Colegiul National “Nicolae Titulescu”, Pucioasa

Ancient Monuments Worldwide

Mount Rushmore

Coordinating teacher: Cojocaru Irina

Name:Stan Angela Elena

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Contents :

I. Mount Rushmore – history..................................................................................3II. Mount Rushmore – construction........................................................................4

George Washington...........................................................................................4Thomas Jefferson..............................................................................................5Abraham Lincoln..............................................................................................5Theodore Roosevelt..........................................................................................5

III. George Washington...........................................................................................5IV. Thomas Jefferson..............................................................................................7V. Abraham Lincoln...............................................................................................8VI. Theodore Roosevelt..........................................................................................9Bibliography.........................................................................................................11

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I. Mount Rushmore – history_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore

near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States. Sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his

son, Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of former United States

presidents (in order from left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham

Lincoln.

Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea for Mount

Rushmore in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota. In 1924,

Robinson persuaded sculptor Gutzon Borglum to travel to the

Black Hills region to ensure that the carving could be

accomplished. Borglum had been involved in sculpting

the Confederate Memorial Carving, a massive bas-

relief memorial to Confederate leaders on Stone

Mountain in Georgia, but was in disagreement with the officials

there. The original plan was to perform the carvings

in granite pillars known as the Needles. However, Borglum realized that the eroded Needles were too thin to support

sculpting. He chose Mount Rushmore, a grander location, partly because it faced southeast and enjoyed maximum

exposure to the sun. Borglum said upon seeing Mount Rushmore, "America will march along that skyline."

Congress authorized the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission on March 3, 1925. President Coolidge

insisted that along with Washington, two Republicans and one Democrat be portrayed.

Between October 4, 1927, and October 31, 1941, Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the colossal 60

foot (18 m) high carvings of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt,

and Abraham Lincoln to represent the first 150 years of American history. These presidents were selected by Borglum

because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory. The image of Thomas Jefferson was

originally intended to appear in the area at Washington's right, but after the work there was begun, the rock was found

to be unsuitable, so the work on the Jefferson figure was dynamited, and a new figure was sculpted to Washington's

left.

In 1933, the National Park Service took Mount Rushmore under its jurisdiction. Engineer Julian Spotts helped

with the project by improving its infrastructure. For example, he had the tram upgraded so that it could reach the top of

Mount Rushmore for the ease of workers. By July 4, 1934, Washington's face had been completed and was dedicated.

The face of Thomas Jefferson was dedicated in 1936, and the face of Abraham Lincoln was dedicated on September

17, 1937. In 1937, a bill was introduced in Congress to add the head of civil-rights leader  Susan B. Anthony, but

a rider was passed on an appropriations bill requiring that federal funds be used to finish only those heads that had

already been started at that time. In 1939, the face of Theodore Roosevelt was dedicated.

On October 15, 1966, Mount Rushmore was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A 500-word

essay giving the history of the United States by Nebraska student William Andrew Burkett was selected as the college-

age group winner in a 1934 competition, and that essay was placed on the Entablature on a bronze plate in 1973. In

1991, President George H. W. Bush officially dedicated Mount Rushmore.

In a canyon behind the carved faces is a chamber, cut only 70 feet (21 m) into the rock, containing a vault with

sixteen porcelain enamel panels. The panels include the text of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution,

biographies of the four presidents and Borglum, and the history of the U.S. The chamber was created as the entrance-

way to a planned "Hall of Records"; the vault was installed in 1998.

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Mount Rushmore has gone through a series of repairs over the last fifty years. There are some visible cracks

in the face of the memorial and recently these cracks were filled with silicone based material to keep water out. This

technique of preservation has been used for over 30 years in the White Mountains of New Hampshire to save the Old

Man On The Mountain from similar damage. The endless cycle of freeze and thaw that happens in the Black Hills

would eventually destroy the memorial, but the recently completed sealing and repairs should keep it around for

thousands of years.

II. Mount Rushmore – construction_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few hundred workers, who were usually miners, sculptors, or rock climbers, used dynamite, and

chiseling to sculpt the model from the mountain. A stairway was constructed to the top of the mountain first

and ropes fixed. Workers were supported by harnesses attached to the ropes.

