Sign-In
Cart
Experiencing Mount Vernon: Eyewitness Accounts, 1784-1865
Paperback
Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
ISBN13: 9780813925158
Publisher: Univ Of Virginia Pr
Published: May 23 2006
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.82
Height: 0.73 Width: 6.06 Depth: 8.02
Language: English
George Washington, acutely aware of the accomplishments and potential of the American Revolution, used his Mount Vernon estate both to preserve the memory of events that had created a new nation and to forward his keen vision of what that nation might become. During the 1780s and 1790s, an era when neither public museums nor a national library existed, visitors to Mount Vernon viewed John Trumbull's iconic image of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Houdon's famous bust of the countryÃs preeminent hero, and Washington's voluminous wartime correspondence. More important, they listened as the Washingtons recalled the remarkable events that had forged independence and the unique American experiment in representative government. At Mount Vernon, too, Washington and his guests discussed how best to secure the success and well-being of the United States. Here was a place to contemplate what the nation, at its best, might be.
Following George and Martha Washington's deaths, the estate passed to four successive heirs, the last of whom deeded it to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association in 1860. While still in private hands, the property nonetheless attracted thousands of visitors each year, most of whom arrived after a fifteen-mile overland trek from Washington, D.C. With the establishment of regular steamboat access in the 1850s, the numbers swelled to ten thousand annually. The public claimed Mount Vernon as its own. In the words of a nineteenth-century Washington family member, the Nation shares it with us.
In a remarkable display of civic religion that testified to the siteÃs enormous hold on the public imagination, Americans pronounced Mount Vernon sacred ground and made it the nationÃs most important site of revolutionary memory and inspiration. The sacred ground was, nonetheless, contested ground: visitors criticized the heirs' management of the property; northerners abhorred the persistence of slavery at the estate. As pilgrims contemplated the highest ideals of the Revolution at Washington's home and tomb, they often found their own society wanting. Amid escalating sectional strife in the 1850s, some argued that if Mount Vernon could be saved for the nation, the nation might be preserved from ruin.
In letters and journals, newspaper and magazine articles, and public speeches, visitors recorded, often in detail and with intense emotion, their varied reactions to the site. Experiencing Mount Vernon presents the most informative of these accounts, as well as selected documents from the Washington owners (beginning with Washington himself, who in 1784 prematurely wrote Lafayette that, at his beloved home, he had retired from all public employments). Numerous maps, contemporary images, and annotations complement the texts. This book constitutes the only eyewitness chronicle we have of the Washington estate's ascent to the status of national shrine, and it offers the closest possible evidence of Mount VernonÃs singular role in helping forge American national identity.
Also in
Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution
Head, David
Hardcover
The Church of Saint Thomas Paine: A Religious History of American Secularism
Schmidt, Leigh Eric
Paperback
The Lost Founder: James Wilson and the Forgotten Fight for a People's Constitution
Wegman, Jesse
Hardcover
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution
Kiernan, Denise
Hardcover
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
Atkinson, Rick
Paperback
The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
Atkinson, Rick
Hardcover
Did America Have a Christian Founding?: Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth
Hall, Mark David
Paperback
Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time and Ours
Cogliano, Francis D.
Onuf, Peter S.
Hardcover
Radical Duke: How One Aristocrat-And the American Revolution-Transformed Britain
Allen, Danielle
Hardcover
The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America
Rosen, Jeffrey
Hardcover
The Flag Was Still There: A History of the American Experiment in Five Anniversaries
McKean, David
Bennett, M. Todd
Hardcover
Jefferson's Wolf: A Founding Father's Troubling Answer to the Problem of Slavery
Guyatt, Nicholas
Dierksheide, Christa
Hardcover
The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution
O'Malley, Gregory E.
Hardcover
The Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History
Throckmorton, Warren
Hardcover
Not Your Founding Father: How a Nonbinary Minister Became America's Most Radical Revolutionary
Sankovitch, Nina
Hardcover
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
Atkinson, Rick
Hardcover
The Cherokee War of 1776: Native Destruction at the Dawn of American Independence
Kokomoor, Kevin
Hardcover
The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
McCullough, David
Paperback
Divided Over the Declaration: How an Enduring Debate Sustains the Vision of America
Williams, Tony
Bobb, David J.
Hardcover
The Making of the American Mind: The Story of Our Declaration of Independence
Spalding, Matthew
Hardcover
The Forgotten World War: Exploring the Secret History of the American Revolution, from Spain to India and Back Again
Baxter, Derek
Hardcover
Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution (Large Print Edition)
Kiernan, Denise
Hardcover
Thy Will Be Done: George Washington's Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory
Marks, John Garrison
Hardcover
The Democracy We Must Keep: Seven Founders, Nine Documents, and the Ideas That Shaped America
Stewart, David O.
