Studding in the United states of America, one simply cannot escape the stories of our founding fathers. When I think of our founding fathers, “American hero’s” comes to mind. Stories of great adventures, magnificent discoveries, violence, courage and hope for a new beginning. But what I failed to ask myself is what do these founding fathers have in common, what inspired these American heroes’? I have learned in the Founding Gardeners, as Wulf reveals these men have in common a love of the land, a strong passionate belief in liberty a strong agrarian republic. Thought out all nine chapters I learned; George Washington, John Adams, Tomas Jefferson and James Madison their obsession with farming; changed Americas landscape and started the foundation …show more content…
What was most fascinating, his profound love for his country deeply rooted in his passion for nature of agriculture and gardens? As Wulf displays, He used words like trees and plants as metaphors to describe the struggle for independence. America had just declared their independence with Washington as commander and chief, he was poor equipped and bracing himself for the first and major war for liberty, one would think his mind was constantly on strategy but often his minds drifts of to his garden. He even recommended that his troops make Rigid gardens so they can produce vegetables for the nation. Washington saw the future of America as a country of people and not by soldiers, but by farmers an, “agrarian society that would be industrious, happy and independent” 1. As Wulf explains for Washington trees were a glorious expression of American beauty and political trop. Since the first settles had arrived in 1607 in Virginia they desperately tried to recreate the gardens and homes they left behind in Britain. Washington Felt strongly about cutting all ties and memories of the old mother land. He wanted a new culture, landscape filled with only American plants. He wanted nothing to do with Britain’s plants poisoning the
George Washington became the first president of the United States soon after winning the war against Great Britain, America becoming the first independent 13 colonies. Since the beginning of his presidency people trusted him, being the one who led the country to victory as the General, contributed to people having faith in him. It states in the book that he chose the Country’s well-being before his own and often made decision following his gut, “he took pains to elevate the public good over private interest and projected honesty and honor over ambition.”(Johnson) Washington took great responsibility and honor of the New build Nation, he didn’t take matters lightly choosing what was best for his country. During his presidency, he was a visionary
The revered and respected first president, George Washington, gave the US hope during one of its most difficult times. Using the events and circumstances of his life to learn and advance his position, he grew from humble beginnings into a legend. George Washington had a valuable, well-rounded education from ages seven to fifteen, studying all the subjects (Nevins and Graff). Due to his father’s death, George grew up under the supervision of his half-brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon, learning many lessons and developing thoughts, actions, and manners he used later in life (Nevins and Graff). He worked as a surveyor for his first career and learned the benefits of hard work, endurance, and resourcefulness (Nevins and Graff). After Lawrence died, George took over running the family plantation and found farming an honorable, delectable, amusing, and profitable occupation (Nevins and Graff). Standing six feet tall with broad shoulders, Washington cultivated a lavish lifestyle of dancing, cards, billiards, and hunting as a prominent and active member in his community and church (Nevins and Graff). George Washington started his military career in November of 1752, and in 1755 he took the position as commander of all the Virginian troops at the young age of 23 years (Nevins and Graff). Washington desired more honor and respect than he received, so he resigned from the military in the fall of 1758 full of frustration (Nevins and Graff). War moved slowly, troops did not receive enough
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis is an episodic recount of six pivotal moments in post-revolutionary America’s history. The book follows Abigail Adams, John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington through these events. The author seeks to show not only the outcomes that occurred in them, but to give in detail deeper thought about the thinking and actions that lead to those outcomes.
People responded so positively to Washington because of how wellknown he was and how you could trust him in any situation. One could easily, “distinguish him from all the others. His personal appearance is truly noble and majestic, being tall and wellproportioned” (McCullough 34). People at the time of the American Revolution saw him as this, practically seeing him as a person on perfection. It was also believed by the people at this time that, “a leader must look and act the part” (McCullough 42). Washington made sure that he did this by looking and acting how a leader should and by doing this he lead the Americans to their
The Importance of Beowulf in Modern America By Jennifer Carley Modern culture and literature include many stories of great heroes and fictional adventures. Many people grow up reading about these great adventures and looking up to the heroes of the stories. Heroes are great roll models because they are portrayed as courageous and trustworthy individuals, two very admirable qualities. Despite numerous cultural and technological advancements, life in modern America continues to bear resemblance to the Anglo-Saxon world of the hero Beowulf. The poem Beowulf, though written many centuries ago, still contains the same universal themes of any great action-adventure story in today's society. The poem is about a great hero who overcomes seemingly
Once in awhile, you may eat Peanut butter and jelly or use almond lotion on your skin. But do you know the history of it? George Washington Carver had filled a big gap in your everyday life using crops and other renewable resources. It took hard work and dedication to achieve goals like making building materials out of peanuts. Still today he is remembered and thought as a hard core thinker. The Ib learner profile trait for George is Washington carver was a born into slavery in 1861. He was kidnapped before 1 but his mother had made a successful escape taking young Carver with her. George Washington was a hard worker growing up, trying to make money anyway possible for his only-mother and brother to survive. He was known to have the green thumb in his childhood, because he could help and cure just about any plant that had trouble or that was on it’s last stem.
