Free with Museum Admission
Recommended for all ages
How was the presidency established? Talk to living historians portraying John Adams and Benjamin Franklin all afternoon about the Constitutional Convention, or “the late popular Phrensy” as Adams put it to Franklin. Ask Franklin how the convention designed the executive branch, and learn how Adams missed the convention but spoke volumes about the system it created, even before he became our first vice president and second president. Don’t forget to check out their 18th-century suits and accessories!
Image Credits:
Alexander Roslin, Benjamin Franklin, Circa 1780-1790, Purchase, The Louis Durr Fund, New-York Historical Society 1892.8.
Gilbert Stuart, John Adams, Not Dated, Gift of Thomas Jefferson Bryan, New-York Historical Society 1867.304.
