On
President’s Day, 2010, I want to propose a challenge that Connecticut is
uniquely equipped to tackle: A museum that will restore to our national memory
fourteen forgotten presidents of the United States.
Pennsylvania makes more money from historical tourism than any other state in
the union. Why? Independence Hall and The National Constitution Center in
Philadelphia are two answers. Pennsylvania put up a hefty chunk of the money to
build the Constitution Center. Now the state has invested an additional $20
million in the forthcoming American Revolution Center, which is going up a few
blocks from Independence Hall. This museum is on its way to raising
$100,000,000 to dramatize the story of the struggle for independence.
Not far
behind Pennsylvania is Massachusetts, thanks to Boston’s numerous historic
sites, from the Battle of Bunker Hill to Old North Church, where the lanterns
were posted to send Paul Revere on his historic ride. Only a few miles away are
Lexington Green and Concord Bridge, where the first blood of the eight year
struggle for freedom was spilled.
Connecticut has its share of Revolutionary shrines, from Nathan Hale’s homestead
to Fort Griswold in Groton to the Old State House in Hartford. But the state
does not have a site that captures the sweep and drama of the political and
military struggle for a continent.
Or so I thought --until a series of coincidences convinced me such an historic
site could be—and should be -- created in Norwich. I got the idea from my good
friend, Bill Stanley, who represented Norwich in the state senate for several
years. I think everyone will soon see that a Forgotten Founders Museum is an
idea big enough to involve the whole state – even all of New England.
Who are
the Forgotten Founders? The presidents of the Continental Congress. The
legislative body that governed the country from 1774 to 1789, when the new
Constitution took effect. The idea began germinating when Bill Stanley told me
how the grave of Norwich’s Samuel Huntington, one of these presidents, had
fallen into sad neglect. Bill raised money to refurbish the tomb and discovered
some people called Huntington “the first president of the United States.”
Huntington was president of the Continental Congress when the nation’s
first Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was ratified in 1781, making
the United States of America a legally established country. For the previous
seven years, Congress had governed under a vague informal consent of the 13
rebel states. Calling Huntington our first president was an interesting, even a
catchy notion, but I soon realized there was historical depth here that far
transcended this intriguing fact. Huntington was one of no less than 14 men who
had presided over the Continental Congress in the 15 years of its existence.
Each of these Forgotten Founders has an interesting personal story.
They range from John Hancock of Massachusetts, the richest man in 1776 America,
to shrewd politico Henry Laurens of South Carolina to former Major General
Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania. Hancock travelled from Boston to Philadelphia
in a sumptuous coach pulled by four horses, a display of wealth that irked
puritanical Sam Adams no end. But Hancock had the courage to put his name in the
boldest possible scrawl at the head of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence. Some people call that document “the first emancipation
proclamation” because so many black Americans used its soaring phrases to call
for an end to slavery.
Henry Laurens was George Washington’s backstage defender when a group of
army officers and congressmen tried to oust him during the discouraging winter
at Valley Forge. Arthur St. Clair presided over the passing of the Northwest
Ordinance, which banned slavery from what is now the Midwest and forever changed
the history of the nation.
This is only a glimpse of the potential historical riches in the idea
of the Forgotten Founders Museum. It would also be about the Continental
Congress, a group of politicians even more forgotten than the founders. Imagine
the uproar when the British army approached Philadelphia in 1777 and Colonel
Alexander Hamilton, General Washington’s aide, appeared at 3 a.m. and advised
Congress to flee! The turmoil that raged when Arthur Lee of Virginia rose to
denounce America’s ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin, as a corrupt tool of
our ally, France! The wild argument that erupted when General Washington
insisted that Congress promise to pay his officers half their salaries for
life. It passed by a single vote, saving the army – and the Revolution – from
collapse.
Connecticut’s Congressional delegation was in the midst of these
dramatic confrontations and will have their own personal stories to tell. My
favorite character is rotund Eliphalet Dyer, maybe because he’s shaped a little
like Bill Stanley. Physique aside, he was (like Bill) a very shrewd politician.
He always had one ear in Congress and the other one back home, finding out what
the voters were thinking. Then there is the ex-shoemaker turned lawyer, canny
Roger Sherman, the only man who signed the Declaration of Independence, the
Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.
Here is history that has everything Connecticut needs to attract tens
of thousands of tourists a year. The Forgotten Founders Museum will tell us
about a part of the American past that is in danger of being lost. It will tell
it with verve and flair, using the latest media techniques -- film, voice over,
interactive encounters, as new museums are telling their stories. There will
also be a compelling website that will dramatize the story for millions of
people on the internet, around the world. Imagine sitting in Congress,
listening to people debate whether they should vote for independence! That’s the
sort of experience this museum will offer adults and children. They will be
able to sign the epochal document in John Hancock’s bold scrawl and hear
Benjamin Franklin say: “If we do not hang together, we will all hang
separately!”
This is what the Museum of the Forgotten Founders can offer
Connecticut and the nation. I’ve talked to fellow historians who are eager to
contribute their advice and insights. Let’s get everyone to work --
politicians, businessmen with deep pockets, and average folks who love this
great country. We can and will produce an historic site that will repay the
investment a thousand times over. Ready, Set, Go!
Thomas Fleming has summered in Westbrook, Ct. for almost fifty years.
He is a past president of the Society of American Historians and the author of
more than twenty prize-winning books about the American Revolution.
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