The Awl has an ongoing series about the politics and controversies surrounding the Revolutionary War, and this week I was fortunate enough to stumble upon The General and The Moose (quick confession, I just like the word moose). The article primarily focused on a little known story of the time - the time Thomas Jefferson tried to send a moose to France. Obviously the practicality of transporting an animal moose-sized over the Atlantic Ocean with colonial technology is baffling on its own, but the motivation behind this request is what I find far more amusing. Buffon, a prominent European scientist, believed that American moose were a degenerate version of the European Elk. Thomas Jefferson decided that this incorrect assumption should be corrected as soon as possible. After long hours of letters, debates, and controversy the moose of America and Europe were revealed to be two different species.
There's something soothing about the petty squabbles of Jefferson and Buffon. Their arguments can easily be likened to school boy bickering, debating about whose dad can beat up the other father. Yet, silly banter like this reminds me that our leaders and founding fathers, set up on a pedestal by our history books and teachers, were still people. Trivial little debates about the size of moose and other obscure details are also part of our history and offer a new perspective on our 'boring' Founding Fathers.
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