James Monroe: les archéologues nous obligent à revoir l'histoire

Depuis bien longtemps déjà les touristes qui visitaient ce qu'on croyait être la demeure de l'ancien président James Monroe étaient impressionnés par la taille modeste de la demeure. Des archéologues ont récemment découvert les fondations d'une maison bien plus grande. La maison présentée aux touristes n'était qu'une résidence pour les invités.

 "Scientists who examined the property during the past two years found the well-preserved foundation of a much larger house that dated to the time Monroe resided at the estate. It was the first hint, Bon-Harper said, that the historians had been wrong all along about which house Monroe really lived in.

Some portions of the unearthed foundation were found mere inches below the surface. Other architectural debris dug up during the excavation shows that the home probably burned down after Monroe sold the estate.

Bon-Harper said that, for years, Monroe historians assumed that another home was buried somewhere on the property, perhaps even underneath another house erected in the late 1800s. The small cottage that was thought to be Monroe’s historic home was believed to be one-half of a larger structure, she said. But the discovery of the foundation, which stretches about 70 feet, proves that Monroe’s true home was much grander than the smaller building, which Bon-Harper said has been identified as a lodger’s quarters constructed in 1818 for Monroe’s guests."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/04/28/at-virginia-home-of-president-monroe-a-sizable-revision-of-history/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_monroe-610a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory