180 Improvements Maintenance

2 Political representation In 2009 President Barack Obama held a ceremony at the White House to honor Jennings as a representative of his contributions to saving the Gilbert Stuart painting and other valuables (The painting that was saved was a copy Stuart made of the painting not the original, although it is the same one on display in the East Room.) "A dozen descendants of Jennings came to Washington to visit the White House They looked at the painting their relative helped save." in an interview with National Public Radio Jennings' great-great-grandson Hugh Alexander said "We were able to take a family portrait in front of the painting which was for me one of the high points." He confirmed that Jennings later purchased his freedom from the widowed Dolley Madison. . . 7 Media Many Founders deliberately avoided public discussion of their faith Historian David L Holmes uses evidence gleaned from letters government documents and second-hand accounts to identify their religious beliefs. . Painting of men in a formal political meeting, Slavery Main article: Liberalism in the United States, 12 Further reading vte Asian 3.5% 1.8% 0.6% 0.2% Slaveholders included people of African ancestry an African former indentured servant who settled in Virginia in 1621 Anthony Johnson became one of the earliest documented slave owners in the mainland American colonies when he won a civil suit for ownership of John Casor in 1830 there were 3,775 such black slaveholders in the South who owned a total of 12,760 slaves a small percent out of a total of over 2 million slaves. 80% of the black slaveholders were located in Louisiana South Carolina Virginia and Maryland!

Prominent Founding Fathers writing in the Federalist Papers felt that elections were essential to liberty that a bond between the people and the representatives was particularly essential and that "frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured" in 2009 however few Americans were familiar with leaders of Congress the percentage of Americans eligible to vote who did in fact vote was 63% in 1960 but has been falling since although there was a slight upward trend in the 2008 election. Public opinion polls asking people if they approve of the job Congress is doing have in the last few decades hovered around 25% with some variation. Scholar Julian Zeliger suggested that the "size messiness virtues and vices that make Congress so interesting also create enormous barriers to our understanding the institution . Unlike the presidency Congress is difficult to conceptualize." Other scholars suggest that despite the criticism "Congress is a remarkably resilient institution . its place in the political process is not threatened . it is rich in resources" and that most members behave ethically. They contend that "Congress is easy to dislike and often difficult to defend" and this perception is exacerbated because many challengers running for Congress run against Congress which is an "old form of American politics" that further undermines Congress's reputation with the public:! ! Washington D.C. Business Directory The American Revolution has a central place in the American memory as the story of the nation's founding It is covered in the schools memorialized by a national holiday and commemorated in innumerable monuments George Washington's estate at Mount Vernon was one of the first national pilgrimages for tourists and attracted 10,000 visitors a year by the 1850s, Most incumbents seek re-election and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent.