING / General; Conduct of life; Political aspects; Political activists; Biography; History
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"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 303-325) and index.