Founding Farmers

Happy Presidents Day! Let’s talk about a couple of our founding fathers and their exploration of hemp. Though it is unknown whether these Presidents actually smoked cannabis it was unquestionably grown on their estates. Specifically, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

At Mount Vernon, the President’s estate in northern Virginia, Washington originally explored the idea of using hemp or Cannabis Sativa, as a cash crop. However, after some consideration, Washington decided to use hemp in other ways. The hemp that grew on all five farms at Mount Vernon was used for rope, thread, canvas and for repairing fish nets.

Similarly, Thomas Jefferson’s plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia, known as Monticello, also grew hemp. Apart from rope and canvas, it was primarily used to make articles of clothing. He even talked about yielding crops of 500 pounds per acre.

Other than George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison were known presidential hemp growers. Also included was Secretary of State and Speaker of the House, Henry Clay.

According to an article from the Ann Arbor Sun entitled “7 Presidents Smoked It!” the president of the American Historical Reference Society and consultant for the Smithsonian Institute laid claim that several presidents used marijuana. Cannabis was commonly grown amongst tobacco. When mixed together it had a mildly intoxicating effect. In that article it was stated that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, and Franklin Price, all smoked the plant. Madison reportedly claimed “had it not been for hemp, he would not have had the insights he had in the work of creating a new and democratic nation.” Monroe brought the habit of smoking back to the United States from France. Pierce, Jackson and Taylor, as military men, all smoked with their troops. As stated above, however, the official word on whether they smoked or not is unknown. 

So be like our founding fathers, allegedly, and smoke some Turtle Brook Farm CBD Today!

Sources:

mountvernon.org/george-washington/farming/washingtons-crops/george-washington-grew-hemp/#:~:text=George%20Washington%27s%20initial%20interest%20in,nets%20used%20at%20the%20fisheries.

https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/hemp/

https://aadl.org/node/193822

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