Object Details
Artist
Ferdinand Thomas Lee Boyle, 1820 - 1906
Sitter
Thomas Hart Benton, 14 Mar 1782 - 10 Apr 1858
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.
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Date
c. 1861
Object number
NPG.66.1
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Painting
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")
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
Topic
Interior
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair
Thomas Hart Benton: Male
Thomas Hart Benton: Law and Crime\Lawyer
Thomas Hart Benton: Arts and Culture\Journalism and Media\Newspaper publisher
Thomas Hart Benton: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\War of 1812
Thomas Hart Benton: Politics and Government\Government official\US Senator\Missouri
Thomas Hart Benton: Politics and Government\Government official\US Congressman\Missouri
Thomas Hart Benton: Politics and Government\Government official\State Senator\Tennessee
Portrait
Link to Original Record
Record ID
npg_NPG.66.1