←George Washington, bronze replica of Houdon's marble, lobby, next to the elevators
Hailed as the father of his country, and the leader who was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen", George Washington (1732–1799) was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1797, leading the American victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander in chief of the Continental Army, and presiding over the writing of the Constitution in 1787. As the unanimous choice to serve as the first President of the United States, he built a strong and financially secure nation that earned the respect of the world.
In colonial Virginia, Washington was born into the provincial gentry in a wealthy, well‐connected family that owned tobacco plantations using slave labor. Strong, brave, eager for combat and a natural leader, young Washington quickly became a senior officer of the colonial forces, during the French and Indian War in 1754‐58. Washington's experience, his military bearing, his leadership of the Patriot cause in Virginia, and
2012 年明道中學芝加哥伊利諾理工大學科學營暨美東教育旅行
his political base in the largest colony made him the obvious choice of the Second Continental Congress in 1775 as commander‐in‐chief of the Continental Army to fight the British in the American Revolution. After the colonial victory over the British was finalized in 1783, Washington resigned from the military rather than become an American king, and returned to his plantation at Mount Vernon. This prompted his erstwhile enemy King George III to call him "the greatest character of the age".
Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution in 1787 because of his dissatisfaction with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation. Washington became President of the United States in 1789 where he successfully brought rival factions together to create a unified nation. President Washington built a strong, well‐financed national government that avoided war, suppressed rebellion, and won acceptance among America’s natural citizens. Washington's farewell address was a primer on republican virtue and a stern warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. Two years after his presidential term ended, Washington died at Mt. Vernon in 1799, leaving America and the world a legacy of republican virtue and devotion to civic duty. Washington was a public icon of American military and civic patriotism.
◎華盛頓紀念碑 Washington Monument- Proposals for a memorial
Starting with victory in the Revolution, there were many proposals to build a monument to Washington.
After his death, Congress authorized a suitable memorial in the national capital, but the decision was reversed when the Democratic‐Republican Party (Jeffersonian Republicans) took control of Congress in 1801.The Republicans were dismayed that Washington had become the symbol of the Federalist Party;
furthermore the values of Republicanism seemed hostile to the idea of building monuments to powerful men. They also blocked his image on coins or the celebration of his birthday. Further political squabbling, along with the North‐South division on the Civil War, blocked the completion of the Washington Monument until the late 19th century. By that time, Washington had the image of a national hero who could be celebrated by both North and South, and memorials to him were no longer controversial.
As early as 1783, the Continental Congress had resolved "That an equestrian statue of George Washington be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established." The proposal called for engraving on the statue which explained it had been erected "in honor of George Washington, the illustrious Commander‐in‐Chief of the Armies of the United States of America during the war which vindicated and secured their liberty, sovereignty, and independence."Currently, the only equestrian statue of President Washington is Washington Circle at the intersection of the Foggy Bottom and West End neighborhoods at the north end of the George Washington University.
Ten days after Washington's death, a Congressional committee recommended a different type of monument. John Marshall, a Representative from Virginia (who later became Chief Justice of the Supreme
2012 年明道中學芝加哥伊利諾理工大學科學營暨美東教育旅行
type of memorial would best honor the country's first president, and the Washington family's reluctance to move his body prevented progress on any project.
◎華盛頓紀念碑 Washington Monument- Design
←Sketch of the proposed Washington Monument by architect Robert Mills circa 1836.
Progress towards a memorial finally began in 1832. That year, which marked the 100th anniversary of Washington's birth, a large group of concerned citizens formed the Washington National Monument Society. They began collecting donations, much in the way Blodgett had suggested. By the middle of the 1830s, they had raised over
$28,000 ($600,000 in 2010 dollars) and announced a competition for the design of the memorial.
On September 23, 1835, the board of managers of the society described their expectations:
It is proposed that the contemplated monument shall be like him in whose honor it is to be constructed, unparalleled in the world, and commensurate with the gratitude, liberality, and patriotism of the people by whom it is to be erected... [It] should blend stupendousness with elegance, and be of such magnitude and beauty as to be an object of pride to the American people, and of admiration to all who see it.
Its material is intended to be wholly American, and to be of marble and granite brought from each state, that each state may participate in the glory of contributing material as well as in funds to its construction.
The society held a competition for designs in 1836. The winner, architect Robert Mills, was well‐qualified for the commission. The citizens of Baltimore had chosen him to build a monument to Washington, and he had designed a tall Greek column surmounted by a statue of the President. Mills also knew the capital well, having just been chosen Architect of Public Buildings for Washington.
His design called for a tall obelisk—an upright, four‐sided pillar that tapers as it rises—with a nearly flat top.
He surrounded the obelisk with a circular colonnade, the top of which would feature Washington standing in a chariot. Inside the colonnade would be statues of 30 prominent Revolutionary War heroes.
One part of Mills' elaborate design that was built was the doorway surmounted by an Egyptian‐style Winged sun. It was removed when construction resumed after 1884. A photo can be seen in The Egyptian Revival by Richard G. Carrot.
Yet criticism of Mills' design and its estimated price tag of more than $1 million ($21,200,000 in 2010 dollars) caused the society to hesitate. Its members decided to start building the obelisk and to leave the
2012 年明道中學芝加哥伊利諾理工大學科學營暨美東教育旅行
question of the colonnade for later. They believed that if they used the $87,000 they had already collected to start work, the appearance of the monument would spur further donations that would allow them to complete the project.
