Monday, March 14, 2016
Saint Patricks Day Parade - Chicago - 2016
Apparently it is now a requirement to take a selfie in front of the green dyed Chicago River.
Friday, November 22, 2013
James Madison
I'm on a roadtrip to see the four dead presidents in Virginia. First stop is James Madison.
James Madison is considered the "Father of our Constitution" because although he didn't write it single handedly, he was involved in all the meetings about it and he contributed some significant ideas, including the whole separation of church and state thing that so many people are misinterpreting these days.
He's a tough one, on one hand you have to respect one of the founding fathers that did so much for the establishment of our government, on the other hand you have to dislike someone who held hundreds of slaves and never freed any of them in his lifetime, primarily because it would have bankrupted his estate.
His house is interesting in that it underwent significant changes and additions after his life. The famous Dolley Madison, his wife, had to sell it after his death, there was no immediate family to leave it to (they didn't have any children together), and she needed the money. It ended up with the DuPont family (of rubber fame), and they expanded and modernized it.
Eventually the home ended up in a historic trust who had to do a lot of study and archeology to discover the contents and dimensions of the original Madison home. The picture above is what it looks like today after many of the additions were removed to get back to where it was in the 1700's.
James and Dolley are buried in the family graveyard on the estate.
When I heard that there was also a slave graveyard on the estate I thought that would be interesting and maybe educational. When I got there, what is was was depressing. None of the graves are marked, and they don't even have documentation as to the specific people buried there.
Seeing this brought a harsh reality to me. He may have been a great man, and he may have had qualms about owning slaves while talking about the liberties of the new nation. But James Madison didn't have any problem with his slaves, the people who kept his plantation operating (and who even made the bricks that built his home), being buried in unmarked graves.
James Madison is considered the "Father of our Constitution" because although he didn't write it single handedly, he was involved in all the meetings about it and he contributed some significant ideas, including the whole separation of church and state thing that so many people are misinterpreting these days.
He's a tough one, on one hand you have to respect one of the founding fathers that did so much for the establishment of our government, on the other hand you have to dislike someone who held hundreds of slaves and never freed any of them in his lifetime, primarily because it would have bankrupted his estate.
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| Montpelier Plantation, the home of James Madison |
His house is interesting in that it underwent significant changes and additions after his life. The famous Dolley Madison, his wife, had to sell it after his death, there was no immediate family to leave it to (they didn't have any children together), and she needed the money. It ended up with the DuPont family (of rubber fame), and they expanded and modernized it.
Eventually the home ended up in a historic trust who had to do a lot of study and archeology to discover the contents and dimensions of the original Madison home. The picture above is what it looks like today after many of the additions were removed to get back to where it was in the 1700's.
James and Dolley are buried in the family graveyard on the estate.
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| Dolley Madison's obelisk |
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| James Madison's obelisk |
When I heard that there was also a slave graveyard on the estate I thought that would be interesting and maybe educational. When I got there, what is was was depressing. None of the graves are marked, and they don't even have documentation as to the specific people buried there.
 |
| Slave cemetery on the Montpelier Plantation |
Seeing this brought a harsh reality to me. He may have been a great man, and he may have had qualms about owning slaves while talking about the liberties of the new nation. But James Madison didn't have any problem with his slaves, the people who kept his plantation operating (and who even made the bricks that built his home), being buried in unmarked graves.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Love the Humback Bridge
Virginia is creating art objects at some of its interesting sites in hopes of people sharing them on social media.
This is the LOVEworks at the Humpback Bridge near Covington, VA. It's an old covered bridge, which is only pedestrian accessible now. They used the natural "V" of the tree and made the word love around it.
This is the LOVEworks at the Humpback Bridge near Covington, VA. It's an old covered bridge, which is only pedestrian accessible now. They used the natural "V" of the tree and made the word love around it.
Friday, May 24, 2013
James Buchanan
James B. is in the bottom of the spectrum in terms of ostentation of his burial site (along with Calvin Coolidge and Franklin Pierce). Interestingly, Franklin Pierce was the president just before Buchanan, and both were seriously over shadowed (in effectiveness as president and in the lavishness of their burials) by A. Lincoln who followed after.
Buchanan died as a multimillionaire, and could have afforded a much more lavish tomb.
Buchanan died as a multimillionaire, and could have afforded a much more lavish tomb.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
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