Good evening. Im from the Smithsonian Associates and welcome to into the presentation of Patrick Henry. If you did not get a chance to buy the book it will be for sale afterwards. He will sign them at the table up front. Remember were able to bring you this program and so many others which i hope you have seen in the august issue of the associate which is a double issue. In fact, if youre here because youre interested in colonial history let me point you to a program on october 30 about espionage in the revolution. Thats coming up on monday october 30. Before we begin please silence your cell phones they do get reception here and youll be embarrassed if your phone rings on tv because the cspan group is here to record the presentation. So if youre sitting somewhere where tv light is bothering you please go ahead and find another seat because they will stay on. When we do get to q a, someone will run around with the microphone to make sure your questions are heard on camera. So be patien
Cohosted the event. It is one hour and 45 minutes. Panel withernoons the legacy of John Marshall today, perfectly embodies the mission of the foundation. It is to educate the public about the rule of law and the constitution through the character and services of americas great chief justice. , with professional development, continuing program such as today and through a variety of awareness through this time. Marshall is a chief justice with the National Constitution center curated by our own kevin walsh. Website for out our more information about that exhibit and other events. Look far inve to our legal system today to see if the influence of marshall. I am as eager as you to hear from our scholars on this topic. I am honored to turn over the panel for their introduction to the honorable richard leon a Senior District judge of the states District Court. Judge leon was appointed to the District Court in 2002. While in private practice he irancontra and whitewater investigation. In addi
First capitol building. It would be her from 1704 and finally burning down in 1747, rebuilt by 1753 and use until 1779. It is on this spot that Founding Fathers like Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson learned to be representatives of the people. While this building is a story of virginia and its history, it is in a far greater sense the history of the entire United States of america. Its story is part of our common heritage as citizens. This was the first government building ever referred to as a capital. Prior to this in jamestown they call the government building the state house. They lost four statehouses to fire. When they came here to williamsburg in 1699 and this building was built in 1704, it was determined they would use the term capital based on rome. Which they thought was the home of the ancient roman senate. The chamber we are standing in, this is the chamber of the house of burgesses. It was the lower house of the assembly. Just like the house of commons in london this is
Starting in jamestown in 1619. Thenly moving to what was middle plantation. Renamed for the king, king william. By 1704 the Capital Building had been built on this spot. It finally burned down in 1747. That foundingspot learned to be representative of the people. While this is a story of virginia and its history. It is a history of the entire united states. A part of our common heritage of citizens. This was the very first government building ever to be theyred to as a capital lost four statehouses to fire. It was the lower house of the assembly. Just like the house of commons in london this is where all money bills had to originate. During the 18th century there would be to burgesses for every county, one burgess for the college of william and mary, and one for jamestown and williamsburg. This became the centerpiece, the birthplace of the american protest against the stamp act. Before we get into that, let me quickly point out a few things. Not only did you have members of the house s
Theyre also very different. And i suspect that the truth is somewhere in the middle here, and i couldnt tell you which one is better. And this is another one. This is an image that came out of one of the books that i did and it is showing the british piling up material, and this is in the Capitol Building. And if youll notice, the guy on the left, on the back, hes carrying a backpack that would carry two cases for a congrieve rocket. Rocket and if youll notice the man standing on top of the pile, hes literally taking the projectile material that would have been inside of that rocket and hes sprinkling it over the top and then thats how they would light that fire and here is the actual account and this is by Benjamin Henry latrobe. There was no want of material for the conflagration. For when the number of members of congress was increased the old platform was left in its place and another raised over it giving an additional quantity of dry and loose timber. All the stages and seats of