The Old Senate Committee Room of the Maryland State House
This room is devoted to exhibits about Annapolis the Capital and the
events surrounding the meeting of the Continental Congress in Annapolis
in 1783-84. Some of the subjects addressed in the exhibits include:
The Capitol of America?: The attempt by city leaders
to be designated the permanent capital of the new nation;
Where Pleasure Holds Her Court: The social life of the
city;
Congress in Annapolis: Entertainment and other leisure
activities in Annapolis, newspapers, and expense account records of some
of those attending;
Where They Stayed: Comtemporary maps of the city, and
the various inns and private houses which hosted the attendees at Congress;
Washington's Commission: Correspondence relating to George
Washington's attendance at Congress;
In Attendance: Contemporary accounts of Washington's
appearance before Congress and the various paintings which have depicted
this historic event
.
William
Pitt (1768) by Charles Willson Peale
This allegorical painting of William Pitt, First Earl of Chatham, a
leading English stateman, was given as a gift by Charles Willson Peale
to the new State House in 1774. William Pitt had been one of America's
most outspoken supporters in England, and the colonists were very grateful
to him. In this portrait, Pitt is dressed as a Roman consul and is speaking
"In Defense of the Claims of the American Colonies, on the Principles of
the British Constitution."
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Copyright April 13, 2006 Maryland State Archives