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The Mayflower Compact, 1620 The Albany Congress, 1754 The First Continental Congress, 1774 The Declaration of Independence, 1776 The Constitutional Convention, 1787 The First Federal Congress, 1789 Washington's Inauguration, 1789 Washington's Farewell Address, 1796

A view of the central scene with the flanking vignettes is also available.

Allyn Cox
Oil on Canvas
1973-1974

Following the Revolutionary War, the new American government was first organized under the Articles of Confederation, but that document gave the federal government too little authority to be effective. Convened to amend the Articles of Confederation, this convention wrote a new Constitution that strengthened the national government but imposed the separation of powers and a system of checks and balances to guard against tyranny. This mural shows delegates meeting in Benjamin Franklin's garden (from left to right): Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin.