Existing comment:
The New Democracy:
This painting of the Great Seal of the United States was commissioned in New York in 1785, and is one of the earliest known depictions. If the bird on the seal resembles a turkey, it may be because the turkey was once considered for the national bird -- a choice favored by Benjamin Franklin.
Following George Washington's inauguration as the nation's first president in 1789, he attended services at St. Paul's Chapel. The original location of Washington's Presidential Pew was below the painting of the Great Seal. |