ok i swear this is the last one

Details of Maria Luisa of Parma, 1765, by Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779)

Luis de Madrazo

Spanish, 1825-1897

portrait detail

Fragonard (1770’s-80’s)

Better than Hamilton™ anyday

James Monroe and Women’s Education.

James Monroe was of the belief that women should have the equal access to education as men were in this time period [x]. Part of this may be because he was educated by his mother who was very well education until he was eleven; when his mother died he helped his elder sister raise his three younger brothers and quit school; he had an exceptionally gifted wife, Elizabeth Monroe, who was educated as a son; and he had two daughters who he raised in the best education they could receive. His more equal view of women was another reason why he had such a strong bond with his two daughters.

From what I’ve seen in his letters about his children, he never seemed to show any period typical dismay and not having a son–he just seemed glad they were alive, worried a lot when they were sick and said Eliza was a loud baby and seemed rather giddy when he wrote of them. When Monroe was Governor of Virginia for two terms, one thing he worked towards was establishing more schools that were mixed between both sexes [x]. 

James Monroe used to get teased by women because of his reserved and quiet nature [x], this only enhanced him to try and get women to like him more as he traveled with a few of them in 1784. During the American Revolution while serving as an aide-de-camp to Lord Stirling, Monroe would find himself frequently around the company of Theodosia Prevost (later  Burr) who Monroe sought advice from–mainly when it came to women. Due to Monroe’s shy nature he reverted into silence every time he was in the company of one women, Nannie Brown whom he found himself attracted to. Monroe wrote to her for advice to which Theodosia replied:

During his trip around America after his inauguration, Monroe stopped in Nashville in 1819 where he requested to visit the Nashville Female Academy, a school dedicated to women’s education and quickly growing to be the most renowned in the country. When he got there, the school officials marveled at how the president had no guards with him. Funny thing is that everyone was telling Monroe it was a waste of time to visit, but he insisted he had to visit. He didn’t just visit, he stayed from eleven in the morning until well into the late night, giving no less than eighteen toasts and visited two more times during his nine days in the city. At the dinner table, he sat with the students. At the beginning of his visit, he gave a speech to the two hundred students [x]. In the speech he said:

In summary, he was very impressed with the school and both sexes are entitled to equal improvement. He asked, that instead of focusing their attention on one sex, why cannot they be alike or equal?

While still Secretary of State in 1816, the Russian consulgen Nicholas Kosloff was charged with raping a teenage servant who lived with him. Monroe wrote of it to Thomas Jefferson:

He was arrested and Russian government asked for compensation, of which the Secretary of State refused to give. It was Monroe who believed the best course would be to recall him for his actions:

Kosloff was never able to be charged for his actions, as the case was given to the Federal courts but the Federal courts deemed it a local case and handed it back. “Of which description of offences the courts of the United States do not cognizance.” Monroe wrote to Levett Harris. 

Cognizance: knowledge, awareness, or notice

Monroe problem with the United States and the case was that they were not taking notice of what had happened and neither were they attempted to be aware. 

 In 1819, Emma Hart Willard took the move of expressing her wish of expanding women’s education “A Plan for Improving Women’s Education” it was called. Her ideas caught the attention of James Monroe who lean’t support for her actions [x]. She sent her writing at a request to Monroe as well as a few other founders. 

In a speech to the Virginia General Assembly, Monroe argued that:

James Monroe did not believe in the exclusion of women in education and thought a good education for women which was usually restricted to the wealthy should be made better accessible to every being. He once remarked:

James Monroe, in conclusion, was all for the equality of education between women and men. 

Still Life with Azaleas and Apple Blossoms 1878. Charles Caryl Coleman

American Revolution + John Laurens

A still from Looking for Langston, 1989.

According to George Chauncey’s eponymous Gay New York, the Harlem Renaissance of the ‘20s provided an opportunity for gay men to create their own social and cultural spaces within the burgeoning nightlife in the neighborhood. 

• Patterned Silk Dress. Place of origin: Russia Date: Late 1840’s - early 1850’s Medium: Silk

Preußisches Liebesglück (Prussian Love), 1890, by Emil Doerstling (1859-1940)

It’s about time I drew the Ham.

Someone: The modern world is INSANE!!! I wish I was born back in the good old days when everything was so much better and people had values!!! <3<3<3

Every historian: 

I just really wanna die from the plague

I wanna be burned at the stake as a heretic.

Turn: Washington’s Spies, s04e07 (Inside The Episode)