Joseph J. Ellis, the author of “The Founding Brothers,” identifies and give a better vision of what is happening in the American Revolution. Ellis states, “On the inevitability side, it is true there was voices back then urging prospective patriots to regard American Independence as an early manifest destiny” (3). The book introduces the revolutionaries: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. Ellis focuses on the characteristics, actions, events, and the ideologies differences that affect the American Revolution.
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation is a well written narrative about America’s founding fathers and the years that followed the Revolutionary War. Ellis’s book is appealing to anyone who is interested in learning about the roots of our founding brothers. The book is also well written in the aspect of not being long and drawn out into one big story. Instead, Ellis breaks the book down in to six stories that talk about different situations with American historical figures. Ellis uses more than one type of historical writing throughout the six stories. He uses social, economic and political types of history throughout this book.
In Founding Brothers, the three most important chapters that impact America today were The Duel, The Silence, and The Farewell and the least important was The Friendship. The book is about our seven founding brothers and about different events that happened to them in post revolutionary America. It is a nonfiction book that was written to show what they experienced and how they interacted with others.
Joseph Ellis sets out to make George Washington, the person we think of as an icon, into a real person. He wants to show us what makes him tick. He wants to turn the marble into the man. So many students today see George Washington as a memorial, a monument, a face on a dollar bill, and the man who could not lie when he cut down the cherry tree. He wants to show us the man George Washington was in his day. Ellis’s method was to divide George Washington’s life into three main parts:
George Washington and John Adams are two of the most influential men that birthed the American Republic. Without hesitation, it is easy to say that if either of these men were not apart of our countries beginning, the nation would be extremely difference or not even existing at all. With that being said, in this paper, I will not only examine the striking similarities between the two, but the night and day differences that still polarize hundreds of years later. To begin, I will speak about the founding father’s lives before they took office. George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on February 22, 1732.
Through anecdotes in his book, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Joseph J. Ellis gives a new take on this crucial period of this country’s history. Ellis crafts this work of nonfiction in such a way so the reader may understand the revolutionary generation the way Americans currently do: the present looking back to the past, and as the Founding Fathers did: the past (their present) looking forward to the future. This allows one to understand the intentions behind some of these historical figures’ actions and whether those actions led to desirable outcomes. Considering these different perspectives in which he writes, Joseph Ellis comes to prove that in order to understand the true significance of the revolutionary generation, it is necessary to take into account the values and relationships between the individual leaders. The author emphasizes social history throughout the narratives by highlighting the major issues that the public faced at that time. Judging the content of Ellis’ writing, it is evident that he is biased toward certain people for he does not highlight many of their flaws, nor does he explain the impact of these flaws on the revolution. Joseph Ellis composed this piece in
Everyone knows George Washington as the first president, but most people do not know his other roles in the creation of the United States of America. In Joseph J. Ellis’s book, His Excellency George Washington, Ellis tells about Washington’s life. He includes his time as a general in the Revolutionary War, his life in retirement after the war, and also his time as the president. Ellis’s main focus in the book is to paint a picture for the reader so it almost feels like they are right next to Washington as his life is explained. The information in his book allows for readers to have a better understanding of what Washington went through in his life and also ,at times, gives educated guesses on what Washington might have been thinking. Through this book, it is easy to see why George Washington is referred to as one of the greatest Americans to ever live.
The major point that Washington heavily address is the eradication of political parties within the US. According to Washington political parties "agitate[s] the community with ill-founded and false alarms;" meaning that political parties cause a disruption within the community's cohesion. Political parties can cause a huge schism between groups of people. Since parties have a certain platform that expresses a groups moral, economical, and social views, it can be easy and often common place for those of opposing parties to be have tension. Washington knew that this would be the case when if political parties continued. Each party would have their own agenda meaning that they would focus on the parties interest and not truly advocate for the countries
In his biography of America's founding father and first president, George Washington: The Patriot President, author William M. Thayer describes the heroic acts of leadership that Washington displayed while fighting in the American Revolution and during his two terms as President. Using a personal style that appeals to young readers, Thayer provides many glimpses into the private life of George Washington that give a better impression of the man behind one of history's most legendary figures. By tracing the path of Washington's incredible life, from his childhood farm on Mount Vernon to his participation in the French and Indian War of 1754, the author successfully recreates the key events in Washington's development. The book is filled with tales of Washington's bravery on the battlefield, his natural ability to lead men during both war and peace, and his fierce sense of patriotism in the face of British aggression. After reading George Washington: The Patriot President the lesson that greatness is earned through hard work and determination is made clear.