 | "A Tobacco Plantation," title page for "The Federalist," 1788 The New York Public Library, Fifth Ave and 42nd St, New York, NY 10018. We are grateful for the generosity of the NYPL. |
 | John Singleton Copley, "Watson and the Shark," 1778, detail of Watson and shark, oil on canvas Copyright National Gallery of Art, 2000B South Club Dr, Landover, MD 20785. Ferdinand Lammot Belin Fund 1963.6.1. All rights reserved. www.nga.gov |
 | Joseph Siffred Duplessis, "Benjamin Franklin," 1778, oil on canvas; oval, 28 1/2 x 23 in. (72.4 x 58.4 cm)
Copyright holder and location unknown. |
 | Philip Dawe (attributed), "The Bostonians Paying the Excise Man;" British Stamp Act agent being tarred and feathered, 1774 Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, British Cartoon Prints Collection, Washington, DC 20540. LC-USZ62-9487 |
 | Great Seal adopted by Congress, 1782
U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520 |
 | An Anti-federalist cartoon of an exciseman during the Whiskey Rebellion. The Atwater Kent Museum, 15 South 7th St., Philadelphia, PA 19106. In Eds. of American Heritage, An American Heritage Pictorial History of the Presidents of the U.S., Vol. I, 1968, p. 52. 8.2.4, 8.3.5 |
 | This "Drafting the Constitution" is part of a frieze at the State Capitol of Nebraska. Heroic style. Lee Laurie sculpture. Copyright holder unknown. Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln, NE 68509-4604. In Eds. of American Heritage, An American Heritage Pictorial History of the Presidents of the U.S., I, 1968, pp. 136-7. 8.2.4 |
 | Gilbert Stuart, "George Washington" (Lansdowne portrait), 1796, oil on canvas.
Copyright The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Victor Building–Suite 8300 MRC 973, Washington, DC 20013-7012. All rights reserved. Acquired as a gift to the nation through the generosity of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. NPG.2001.13. 8.2.4 |
 | Gilbert Stuart, "George Washington" (Lansdowne portrait), 1796, oil on canvas. Stuart intended his portraits of Washington to serve as icons of a sort. Note the regal background, classical columns and black, austere dress. Copyright The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, Victor Building–Suite 8300 MRC 973, Washington, DC 20013-7012. All rights reserved. Acquired as a gift to the nation through the generosity of theDonald W. Reynolds Foundation. NPG.2001.13. 8.2.4 |
 | Interior of Capitol Dome, Washington, D.C. "Glorification of the Spirit of George Washington." The 13 maidens represent the original 13 states. Location and view are from below, with the effect of being welcomed into the heavens by a pantheon of angels. Roland Marchand photo, c. 1963. 8.2.4 |
 | Rev-p14-a01
James Madison, 1783. Madison exchanged this miniature portrait for that of a fiancée, who returned it for hers when they parted. Charles Willson Peale painting.
Library of Congress Rare Book & Special Collections Division, Washington, DC 20540. USZ62-5310. |
 | From_Revolution_to_Constitution20
George Washington taking the Oath of Office. "The first Inauguration of George Washington occurred on April 30, 1789, in front of New York's Federal Hall. Our nation's first President took the oath of office on a balcony overlooking Wall Street. With the ceremony complete, the crowd below let out three big cheers and President Washington returned to the Senate chamber to deliver his brief Inaugural address. He called upon 'That Almighty Being who rules over the universe' to assist the American people in finding 'liberties and happiness' under 'a government instituted by themselves.'" President Washington and Vice President John Adams, Balcony of Federal Hall. Oath administered by Robert Livingston, Chancellor of State of New York, using The Holy Bible from St. John's Masonic Lodge, No.1, opened at random due to haste to Genesis 49:13. Length of Inaugural Address: 1,419 words. Attire: Dark brown suit (made in America), with steel-hilted sword, white silk stockings, and silver shoe buckles. Weather: Clear and cool. Precedents, 'firsts' or other interesting information: The Constitution only prescribes the oath that a President must take; it does not set forth the style or manner of the Inauguration. The nation's first inauguration established many precedents: he kissed the Bible; and he delivered an Inaugural address, all of which have been followed by future Presidents." - Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Washington may or may not have added the words, "So help me God" at the end of his oath; scholars debate it, and there appears to be no eye-witness documentation that he did. "The complete lack of contemporary evidence, George Washington’s political philosophy of strictly following the Constitution and the concurrent debate over the proper wording of oaths under the new Constitution make it virtually certain that George Washington did not add the words 'So help me God' to his inaugural oath." - Prof. Peter R. Henriques. Most modern-day presidents include these words and think they are following in Washington's footsteps.
US National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Rd, College Park, MD 20740-6001. And US Senate at: inaugural.senate.gov. Prof. Peter R. Henriques, Professor of History, Emeritus, George Mason University, and author of "Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington"; in “'So Help Me God': A George Washington Myth that Should Be Discarded," History News Network, George Mason Univesity, Jan. 12, 2009, p. 1. We are grateful for much of this information to Raymond Soller of Duluth, GA. |
 | From_Revolution_to_Constitution18
William Paterson, a delegate from New Jersey, who signed the Constitution of the United States. He was a US Senator in the first Federal Congress (1789-91), and served as a Justice of the US Supreme Court (1793 -1806). Casimir Gregory Stapko portrait.
The Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, DC 20543. |
 | Federalists_and_Unity20
"Congressional pugilists," a heated partisan debate, cartoon, 1798. A fight on the floor of Congress between Vermont Representative Matthew Lyon, a Jeffersonian Republican, and Roger Griswold of Connecticut, a Federalist. "Griswold had accused Lyon of cowardice during the American Revolution and Lyon responded by spitting tobacco juice in Griswold's face." The interior of Congress Hall is shown. Several others look on as Griswold, armed with a cane, kicks Lyon, who grasps his arm and raises a pair of fireplace tongs to strike him. Below are the verses: "He in a trice struck Lyon thrice / Upon his head, enrag'd sir, / Who seiz'd the tongs to ease his wrongs, / And Griswold thus engag'd, sir." Print, 1798, Philadelphia. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC 20540. LC-DIG-ppmsca-15707. |
“Mr. Pollard took ideas for guiding history instruction and incorporated them into full activities and discussions to make the history classroom more engaging while also using established techniques to develop critical thinking. I got more out of Mr. Pollard's classroom than just a chronological series of events that took place in the United States. I came out with an idea of why events took place the way they did, and what that means for all of us today.”
Mo Torres
Natomas Charter School Graduate, Class of 2006, describing History Project Teacher Leader Jeff Pollard.
Natomas Charter School Graduate, Class of 2006