The elaborately engraved powder horn was the prized possession of any gunman in colonial America, the elegant solution for hunters and soldiers who (literally) needed to keep their powder dry. The Library preserves 10 of these relics of the era, with etchings depicting everything from military victories to cityscapes to elaborate personal motifs.
A major new Library exhibition, “The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution,” uses original documents such as letters, diaries, maps, newspapers and political cartoons to shed light on striking likenesses between men long supposed to be polar opposites -- George Washington and King George III. The two opposed one another during the Revolutionary War, but actually shared many personal and leadership traits. The exhibit, a joint project between the Library of Congress and the Royal Archives, runs at the Library through next March. It is also online via the Library's website and in a companion book.
Because George Washington and King George III were on opposite sides of America’s war of independence from Britain, we have learned to think of them as opposites. Our research for an upcoming Library of Congress exhibition, “The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution,” however, has turned up something much more interesting: They were surprisingly alike in temperament, interests and, despite the obvious differences in their lives and experiences.
A family Bible in Washington, looted by a British soldier during the War of 1812 and kept in his family for generations, was eventually returned to the nation more than a century later. It is now preserved by the Library, an artifact of two nations of war and then in peace.
During the Revolutionary War, George Washington approved an audacious plan to kidnap King George's third son, Prince William, then in New York, and hold him hostage -- with all the greatest respect. The attempt was never made, for which the future King William IV was grateful when he later learned of the plot.