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Catalog Data

Artist:
Ferdinand Thomas Lee Boyle, 1820 - 1906  Search this
Sitter:
Thomas Hart Benton, 14 Mar 1782 - 10 Apr 1858  Search this
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Stretcher: 91.8 x 74.6cm (36 1/8 x 29 3/8")
Frame: 116.8 x 97.8 x 18.4cm (46 x 38 1/2 x 7 1/4")
Type:
Painting
Date:
c. 1861
Exhibition Label:
Born Hillsboro (now Hillsborough), North Carolina
During his thirty-year term as a Democratic senator from Missouri (1821–51), Thomas Hart Benton avidly promoted U.S. expansion beyond its western and southern borders. For Benton and other supporters of what came to be known as “manifest destiny,” the country’s growth was inevitable. Benton promoted the annexation of new territories, homesteading by European Americans, and other measures—all of which displaced Native Americans from their lands.
While Benton’s career flourished as the country expanded, it later faltered on the issue of slavery. Although Benton enslaved people, he nevertheless supported the Union and objected to introducing slavery to new states and territories. Accordingly, he voted against the Compromise of 1850, a set of five bills that kept slavery in some new parts of the country and forestalled the decision to allow it in others. Outraged by Benton’s vote, the Missouri legislature replaced him with a proslavery member of the Whig party.
Nacido en Hillsboro (hoy Hillsborough), Carolina del Norte
Durante sus 30 años como senador demócrata de Misuri (1821–51), Thomas Hart Benton promovió con entusiasmo la expansión de EE.UU. más allá de sus fronteras al oeste y al sur. Para Benton y otros defensores de lo que se conoció como el “destino manifiesto”, el crecimiento del país era inevitable. Junto a otras medidas, promovió la anexión de nuevos territorios y el asentamiento de colonos de origen europeo, todo lo cual desplazaba a los indígenas de sus tierras.
La carrera de Benton floreció mientras el país se expandía, pero la polémica de la esclavitud lo afectó. Aunque tenía personas esclavizadas, apoyaba a la Unión y se oponía a establecer la esclavitud en los estados y territorios nuevos. En consecuencia, votó contra el Compromiso de 1850, un grupo de cinco leyes que mantenían la esclavitud en ciertas áreas nuevas del país y en otras la impedían. La legislatura de Misuri, indignada con el voto de Benton, lo reemplazó con un esclavista del Partido Whig.
Provenance:
(C. Burr McCaughen and McCaughen and Burr, Inc. Fine Arts, St. Louis, Missouri, formerly Pettus and Leath); purchased by NPG 1965.
Topic:
Interior  Search this
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair  Search this
Thomas Hart Benton: Male  Search this
Thomas Hart Benton: Law and Crime\Lawyer  Search this
Thomas Hart Benton: Journalism and Media\Newspaper publisher  Search this
Thomas Hart Benton: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\War of 1812  Search this
Thomas Hart Benton: Politics and Government\US Senator\Missouri  Search this
Thomas Hart Benton: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Missouri  Search this
Thomas Hart Benton: Politics and Government\State Senator\Tennessee  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Object number:
NPG.66.1
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Exhibition:
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View:
NPG, East Gallery 122
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm450575a30-004e-40a6-b637-dbf92f732804
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.66.1