The President's Room

During the 1860's and early 1870's an artist named Constantino Brumidi worked his magic creating the Capitol's most impressive showroom, The President's Room.  Brumidi frescoed his own art gallery on square inch after square inch of ceiling and walls.  In addition to panels showing the members of Washington's first Cabinet, he painted curlicued designs framing symbolic figures, pensive Madonnas, and happy cherubs.

Though Presidents seldom visit this room now, many Chief Executives, beginning in the 1860's sat at its oval table, signing 11th hour bills into law.

Though Brumidi did not complete every  space he was quoted saying "Sooner or later disfiguring panels must be completed".  In 1957 a special Senate Committee headed by future President John F. Kennedy, chose five outstanding Senators and leaders of the past to be honored by protraits painted in the medallions.  Chosen were "the Great Triumvirate" Clay, Webster, Calhoun, Robert M. La Follette, Sr, and Robert A. Taft.

Happy Easter and Passover from National Write Your Congressman

PASSOVER

April 19, 2011 to April 26, 2011:

Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, the holiday commemorating the Hebrews' exodus from slavery in Egypt, lasts seven days in Israel and among Reform Jews, and eight days elsewhere around the world. It begins on the 15th day of Nisan, which is the seventh month in the Jewish calendar. It ends on the 21st of Nisan in Israel (and for Reform Jews) and on the 22nd of Nisan elsewhere.

Since Hebrew days begin and end at sundown, Passover begins at sundown on the preceding day.

EASTER

April 24, 2011:

Easter, celebrating Jesus Christ's rising from the dead, is calculated as the first Sunday after the paschal full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox. If the full moon falls on a Sunday, then Easter is the following Sunday. The holiday can occur anywhere between March 22 and April 25.

The Western church does not use the actual, or astronomically correct date for the vernal equinox, but a fixed date (March 21). And by full moon it does not mean the astronomical full moon but the "ecclesiastical moon," which is based on tables created by the church. These constructs allow the date of Easter to be calculated in advance rather than determined by actual astronomical observances, which are naturally less predictable. See also A Tale of Two Easters.

The Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. established that Easter would be celebrated on Sundays; before that Easter was celebrated on different days in different places in the same year.

April 21, 1836 Battle of San Jacinto

After gaining independence from Spain in the 1820s, Mexico welcomed foreign settlers to sparsely populated Texas, and a large group of Americans led by Stephen F. Austin settled along the Brazos River. The Americans soon outnumbered the resident Mexicans, and by the 1830s attempts by the Mexican government to regulate these semi-autonomous American communities led to rebellion. In March 1836, in the midst of armed conflict with the Mexican government, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.

The Texas volunteers initially suffered defeat against the forces of Santa Anna. Sam Houston's troops were forced into an eastward retreat, and the Alamo fell. However, on April 21, 1836, Houston's army surprised a Mexican force at San Jacinto, and Santa Anna was captured bringing an end to Mexico's effort to subdue Texas. In exchange for his freedom, Santa Anna recognized Texas' independence..

April 18, 1775 American Revolution Begins

At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, marched into Lexington, Virginia to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town's common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment's hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the "shot heard around the world" was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead or dying and 10 others were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but the American Revolution had begun.

April 12, 1861 Civil War Begins

On this day in history, April 12, 1861, the Civil War began.  The bloodiest four years in American history began when Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T. Beauregard open fired on Union held Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Bay.  During the next 34 hours, 50 Confederate guns and mortars launched more than 4,000 rounds at the poorly supplied fort.  On April 13, U.S. Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort.  Two days later President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to quell the Southern "insurrection".

America's Economic Independence Begins 1776

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress took the first step toward American independence by announcing their decision to open all American ports to international trade with any part of the world that was not under British rule.

It was the first act of independence by the Continental Congress that had so openly and publicly rejected the American Prohibitory Act passed by the British parliament in December 1775. The act was designed to punish the American colonies for the rebellion against the King and British rule, which had begun with the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 by banning all British trade with America. It was, in essence, a declaration of economic warfare by Great Britain. For its part, the Continental Congress' decision to open all ports to any country but those ruled by Britain constituted America's declaration of economic independence.