A Journey NorthA Journey North

"These topics, scattered as they might seem at first, reflect the breadth of these men's interests in entomology, racial classification, botany, and linguistics and their ideas about horticulture, history, and anthropology. The northern journey allows us to see Jefferson and Madison in a different light, not just as politicians, but as tourists and friends. The journey, from May 21 to June 16, 1791, was taken at a precarious moment. Political parties had emerged that pitted Jefferson and Madison on one side and Alexander Hamilton and John Adams on the other, feuding over issues that would determine the future of the nation. The trip provided escape from the cauldron of political engagement and its toll on their spirits and physical well-being. A gambol through upstate New York and parts of New England offered them the promise of recovering both"--