◎華盛頓紀念碑 Washington Monument-Construction
←Monument plans and timeline of construction.
The Washington Monument was originally intended to be located at the point at which a line running directly south from the center of the White House crossed a line running directly west from the center of the Capitol. Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's 1791 "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of t(he) government of the United States ..." designated this point as the location of the equestrian statue of George Washington that the Continental Congress had voted for in 1783. However, the ground at the intended location proved to be too unstable to support a structure as heavy as the planned obelisk. The Jefferson Pier, a small monolith 390 feet (119 m) WNW of the Monument, now stands at the intended site of the structure.
Excavation for the foundation of the Monument began in early 1848.The cornerstone was laid as part of an elaborate Fourth of July ceremony hosted by the Freemasons, a worldwide fraternal organization to which Washington belonged. Speeches that day showed the country continued to revere Washington. One celebrant noted, "No more Washingtons shall come in our time ... But his virtues are stamped on the heart of mankind. He who is great in the battlefield looks upward to the generalship of Washington. He who grows wise in counsel feels that he is imitating Washington. He who can resign power against the wishes of a people, has in his eye the bright example of Washington."
Construction continued until 1854, when donations ran out. The next year, Congress voted to appropriate
$200,000 to continue the work, but rescinded before the money could be spent. This reversal came because of a new policy the society had adopted in 1849. It had agreed, after a request from some Alabamians, to encourage all states and territories to donate commemorative stones that could be fitted into the interior walls. Members of the society believed this practice would make citizens feel they had a part in building the monument, and it would cut costs by limiting the amount of stone that had to be
sandstone steadily appeared at the site.
2012 年明道中學芝加哥伊利諾理工大學科學營暨美東教育旅行
Indian tribes, professional organizations, societies, businesses and foreign nations donated stones that were 4 feet (1.2 m) by 2 feet (0.61 m) by 12–18 inches (1.2 m by 0.6 m by 0.3 – 0.5 m). One stone was donated by the Ryukyu Kingdom and brought back by Commodore Matthew C. Perry,but never arrived in Washington (it was replaced in 1989).Many of the stones donated for the monument, however, carried inscriptions which did not commemorate George Washington. For example, one from the Templars of Honor and Temperance stated "We will not buy, sell, or use as a beverage, any spiritous or malt liquors, Wine, Cider, or any other Alcoholic Liquor." It was just one commemorative stone that started the events that stopped the Congressional appropriation and ultimately construction altogether. In the early 1850s, Pope Pius IX contributed a block of marble. In March 1854, members of the anti‐Catholic, nativist American Party—better known as the "Know‐Nothings"—stole the Pope's stone as a protest and supposedly threw it into the Potomac (it was replaced in 1982). Then, in order to make sure the monument fit the definition of
"American" at that time, the Know‐Nothings conducted an election so they could take over the entire society"Congress immediately rescinded its $200,000 contribution.
The Know‐Nothings retained control of the society until 1858, adding 13 courses of masonry to the monument—all of which were of such poor quality that they were later removed. Unable to collect enough money to finish work, they increasingly lost public support. The Know‐Nothings eventually gave up and returned all records to the original society, but the stoppage in construction continued into, then after, the Civil War.
Interest in the monument grew after the Civil War ended. Engineers studied the foundation several times to see whether it remained strong enough. In 1876, the Centennial of the Declaration of Independence, Congress agreed to appropriate another $200,000 to resume construction.The monument, which had stood for nearly 20 years at less than one‐third of its proposed height, now seemed ready for completion.
Before work could begin again, however, arguments about the most appropriate design resumed. Many people thought a simple obelisk, one without the colonnade, would be too bare. Architect Mills was reputed to have said omitting the colonnade would make the monument look like "a stalk of asparagus";
another critic said it offered "little... to be proud of."
This attitude led people to submit alternative designs. Both the Washington National Monument Society and Congress held discussions about how the monument should be finished. The society considered five new designs, concluding that the one by William Wetmore Story seemed "vastly superior in artistic taste and beauty." Congress deliberated over those five as well as Mills' original; while it was deciding, it ordered work on the obelisk to continue. Finally, the members of the society agreed to abandon the colonnade and alter the obelisk so it conformed to classical Egyptian proportions.
Construction resumed in 1879 under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers. Casey redesigned the foundation, strengthening it so it could support a structure
2012 年明道中學芝加哥伊利諾理工大學科學營暨美東教育旅行
to do with the commemorative stones that had accumulated. Though many people ridiculed them, Casey managed to install most of the stones in the interior walls—one stone was found at the bottom of the elevator shaft in 1951. One difficulty that is visible to this day is that the builders were unable to find the same quarry stone used in the initial construction, and as a result, the bottom third of the monument is a slightly lighter shade than the rest of the construction.
The building of the monument proceeded quickly after Congress had provided sufficient funding. In four years, it was finally completed, with the 100 ounce (2.85 kg) aluminum tip/lightning‐rod being put in place on December 6, 1884. It was the largest single piece of aluminum cast at the time. The monument opened to the public on October 9, 1888.
Are you familiar with all of contents above?
Let’s take a quiz!!
1. Where is the Washington Monument located?
2. Who is the designer of Washington Monument?
3. Washington Monument took many years finished what happened delay the process
of construction?
2012 年明道中學芝加哥伊利諾理工大學科學營暨美東教育旅行