18th Century Elections
George Washington Presidential Tankard, c. 1789
President Washington’s journey from Mount Vernon, Virginia to New York City, the nation’s capital in 1789, was marked by a nearly endless series of inaugural events.
This tankard bears Washington’s image, flanked by Lady Justice on the right (“Continue to cultivate the peace and harmony that now exists between you”) and Lady Liberty on the left (“The Liberty enjoyed by all the people is their right”), and reflects the high expectations that Washington had to shoulder as well as the more prosaic need to create a practical object suitable for the celebration of a new era in the history of the country.
Gift of Cecelia and U.I. “Chick” Harris, 2007
President Washington’s Journey to New York City from Mount Vernon, Virginia.
The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser,
April 1789
Page two of this newspaper relates the president elect’s journey to New York City and the celebrations which accompanied it. In the second column, the publisher noted Washington’s departure from Alexandria, Virginia on April 23, 1789, and that “at dinner the following [thirteen] toasts were drank…”
