Government, Politics, and Reform

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln are all represented in the Museum's collections—by a surveying compass, a lap desk, and a top hat, among other artifacts. But the roughly 100,000 objects in this collection reach beyond the possessions of statesmen to touch the broader political life of the nation—in election campaigns, the women's suffrage movement, labor activity, civil rights, and many other areas. Campaign objects make up much of the collection, including posters, novelties, ballots, voting machines, and many others. A second group includes general political history artifacts, such as first ladies' clothing and accessories, diplomatic materials, ceremonial objects, national symbols, and paintings and sculptures of political figures. The third main area focuses on artifacts related to political reform movements, from labor unions to antiwar groups.

The storming of the Bastille, a former royal garrison and prison in the city of Paris, on July 14, 1789, was a seminal event in the history of the French Republic and a revolutionary symbol that has been celebrated in Franco-American relations ever since.
Description
The storming of the Bastille, a former royal garrison and prison in the city of Paris, on July 14, 1789, was a seminal event in the history of the French Republic and a revolutionary symbol that has been celebrated in Franco-American relations ever since. The demolition of the Bastille left a debris field that fed the market for Revolutionary relics in France, England, and the United States. The Marquis de Lafayette, for example, presented George Washington with a key to the Bastille that Washington proudly displayed in the center hall at Mount Vernon.
Gift of Mrs. Sarah Ella Cummings, 1924
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1789
ID Number
PL.034262
catalog number
34262
accession number
71118
By the end of the 19th century, inexpensive and easily reproducible souvenirs became an acceptable substitute for items made from Mount Vernon itself.Gift of Ralph E. Becker, 1974
Description
By the end of the 19th century, inexpensive and easily reproducible souvenirs became an acceptable substitute for items made from Mount Vernon itself.
Gift of Ralph E. Becker, 1974
date made
1789
associated person
Washington, George
ID Number
PL.227739.1789.S04
catalog number
227739.1789.S04
accession number
299199
The demolition of London’s notorious Newgate Prison might have passed without notice had it not been for the work of Charles Dickens.
Description
The demolition of London’s notorious Newgate Prison might have passed without notice had it not been for the work of Charles Dickens. As architecturally impressive as it was bleak, Newgate’s high-walled squalor appeared in Dickens’s earliest reporting on London’s social conditions, collected in Sketches by “Boz” (1836), and as a setting in his novels—notably, Oliver Twist (1838) and Barnaby Rudge (1841). The popularity of Dickens’s works on both sides of the Atlantic led readers to seek out the places described in his books. After his death in 1870, a flood of transatlantic tourists made their way to “disappearing Dickensland,” as one traveler described the vanishing London sites.
When Newgate closed in 1903, Dickens fans eagerly collected bits of it. London Police Constable William Fulcher obtained this piece of an oak beam from the chapel, which had burned during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780 that Dickens dramatized in Barnaby Rudge. Fulcher carried it with him to the British pavilion at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1905, and from there he wrote to the secretary of the Smithsonian, offering to donate it as a gift.
Gift of P.C. William Fulcher, 1905
associated date
1780-06
ID Number
PL.044395
catalog number
10398
accession number
44395
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
Associated Date
1789
associated person
Washington, George
ID Number
PL.227739.1789.G08
catalog number
227739.1789.G08
Officers from the Continental Army and Navy formed the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783. It was to be an honorific and hereditary society to support patriotic fellowship.
Description
Officers from the Continental Army and Navy formed the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783. It was to be an honorific and hereditary society to support patriotic fellowship. Americans who prized social equality worried that the group was creating a new, hereditary privileged elite. Public controversy caused the society to temporarily abandon the requirement that membership be limited to descendants of original members in 1784. George Washington, president of the society, signed this certificate of membership for William Clark of Virginia in 1787.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1787 03 01
associated person
Washington, George
ID Number
PL.284906.01
catalog number
284906.01
accession number
284906
A French admirer presented this gold-capped walking stick to Benjamin Franklin while he was serving as ambassador to France.
Description
