...
...
...
...
...
...
Mexican
War
James
Smithson
...
Smithson's
Will
...
John
C. Calhoun
...
William
C. Preston
...
John
Quincy Adams
...
Richard
Rush
Request
for Declaration of Mexican War
...
Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo
James
K. Polk
...
National
Institute
...
Benjamin
Tappan
...
Rufus
Choate
...
Robert
Dale Owen
...
Henry
Clay
First
Bill
...
Second
Bill
...
Third
Bill
...
Fourth
Bill
...
Fifth
Bill
...
Sixth
Bill
...
Seventh
Bill
...
Eighth
Bill
...
Bill
signed into law
Bibliography
|
James
Smithson died in 1829. His will
bequeathed everything to his nephew with the stipulation that, should
the nephew die childless, then the entire remaining estate should go to
the "United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name
of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion
of knowledge among men."
Henry James Hungerford, Smithson's nephew, died in 1835 without
heirs, and the United States Congress was notified of the bequest. The
gift was considered somewhat unusual, coming as it did from a man in no
way connected to America, and his will initiated a flood of debate in Congress.
For sometime it was undecided even whether to accept the money. Although
for most members of Congress this was not a real problem, some representatives
such as the pair of South Carolina senators, John
C. Calhoun and William
C. Preston, claimed that accepting the gift was "not consistent
with the dignity of the country" (Preston, qtd. In 1846,
p. 12). John
Quincy Adams was particularly vocal in praising Smithson's benefaction.
Congress passed a bill July 1, 1836 accepting Smithson's bequest and began
the process of acquiring the money. For this it was necessary to navigate
the case through the English courts. In July, 1836, Richard
Rush was appointed to the position of counsel for the United States
of America in order to claim the bequest. Rush traveled to London, filed
the suit on behalf of the United States and waited through 800 cases
that had been filed before his. Two years later, an "unprecedentedly
short time" (True,
4), the suit was settled and Rush packed 11 boxes of gold sovereigns
onto the U.S.S. Mediator. He arrived in New York August 29, 1838, and
went immediately to the mint at Philadelphia to deposit the gold. The
gold was re-minted as native specie amounting to $508,318.46 (Account,
10). Later, this sum would increase to $550,000 from estate sums subsequently
received (True,
4).
John
Quincy Adams was appointed to head a House select committee on the
bequest. He feared the money would be squandered and sought to protect
the funds from "hungry and worthless political jackals" (qtd.
in 1846,
12). As protector of the opportunity, one of Adams' tasks was to retrieve
the money which had been invested in soon-defaulted bonds of Arkansas and
Michigan.
There were numerous suggestions for how to fulfill Smithson's call
to "increase and diffuse knowledge." These suggestions reveal
contemporary attitudes about the definition of knowledge, and the perceived
omissions of certain knowledge in America. Among the suggested possibilities
were: a post-graduate university, colleges for specific areas of study,
a lecture series, professorships, an agricultural and utilitarian school,
a national library, increase of the National Institute, a natural history
museum, botanical gardens, a normal school, art galleries, a school
for the blind, a chemical library, a popular press, a physical research
laboratory, a meteorological bureau, a women's college, and Adams' favorite,
a national observatory.
The first
bill to establish the Smithsonian was presented by William
C. Preston on February 17, 1841 and allowed for a cooperation between
the National
Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Smithsonian Institution
to preserve and exhibit with no fee, "all works of art, and all books
relating thereto, and all collections and curiosities belonging to the
United States, in the possession of any of the executive departments, and
not necessarily connected with the duties thereof . . ." The Institution
would be located on the Mall. The interest accrued on the fund would be
reinvested in the Institution.
The second
bill to establish the Smithsonian came from Adams,
himself, April 12, 1842. Adams was determined that the principal of the
Smithsonian fund be invested, and that only the interest be spent. The
first installment of this interest was marked for the creation of an astronomical
observatory. Adams' Board of Visitors would consist of two commissioned
Army officers, two commissioned Navy officers, the mayors of Alexandria
and Georgetown, and one citizen each from Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown.
Further money would go to the purchase of astronomical instruments, a library
of "books of science and literature," constant acquisition of
periodicals, and yearly publications from the observatory.
The third
bill to establish the Smithsonian was presented by Benjamin
Tappan, December 12, 1844. The bill would create a twelve person board
of managers representing twelve different states and territories. Funds
would install a "suitable building, of plain and durable materials
and structure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size and
with suitable rooms for the reception and arrangement of objects of natural
history, a library, a chemical laboratory, and lecture room or rooms .
. ." and grounds and greenhouse for "horticultural and agricultural
experiements." The buildings would house "all objects of natural
history belonging to the United States which may be in the City of Washington
. . ." All of Smithson's effects, at that time displayed in the Patent
Office, would be transferred to the new Institution and preserved separately.