Paperback
The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America
Rosen, Jeffrey
Paperback
From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition.....
Maier, Pauline
Paperback
Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality
Allen, Danielle
Paperback
America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War
Bennett, William J.
Paperback
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher
Paperback
Henry Knox's Noble Train: The Story of a Boston Bookseller's Heroic Expedition That Saved the American Revolution
Hazelgrove, William Elliott
Hardcover
The U.S. Constitution and Other Writings (Deluxe Leatherbound Edition)
Editors of Canterbury Classics
Hardcover
Broad Stripes Bright Stars: A Graphic History Celebrating 250 Years of America's Icons
Hinrichs, Kit
Hardcover
The Banker Who Made America: Thomas Willing and the Rise of the American Financial Aristocracy, 1731-1821
Vague, Richard
Hardcover
The Painter's Fire: A Forgotten History of the Artists Who Championed the American Revolution
Anishanslin, Zara
Hardcover
Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution
Edgar, Walter B.
Paperback
Proclaiming Liberty: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence
Sandefur, Timothy
Hardcover
George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
Kilmeade, Brian
Yaeger, Don
Paperback
A Nation's Birth: A Town-by-Town Guide to Colonial and Revolutionary War History in the North
Alper, Max Victor
Paperback
A Nation's Heritage: A Town-by-Town Guide to Colonial and Revolutionary War History in the South
Alper, Max Victor
Paperback
Kings Mountain: America's Most Forgotten Battle That Changed the Course of the American Revolution
Tucker, Phillip Thomas
Hardcover
Propaganda Wars of the American Revolution: From the Boston Patriots to George Washington
Goodwin, George
Hardcover
War Without Mercy: Liberty or Death in the American Revolution
Lender, Mark Edward
Martin, James Kirby
Hardcover
For the Hope of this Land: A Visual Learner's Workbook for Early American History
Newhouse, Amy
Paperback
Republic and Empire: Crisis, Revolution, and America's Early Independence
Burnard, Trevor
O'Shaughnessy, Andrew Jackson
Hardcover
The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army
Lockhart, Paul
Paperback
The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America
Rosen, Jeffrey
Hardcover
The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road
Dodson, James
Hardcover
The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America
Bennett, William J.
Cribb, John T. E.
Paperback
Complete American Revolution Road Trip Guide: More Than 500 Sites from Lexington to Yorktown
Weeks, Michael
Paperback
John Hancock: First to Sign, First to Invest in America's Independence
Randall, Willard Sterne
Hardcover
National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America (Large Print Edition)
Auslin, Michael
Hardcover
Common Sense (1776), Addressed to Today's Citizens of America: An Erasure
Smith, Crystal Simone
Hardcover
Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics
Brands, H. W.
Paperback
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Paperback
First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country
Ricks, Thomas E.
Paperback
The Constitution of the United States of America and Other Founding Documents: Gilded Pocket Edition
Hamilton, Alexander
Jay, John
Washington, George
Hardcover
The Forsaken Founder: Gouverneur Morris, the Unsung Patriot Who Wrote the Constitution, Stood Up to Slavery, and Survived the Reign of Terror
Greenberger, Scott S.
Hardcover
Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic
Chervinsky, Lindsay M.
Hardcover
The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison
Larson, Edward J.
Winship, Michael P.
Madison, James
Paperback
Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier
Drury, Bob
Clavin, Tom
Paperback
Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Paperback
A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis That Spurred the American Revolution
Lawler, Andrew
Hardcover
To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment
Baier, Bret
Paperback
In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Paperback
Shots Heard Round the World: America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War
Ferling, John E.
Hardcover
The Federalist & the Anti-Federalist Papers: Complete Collection: Including the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Import
Jay, John
Hamilton, Alexander
Madison, James
Paperback
The U.S. Constitution and Other Key American Writings (Keepsake Edition)
Editors of Canterbury Classics
Paperback
The Men Who Lost America: British Command during the Revolutionary War and the Preservation of the Empire
O'Shaughnessy, Andrew J.
Paperback
Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth
Yecke Brooks, Tiffany
Bellerjeau, Claire
Paperback
The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America
Horne, Gerald
Paperback
The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States
Hamilton, Alexander
Madison, James
Jay, John
Paperback
The Revolutionary Paul Revere: A Biography of a Hero of the American Revolution
Miller, Joel J.
Paperback
The Constitution of the United States (U.S. Heritage): With the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and Other Founding Documents with an I
Fathers, Founding
Washington, George
Hardcover
Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation
Wulf, Andrea
Paperback
The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America
Nash, Gary B.
Paperback
The American Revolution on Trial: A New Nation Confronts the Burden of Independence
Breen, Timothy Hall
Hardcover