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Second Bank of the United States
A who’s who of Revolutionary War-era portraiture
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Second Bank of the United States
Photo by Bob Krist for GPTMC
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Other Information
Newly Renovated!
Open Wed - Sun
Insider Tip
Eighty-five of the portraits on view here are by Charles Willson Peale, early America’s most famous portraitist.
Kids' stuff
Kids will be intrigued by the pine sculpture of George Washington, as well as his original death mask.
The Experience
This place packs a large punch in a relatively small space. Most important, it played a pivotal role in American history (see History, below). It’s also a genuine architectural treasure -modeled on the Parthenon and the standard-bearer for many subsequent American bank buildings.
Finally, it’s the repository for an extraordinary collection of portraits of the men so vital to 18th-century America’s development. Included in that list: Declaration of Independence signers Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Mifflin, and Robert Morris; and paintings of Lafayette, Patrick Henry, and Casimir Pulaski.
History
The Second Bank earned its place in history in 1832, when President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill seeking to re-charter the Bank because he viewed it as an unconstitutional monopoly. Running for reelection, Jackson made his anti-bank stance a critical issue of his campaign and handily defeated opponent Henry Clay.
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