To be hired were professors of agriculture and horticulture, natural history,
chemistry, and astronomy. Lecturers would be hired for "the arts and
sciences." One responsibility of the agriculture and horticulture
professionals would be testing and distribution of new vegetation.
Rufus Choate
added to this bill a provision for the creation of a large library.
The Tappan Bill, with the Choate Library Clause passed the Senate January
21, 1845. When the bill went to the House of Representatives, Robert
Dale Owen attempted to add his own provision for a teacher-training
school. The bill was tabled.
The fourth
bill was presented by Adams
on June 7, 1844 and changed very little from his previous bill. It calls
to establish a board of trustees including: the President of the Senate,
the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice, the Secretaries of State,
Treasury, War, and Navy, the Postmaster and Attorney Generals, and the
mayor of Washington. The interest on the fund would go to the establishment
of an astronomical observatory with staff, equipment, and a library. No
part of the fund was ever to go for "any school, college, university,
other institute of education, or ecclesiastical establishment." The
board of visitors was to consist of nine members: 2 commissioned Army officers,
2 commissioned Navy officers, the mayors of Alexandria and Georgetown,
and a citizen each from Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown.
The
fifth bill was introduced by Benjamin
Tappan on December 12, 1844. The bill intends to invest the fund's
capital and spend the interest first on a multi-purpose building. To be
housed in the building were: displays for antural history, a geological
and mineralogical cabinet, a library, chemical laboratory, and lecture
space. There was also to be outdoor and greenhouse space for botanical
and agricultural purposes. Smithson's effects were to be preserved separate
from other collections. Professorships in natural history, agriculture,
horticulture, rural economy, architecture, domestic science, astronomy,
chemistry, and geology would be funded but no professorship in "law,
physic, or divinity" would ever be supported. Professors were to be
charged with tasks such as testing and distribution of new plants, soil
anlaysis, history of domestic animals, mine exploration, domestic architecture
including lighting, heating, and ventilation, and nautical navigation.
Students would be accepted. Professors would publish "works, in popular
form, on the sciences and on the aid the bring to labor. . ." to be
sold at cost.
The sixth
bill was presented February 28, 1846 by Robert
Dale Owen. In it, only the interest earned on the Smithsonian fund
would be spen. The board of managers would be made up of the Vice-President,
the Chief Justice, 3 members of the Senate, 3 members of the House, 2 members
of the National
Institute, and 5 citizens, none of them from the same state. On grounds
on the Mall there would be built "a suitable building, of plain and
durable materials and structure, without unnecessary ornament. . . "
to house natural history, and geological displays, a chemical laboratory,
library, and lecture rooms. There would be land for botanical tasks and
also for dwelling houses. A professor of agriculture, horticulture, and
rural economy was to test and introduce new plants to the country. A normal
school with a "professor of common school instruction" and other
professors, chiefly of the more useful sciences and arts," would certify
teachers and professors. The Smithsonian would never include a school of
law, medicine, or divinity," nor any professorship of ancient languages.
The Library would be accumulated gradually, of "the best works on
the physical sciences, and the application of science to the arts of life,
but without excluding valuable and standard works pertaining to other departments
of human knowledge." Certain lectures would be printed and sold at
cost, as well as other works concerned with agriculture, sciences, teaching,
and "the rudiments of history, chemistry, astronomy, or any other
department of useful knowledge."
The seventh
bill came April 23, 1846, from Issac E. Morse, after a lengthy debate
on libraries. It creates a board of managers consisting of the President
and Vice-President, the Chief Justice, the foreign ministers, the mayor
of Washington, members of the House and Senate, 2 members of the National
Institute, and five citizens, all from different states. Morse sought
to increase and diffuse knowledge through the publication of essays
on "practical and useful" subjects and distribution to the
governors, Congress members, and "literary universities" in
America as well as selected European institutions.
The eighth
bill, the final bill, was presented April 28, 1846 by William J. Hough.
It arranged to spend interest accrued on the fund on the same "suitable
building" for natural history displays, chemical laboratory, library,
art gallery, and lecture rooms. The building could be a wing to the existing
patent Office building. Smithson's possessions would be preserved separately.
Authors of any new copyrighted material would be required to deposit one
copy of the work with the Smithsonian, and one copy with the Library of
Congress. The Board of Regents would consist of the Vice-President, Chief
Justice, Mayor of Washington, 3 members of the Senate, 3 members of the
House, 2 members of the National
Institute, and 4 citizens, each from different states. After much debate
and rewriting of clauses, no agreement could be reached and so the bill
remained inactive until the last day of the 29th Congress, Monday, August
10, 1846, at which time the following version was signed into law by President
Polk.
|
