“Seeds of Independence” at National Day Celebration in Switzerland

July 2, 2010

Young volunteers at Embassy Bern dressed up like colonists in Jefferson’s time await guests at the “Colonial Market.”

Ambassador Beyer greeting guests

You might have thought you were at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello for the celebration of the U.S. National Day in Bern, Switzerland this year. Young people in colonial garb greeted guests as chamber music wafted through the vegetable garden and chickens and bunnies rested in the shade at the embassy “Farmer’s Market.” Guests were invited to take a tour of the residence where they met Susan Stein, the curator of Monticello, who was on hand to talk about Jefferson and his beloved estate.

Whether they were enjoying a taste of the Ambassador’s kitchen garden, or having tea in the formal gardens, guests learned something of America’s heritage and its similarities with Switzerland. Our democratic values, like those of the Swiss, spring from an agrarian past and nothing demonstrates that better than the life of Jefferson. An ordinary farm boy from Virginia became a revolutionary visionary, a champion of democracy, an ambassador and a statesman. Like the champions of democracy in Switzerland, Jefferson learned lessons of self reliance and independence from the soil every day.

The “Seeds of Independence” national day event reflected Jefferson’s passion for the earth, love of the environment and advocacy of the rights of man. Like many Swiss, his “pursuit of happiness” began and ended connected to the land.