The irises of the eyes were sculpted as holes. A cube of granite was left in each to represent the

reflection highlight thereby making the appearance of the eyes more realistic.

The portraits of the presidents should inevitably begin with Washington, continue with Thomas

Jefferson, the first great expansionist, who in spite of his reluctance originally in taking title to the entire

Mississippi basin, when once done arbitrarily put the president’s cachet on an expedition to secure first hand

information of the best domain and equipped the Lewis and Clarke Expedition. Following him, Lincoln

naturally becomes the third, as the preserver and re-creator of the Union upon a new and sounder foundation.

Roosevelt has been suggested as fourth. I can think of none more fitting. He was pre-eminently an all

American president; his personal life made him, as no other president, the best acquainted with the whole

nation; his literary life reflects the entire history of that restless Anglo-Saxon spirit that consciously or

unconsciously made the ocean-to-ocean republic, in spite of prudence, traditions, and retarding political

intrigue, inevitable.

George Washington

George Washington's head was started first. Due to the economic instability of the United States

caused by the Great Depression, it was completed in seven years, and dedicated to the public on

Independence Day 1934. A large American flag was placed over Washington's head before it was revealed,

and this became a tradition for each of the Presidents' heads.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson's head was started next, left of Washington. Before the head was complete,

Borglum ordered that it be blasted off due to poor rock quality. Jefferson's head was started again to the right

of Washington. Jefferson's head was dedicated in 1936.

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Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's head was more of a challenge because of his beard, but his head was completed on the

far right of the cliff, dedicated on September 17, 1937, it took 2 days, the 150th anniversary of the signing of

the Constitution of the United States in 1787.

Theodore Roosevelt

While Theodore Roosevelt's head was being constructed, accommodations for tourists were being

built, including plumbing, lighting, and a visitor center. Not finding suitable rock, the sculptors cut farther

back into the mountain, causing concerns about how far they were cutting. On July 2, 1939, Roosevelt's head

was dedicated.

III. George Washington_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was the dominant military and political

leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Britain in

the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775–1783, and he

presided over the writing of the Constitution in 1787. As the unanimous choice to serve as the first President

of the United States (1789–1797), he developed the forms and rituals

of government that have been used ever since, such as using a

cabinet system and delivering an inaugural address. As President, he

built a strong, well-financed national government that stayed neutral

in the wars raging in Europe, suppressed rebellion and won

acceptance among Americans of all types, but also saw the advent of

contentious political parties. Washington was universally regarded as

the "Father of his country".

In Colonial Virginia, Washington was born into the

provincial gentry in a wealthy, well connected family that owned

tobacco plantations using slave labor. He was home schooled by his

father and older brother, but both died young, and he became attached to the powerful Fairfax clan, who

promoted his career as a surveyor and soldier. Strong, brave, eager for combat, and a natural leader, young

Washington quickly became a senior officer of the colonial forces, 1754–58, during the first stages of the

French and Indian War. Indeed, his rash actions helped precipitate the war. Washington's experience, his

military bearing, his leadership of the Patriot cause in Virginia, and his political base in the largest colony

made him the obvious choice of the Second Continental Congress in 1775 as commander-in-chief of the

Continental Army to fight the British in the American Revolution. He forced the British out of Boston in

1776, but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the

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Delaware River in the dead of winter, he defeated the enemy in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored

momentum to the Patriot cause. Because of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured two major British

armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. Negotiating with Congress, governors, and French allies,

he held together a tenuous army and a fragile nation amid the threats of disintegration and invasion.

Historians give the commander in chief high marks for his selection and supervision of his generals, his

encouragement of morale, his coordination with the state governors and state militia units, his relations with

Congress, and his attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was

repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies. Washington is given full credit for the

strategies that forced the British evacuation of Boston in 1776 and the surrender at Yorktown in 1781. After

victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned rather than seize power, and returned to his

plantation at Mount Vernon, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to republican

government.

Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution

in 1787 because of his dissatisfaction with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation that had time and

again impeded the war effort. Washington became the first President of the United States in 1789. He

attempted to bring rival factions together to unify the nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton's programs

to pay off all state and national debt, implement an effective tax system, and create a national bank, despite

opposition from Thomas Jefferson. Washington proclaimed the U.S. neutral in the wars raging in Europe

after 1793. He avoided war with Britain and guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing

the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although never officially joining

the Federalist Party, he supported its programs. Washington's "Farewell Address" was an influential primer

on republican virtue and a stern warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.

Washington had a vision of a great and powerful nation that would be built on republican lines using

federal power. He sought to use the national government to improve the infrastructure, open the western

lands, create a national university, promote commerce, found a capital city (later named Washington, D.C.),

reduce regional tensions and promote a spirit of nationalism. "The name of American," he said, must

override any local attachments. At his death, Washington was hailed as "first in war, first in peace, and first

in the hearts of his countrymen". The Federalists made him the symbol of their party but for many years, the

Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence and delayed building the Washington Monument. As the

leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history, Washington became an

international icon for liberation and nationalism. His symbolism especially resonated in France and Latin

America. Historical scholars consistently rank him as one of the two or three greatest presidents.

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IV. Thomas Jefferson_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was the third

President of the United States (1801–1809) and the principal author of the

Declaration of Independence (1776). An influential Founding Father,

Jefferson envisioned America as a great "Empire of Liberty" that would

promote republicanism. Jefferson served as the wartime Governor of

Virginia (1779–1781), barely escaping capture by the British in 1781.

Many people were not pleased with his tenure and in the next election he

did not win office again in Virginia. From mid-1784 through late 1789

Jefferson lived outside the United States. He served in Paris initially as a

commissioner to help negotiate commercial treaties. In May 1785 he

succeeded Benjamin Franklin as the U.S. Minister to France.

He was the first United States Secretary of State (1789–1793)

under George Washington and advised him against a national bank and the Jay Treaty. He was the second Vice

President (1797–1801) under John Adams. Winning on an anti-federalist platform, Jefferson took the oath of office

and became President of the United States in 1801. As president he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase (1803), and sent

the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) to explore the vast new territory and lands further west. Jefferson always

distrusted Britain as a threat to American security; he rejected a renewal of the Jay Treaty that his ambassadors had

negotiated in 1806 with Britain and promoted aggressive action, such as the embargo laws, that contributed to the

already escalating tensions with Britain and France leading to war with Britain in 1812 after he left office.

Jefferson idealized the independent yeoman farmer as exemplar of republican virtues, distrusted cities and

financiers, and favored states' rights and a limited federal government. Jefferson supported the separation of church

and state and was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786). Jefferson's revolutionary

view on individual religious freedom and protection from government authority have generated much interest with

modern scholars. He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-

Republican Party, which dominated American politics for 25 years.

Born into a prominent planter family, Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves throughout his life; he held views

on the racial inferiority of Africans common for this period in time. While historians long discounted accounts that

Jefferson had an intimate relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, it is now widely held that he did and had six

children by her.

Jefferson was a polymath who spoke five languages and could read two others. He was a major book collector

with an enormous library, much of which he sold to the Library of Congress in 1814 after the British set fire to the

Capitol which destroyed most of its works. He wrote more than sixteen thousand letters and was acquainted with

nearly every influential person in America, and many throughout Europe. Jefferson is constantly rated by historical

scholars as one of the greatest U.S. presidents.

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V. Abraham Lincoln_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving

from March 1861 until his assassination. He successfully led the country through a great constitutional, military and

moral crisis—the American Civil War—preserving the Union while ending slavery and promoting economic

modernization. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, he was mostly self-educated. He became a country

lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives but failed in

two attempts at a seat in the United States Senate. He was an affectionate, though often absent, husband and father of

four children.

After deftly opposing the expansion of slavery in the United States in

his campaign debates and speeches, Lincoln secured the Republican

nomination and was elected president in 1860. Following declarations of

secession by southern slave states, war began in April 1861, and he

concentrated on both the military and political dimensions of the war effort,

seeking to reunify the nation. He vigorously exercised unprecedented war

powers, including the arrest and detention without trial of thousands of

suspected secessionists. He prevented British recognition of the Confederacy

by skillfully handling the Trent affair late in 1861. He issued his

Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoted the passage of the

Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery.

Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, especially the selection of

top generals, including the commanding general and future president,

Ulysses S. Grant. He brought leaders of various factions of his party into his cabinet and pressured them to co-operate.

Under his leadership, the Union took control of the border slave states at the start of the war and tried repeatedly to

capture the Confederate capital at Richmond. Each time a general failed, Lincoln substituted another until finally

Grant succeeded in 1865. A shrewd politician deeply involved with power issues in each state, he reached out to War

Democrats and managed his own re-election in the 1864 presidential election.

As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican party, Lincoln came under attack from all sides.

Radical Republicans wanted harsher treatment of the South, Democrats desired more compromise, and secessionists

saw him as their enemy. Lincoln fought back with patronage, by pitting his opponents against each other, and by

appealing to the American people with his powers of oratory; for example, his Gettysburg Address of 1863 became

one of the most quoted speeches in American history. It was an iconic statement of America's dedication to the

principles of nationalism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view

of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation in the face of

lingering and bitter divisiveness. Lincoln was shot and killed just six days after the surrender of Confederate

commanding general Robert E. Lee, marking the first assassination of a U.S. president. Lincoln has frequently been

ranked by a majority of scholars as the greatest U.S. president.

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VI. Theodore Roosevelt_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the

26th President of the United States (1901–1909). He is noted for his

energetic personality, range of interests and achievements, leadership of

the Progressive Movement, and his "cowboy" image and robust

masculinity. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the

short-lived Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party of 1912. Before becoming

President, he held offices at the municipal, state, and federal level of

government. Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter,

author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a

politician.

Born into a wealthy family, Roosevelt was an unhealthy child who

suffered from asthma and stayed at home studying natural history. In

response to his physical weakness, he embraced a strenuous life. He was

home-schooled and became a passionate student of nature. He attended Harvard, where he boxed and developed an

interest in naval affairs. In 1881, one year out of Harvard, he was elected to the New York State Assembly as its

youngest member. Roo sevelt's first historical book, The Naval War of 1812 (1882), established his professional

reputation as a serious historian. After a few years of living in the Badlands, Roosevelt returned to New York City,

where he gained fame for fighting police corruption. The Spanish–American War broke out while Roosevelt was,

effectively, running the Department of the Navy. He promptly resigned and led a small regiment in Cuba known as the

Rough Riders, earning himself a nomination for the Medal of Honor, which was received posthumously on his behalf

on January 16, 2001. After the war, he returned to New York and was elected Governor in a close-fought election.

Within two years, he was elected Vice President of the United States.

In 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated; and Roosevelt became President at the age of 42,

taking office at the youngest age of any U.S. President in history. Roosevelt attempted to move the Republican Party

in the direction of Progressivism, including trust busting and increased regulation of businesses. Roosevelt coined the

phrase "Square Deal" to describe his domestic agenda, emphasizing that the average citizen would get a fair share

under his policies. As an outdoorsman and naturalist, he promoted the conservation movement. On the world stage,

Roosevelt's policies were characterized by his slogan, "Speak softly and carry a big stick". Roosevelt was the force

behind the completion of the Panama Canal; he sent out the Great White Fleet to display American power; and he

negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt was the first

American to win the Nobel Prize in any field.

Roosevelt declined to run for re-election in 1908. After leaving office, he embarked on a safari to Africa and a

tour of Europe. On his return to the US, a bitter rift developed between Roosevelt and his anointed successor as

President, William Howard Taft. Roosevelt attempted in 1912 to wrest the Republican nomination from Taft, and

when he failed, he launched the Bull Moose Party. In the election, Roosevelt became the only third party candidate to

come in second place, beating Taft but losing to Woodrow Wilson. After the election, Roosevelt embarked on a major

expedition to South America; the river on which he traveled now bears his name. He contracted malaria on the trip,

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which damaged his health, and he died a few years later, at the age of 60. Roosevelt has consistently been ranked by

scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.

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Bibliography

Report addressed to the Harney Park Memorial Association

“Mount Rushmore” by Gilbert Courtland Fite

Complete Book of U.S. Presidents by William DeGregorio

Our Country's Presidents: Completely Revised and Expanded by

Ann Bausum

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents

http://en.wikipedia.org

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