Ralph Earl (1751—1801)

attrib. Ralph Earl (1751—1801)

Oil on canvas. Buckman Tavern, Lexington Historical Society, Lexington, MA.

by Ralph Earl (1751—1801)

Oil on canvas; 64 5/8 in. x 49 5/8 in. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.

by Amos Doolittle (1754—1832)

Engraving on copper; colored. First advertised for sale in New Haven, Connecticut, on 13 December 1775.

by Amos Doolittle (1754—1832)

Engraving on copper; colored. First advertised for sale in New Haven, Connecticut, on 13 December 1775.

by Amos Doolittle (1754—1832)

Engraving on copper; colored. First advertised for sale in New Haven, Connecticut, on 13 December 1775.

by Amos Doolittle (1754—1832)

See original

by Amos Doolittle (1754—1832)

Engraving on copper; colored. First advertised for sale in New Haven, Connecticut, on 13 December 1775.

In 1789 the South and especially Virginia had been the impelling force in creating the nation. By 1815 the South and slaveholders still seemed to be in control of the national government. President Madison was a slaveholder. So too were Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, James Monroe, the secretary of state, and George W. Campbell, the secretary of the treasury. All Republican leaders of the House were slaveholders. In 1815 the United States had four missions in Europe: two of them were held by slaveholders. The chief justice of the United States was a slaveholder, as were a majority of the other members of the Court. Since 1789 three of the four presidents, two of the five vice-presidents, fourteen of the twenty-six presidents pro tempore the Senate, and five of the ten Speakers of the House had been slaveholders.

Gordon S. Wood
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 (2009)