The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region ca. 1600-1925

Go directly to the collection, The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region ca. 1600-1925, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection. History topics include:

Introduction | Colonization of Virginia and Maryland | The New Nation | Slavery | Civil War and Reconstruction | The Development of Washington, D.C. | Urbanization and the Problems of Cities

The New Nation

Many settlers, including those who founded Maryland, came to the colonies to find freedom from religious persecution, but some believed they did not truly find it until after the revolution. A booklet marking the 1790 consecration of the first bishop of Baltimore celebrates religious freedom, saying that "The very term of toleration is exploded, because it imports a power in one predominant sect to indulge that religious liberty to others, which all claim as an inherent right," an interesting idea for consideration during study of the Bill of Rights. Also of note in the same document is a series of extracts from bills of rights enacted in the constitutions of individual states. A comparison of these statements with the First Amendment (enacted by the First Congress in 1789 and ratified in 1791) would be a useful exercise. Which statement do you prefer? Why?

Among the nation's leaders in its early years were many Virginians, on whom this collection provides interesting personal reflections. For example, the following descriptions of Thomas Jefferson can be found among the documents in The Capital and the Bay; the documents quoted below also contain rich information about political events in the new nation. As you read the quotations, answer the following questions:

• Make a list of positive words and phrases used to describe Thomas Jefferson. Also make a list of negative words and phrases used. In what areas did Jefferson seem to excel? In what areas was he criticized?
• What evidence can you find in these quotations or other sources in the collection that party politics existed during Jefferson's administration?
• What do these sources tell you about Jefferson's family life? According to these sources, how did his family situation affect his presidency?
• How does William Wirt define eloquence? Do you agree with this definition? Why or why not?

Thomas Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart (Pages 30-31, “The First Forty Years of Washington Society”)

"And is this," said I, after my first interview with Mr. Jefferson, "the violent democrat, the vulgar demagogue, the bold atheist and profligate man I have so often heard denounced by the federalists? Can this man so meek and mild, yet dignified in his manners, with a voice so soft and low, with a countenance so benignant and intelligent, can he be that daring leader of a faction, that disturber of the peace, that enemy of all rank and order?" Mr. Smith, indeed, (himself a democrat) had given me a very different description of this celebrated individual; but his favourable opinion I attributed in a great measure to his political feelings, which led him zealously to support and exalt the party to which he belonged, especially its popular and almost idolized leader. Thus the virulence of party-spirit was somewhat neutralized, nay, I even entertained towards him the most kindly dispositions, knowing him to be not only politically but personally friendly to my husband; yet I did believe that he was an ambitious and violent demagogue, coarse and vulgar in his manners, awkward and rude in his appearance, for such had the public journals and private conversations of the federal party represented him to be.

(Pages 5 and 6, "The First Forty Years of Washington Society, Portrayed by the Family Letters of Mrs. Samuel Harrison Smith")

The . . . . . . . . . . . . of the United States is, in his person, tall, meager, emaciated; his muscles relaxed, and his joints so loosely connected, as not only to disqualify him, apparently, for any vigorous exertion of body, but to destroy every thing like elegance and harmony in his air and movements… his head and face are small in proportion to his height; his complexion swarthy; the muscles of his face, being relaxed, give him the appearance of a man of fifty years of age, nor can he be much younger; his countenance has a faithful expression of great good humour and hilarity; while his black eyes—that unerring index—possess an irradiating spirit, which proclaims the imperial powers of the mind that sits enthroned within. This extraordinary man, without the aid of fancy, without the advantages of person, voice, attitude, gesture, or any of the ornaments of an orator, deserves to be considered as one of the most eloquent men in the world; if eloquence may be said to consist in the power of seizing the attention with irresistible force, and never permitting it to elude the grasp, until the hearer received the conviction which the speaker intends. As to his person, it has already been described. His voice is dry, and hard; his attitude, in his most effective orations, was often extremely awkward… As to fancy, if she hold a seat in his mind at all, which I very much doubt, his gigantic genius tramples with disdain, on all her flower-decked plats and blooming parterres. How then, you will ask, with a look of incredulous curiosity, how is it possible that such a man can hold the attention of an audience enchained, through a speech of even ordinary length? I will tell you. He possesses one original, and, almost, supernatural faculty; the faculty of developing a subject by a single glance of his mind, and detecting at once, the very point on which every controversy depends, No matter what the question: though ten times more knotty than "the gnarled oak," the lightning of heaven is not more rapid nor more resistless, than his astonishing penetration. Nor does the exercise of it seem to cost him an effort. On the contrary, it is as easy as vision. I am persuaded that his eyes do not fly over a landscape and take in its various objects with more promptitude and facility, than his mind embraces and analyzes the most complex subject.

(Pages 178, 179, and 180, "Letter V" of "The Letters of the British Spy. By William Wirt")

. . . The weekly levee was abolished by Mr. Jefferson, and no receptions were held except on New Year's Day and the Fourth of July. Whatever visions of gayety in the White House may have been cherished by the maids and matrons of the capital, they were doomed to disappointment. Mr. Parton tells of an effort made by some persistent dames to cajole Mr. Jefferson into resuming the customary levees; but, with his habitual courtesy and gallantry of address in the presence of women, he was the last man in the republic to yield to cajolery or flattery when he had decided upon any given course of conduct. Consequently, when a number of ladies donned their bravest attire and appeared at the White House to do honor to the new President, the reception accorded them, although quite within the bounds of civility, was so wanting in cordiality as to prevent a repetition of the experiment. The lack of gayety in the Executive Mansion was due not only to the simplicity of Mr. Jefferson's tastes and his conscientious scruples against anything approaching the formality of a court, but also to the fact that no woman presided over the President's household during this administration… Mr. Jefferson's friends said that he never recovered from the shock and grief of his daughter's death. It is difficult to believe that the man who viewed with apparent stoicism the sufferings of the royal family and noblesse of France, which drew tears from the eyes of Edmund Burke and Gouverneur Morris, was the same Thomas Jefferson who in his domestic relations and in his friendships manifested the most extreme sensibility.

(Pages 108, 109, 112, "Jeffersonian Simplicity" in "Social Life in the Early Republic")

Some of Jefferson's writings from the period can be found in "Notes on the State of Virginia." Search the collection for more information by and about Jefferson (or other noted Virginians of the era, such as George Washington or James Madison) and write a character sketch or biography based on the information gathered.

Introduction | Colonization of Virginia and Maryland | The New Nation | Slavery | Civil War and Reconstruction | The Development of Washington, D.C. | Urbanization and the Problems of Cities