A French admirer presented this gold-capped walking stick to Benjamin Franklin while he was serving as ambassador to France. Franklin later bequeathed the cane to his friend and fellow revolutionary George Washington.
A celebrated writer, inventor, scientist, and advocate for U.S. independence, Franklin rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most famous Americans of the 18th century. Through advice and example, Franklin helped define the American ideal of self-improvement through virtue and hard work.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1783
owner
Washington, George
user
Franklin, Benjamin
ID Number
PL.032011
catalog number
032011
accession number
68016
George Washington, who presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, used this small box to preserve papers produced by the convention.
Description
George Washington, who presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, used this small box to preserve papers produced by the convention.
associated date
1787
associated person
Madison, Dolley
Madison, James
referenced
Washington, George
ID Number
PL.242706.01
catalog number
242706.01
accession number
242706
Quakers, evangelical Christians, and Enlightenment thinkers criticized the slave trade and slaveholding. Two dozen men founded an anti-slavery society in Philadelphia in 1775. The group grew and reorganized to promote the abolition of slavery in 1784.
Description
Quakers, evangelical Christians, and Enlightenment thinkers criticized the slave trade and slaveholding. Two dozen men founded an anti-slavery society in Philadelphia in 1775. The group grew and reorganized to promote the abolition of slavery in 1784. They adopted this constitution in 1787. They worried that the U.S. Constitution’s fugitive slave clause already endangered free people of color.
date made
1787
copyright date
1787
ID Number
2015.0073.01
accession number
2015.0073
catalog number
2015.0073.01
This ballot names four men to serve as members of Maryland’s delegation to the Electoral College in the first presidential election under the U.S. Constitution, in 1789.
Description
This ballot names four men to serve as members of Maryland’s delegation to the Electoral College in the first presidential election under the U.S. Constitution, in 1789. The Constitution allowed state legislatures to choose their own preferred method of selecting members for the Electoral College that would in turn select the president. Five state legislatures directly appointed members, while others established various systems that allowed voters to have a voice. In Maryland the voters at large, nearly eight thousand men, voted for presidential electors in 1789. Every state’s electors voted for George Washington to be president.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1789
associated date
1789
ID Number
1979.0054.01
accession number
1979.0054
catalog number
1979.0054.01
associated date
1789
associated person
Washington, George
ID Number
1980.0771.04
accession number
1980.0771
catalog number
1980.0771.04
Buttons such as this one featuring an American eagle and new national seal were worn by supporters of George Washington during his first inauguration. There was no formal campaigning process during the first election.
Description
Buttons such as this one featuring an American eagle and new national seal were worn by supporters of George Washington during his first inauguration. There was no formal campaigning process during the first election. The framers of the Constitution presumed that the highly esteemed Washington would serve as the country’s first president, and he was elected unanimously by the Electoral College, with John Adams being elected as his vice president. There were no political parties at the time of Washington’s election, and though the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties began forming during his time in office, he remained officially non-partisan.
associated date
1789
associated person
Washington, George
ID Number
2001.0159.23
accession number
2001.0159
catalog number
2001.0159.23
Buttons such as this one reading “Long Live the President GW” were worn by supporters of George Washington during his first inauguration. There was no formal campaigning process during the first election.
Description
Buttons such as this one reading “Long Live the President GW” were worn by supporters of George Washington during his first inauguration. There was no formal campaigning process during the first election. The framers of the Constitution presumed that the highly esteemed Washington would serve as the country’s first president, and he was elected unanimously by the Electoral College, with John Adams being elected as his vice president. There were no political parties at the time of Washington’s election, and though the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties began forming during his time in office, he remained officially non-partisan.
associated date
1789
associated person
Washington, George
ID Number
1986.1040.025
accession number
1986.1040
catalog number
1986.1040.025

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