再访《美国联邦大厅国家纪念馆》

黄安年文  黄安年的博客/2017年8月25日发布

（按《美国联邦大厅国家纪念馆》一文写于2000年4月25日，收录于黄安年著《美国纪行——一个中国学者眼中的美国生活》第190页，文化艺术出版社，2005年11月版。黄安年的博客2007年6月25日发布。正文中的蓝色字体，在《美国纪行》中略去。我们最新一次造访美国联邦大厅国家纪念馆是2015年7月3日。）

***************************************

来到曼哈顿一般很少有人参观美国联邦大厅国家纪念馆，2000年4月25日在曼哈顿之行中我们专门看了在美国历史上有着里程碑意义的纪念馆。

我们在纽约地铁富尔顿街下车,出了站口直奔华尔街。这里人头攥动，有慢悠悠东诳西转的游客，也有来去匆匆的过客，还有衣履整齐的俊男倩女，这时天气发生变化，冷风穿过摩天大厦的夹道显得格外的冷。我们快步从拿骚街向华尔街方向走去，经过位于自由街33号联邦储备银行（Federal Reserve Bank），这里是美国的金融指挥中心，是美国银行的心脏，来这里参观需要预约，而且开放时间每天只有四次。到了拿骚街和华尔街就是我们的目的地联邦大厅国家纪念馆(Federal Hall National Memorial ),这里正在位于纽约证券交易所的对面。这座建筑及其前身具有光荣的历史纪录，现在进去如果没有必要的讲解，人们不易理解，里面除了一些展品外，有点空荡荡的感觉，一二层不用15分钟就可以看完，而三楼是办公室闲人免进，国会会议室平时关闭，讲解时才开放。根据介绍1702年时附近珍珠街的殖民地时期的市政厅（1653-1697）挪到现在这里的联邦大厅。1765年抵制英格兰实施新的印花税法的印花税大陆会议代表大会在这里举行。1775年6月26日华盛顿在第二届大陆会议上被任命为新建大陆军的总司令。独立战争后的第六年，纽约是美国第一个首都，1789年3月2日第二届大陆会议结束使命。1789年3月4日星期三，市政厅改名为联邦大厅，成为新国家的第一个国会大楼，美国的第一届国会在这里召开。4月30日，华盛顿在这里宣誓就职为美国第一任总统。今天的美国最高法院、国务院、国防部、财政部等机构可以追溯到在联邦大厅举行的国会第一次会议上。人权法案的前十条修正案的修正案是从这里送到13个州批准的。1812年，联邦大厅被拆毁当作废料出售，整座大楼连同内装修共卖425美元。现在我们看到的建筑是建于1842年的海关大楼，是纽约希腊文艺复兴时期建筑风格的杰出代表。1846年7月29日-1862年大楼成为“次财政部”，第二层地下室专门收藏美东地区的黄金白银。1913年联邦储备系统建立后，这里是1920-1924年间的纽约州联邦银行。后来美国护照办公室在这里办公。1939年这里被宣布为国家历史圣地。1955年被命名为联邦大厅国家纪念馆。

离开联邦大厅纪念馆，已经13时20分,我们向市政厅（City Hall）走去，需要一段路程，沿着百老汇路到富尔顿街，很快就到了市政厅公园,这里地上有一组巨大的历史画卷，是用铅黑的特制材料显示从17世纪20年代到20世纪90年代末不同时期的历史画面，每幅画面有文字说明和精致的绘画作品，平面光滑，从特定角度可以看得十分清楚，如果你不细心观察往往会被忽略。可惜市政厅已经关闭两年了，里面还在装修，希望以后在来时能够参观。

（写于2000年4月25日）

附文网上介绍：

The Birthplace ofAmerican Government

Here on WallStreet, George Washington took the oath of office as our first President, andthis site was home to the first Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branchoffices. The current structure, a Customs House, later served as part of the USSub-Treasury. Now, the building serves as a museum and memorial to our firstPresident and the beginnings of the United States of America.（http://www.nps.gov/feha/）

附图1.为联邦大厅国家纪念馆(Federal Hall National Memorial )

2,为2000年4月拍摄于第一届联邦政府大楼（1790年）

转载本文请联系原作者获取授权，同时请注明本文来自黄安年科学网博客。
链接地址：http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-415-3717.html

联邦大厅----美国政府诞生地

黄安年文  黄安年的博客/2015年7月7日上午美东时间,晚上北京时间发布

在美国独立日前夕,我们来到纽约世界贸易中心遗址参观,随后步行前往华尔街及南渡口浏览。这里一直是美国的金融中心,在纽约作为临时首都期间,联邦大厅也是美国第一届总统华盛顿宣誓就职的地方,因而也是美国联邦政府的诞生地,具有极其重要的历史意义。此地我来过多次，这次和两个外孙等旧地重游。

照片17张3日下午拍摄于现场，其中有我的身影照是女儿拍摄的。

1，

2，

3，

4，

5，

6，

7，

8，

9，

10，

11，

12，

13，

14，

15，

16，

17，

http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-415-903634.html

Birthplace of American Government

Here on Wall Street, George Washington took the oath of office as our firstPresident, and this site was home to the first Congress, Supreme Court, andExecutive Branch offices. The current structure, a Customs House, later servedas part of the USSub-Treasury. Now, the building serves as a museum and memorial to our firstPresident and the beginnings of the United States of America.

http://www.nps.gov/feha/index.htm

Federal Hall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Federal Hall, built in 1700 as New York's CityHall, later served as the firstcapitol building of the United States ofAmerica under the Constitution,as well as the site of George Washington'sinaugurationas the first President ofthe United States. It was also where the United StatesBill of Rights was introduced in the First Congress. The buildingwas demolished in 1812.

Federal Hall National Memorial was built in 1842 as the UnitedStates Custom House, on the site of the old Federal Hall on Wall Street, and later served as a sub-Treasurybuilding. It is now operated by the National Park Serviceas a national memorialcommemorating the historic events that occurred there.

History

Federal Hall, Seat of Congress, 1790 hand-colored engraving by Amos Doolittle, depicting Washington's April 30, 1789 inauguration

Historic building[edit]

The original structure on the site was built as New York's second City Hall in 1700, on Wall Street, in what is today the FinancialDistrict of Lower Manhattan.In 1735, John Peter Zenger,an American newspaper publisher, was arrested for committing libel against theBritish royal governor and was imprisoned and tried there. His acquittal on thegrounds that the material he had printed was true established freedom of the pressas it was later defined in the Bill of Rights.^[1]

Archibald Robertson’s "View up Wall Street" with City Hall(Federal Hall) and Trinity Church, New York City, from around 1798

In October 1765, delegates from nine of the 13 colonies met as the Stamp Act Congressin response to the levying of the Stamp Act by the Parliament ofGreat Britain. Drawn together for the first time in organizedopposition to British policy, the attendees drafted a message to King GeorgeIII, the House of Lords,and the House of Commons,claiming entitlement to the same rights as the residents of Britain andprotesting the colonies' "taxationwithout representation".

After the American Revolution,the City Hall served as the meeting place for the Congressof the United Statesunder the Articles ofConfederation, from 1785 until 1789. Acts adopted here included the Northwest Ordinance,which set up what would later become the states of Ohio,Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, but more fundamentally prohibited slavery in these future states.

In 1788, the building was remodeled and enlarged under the direction of Pierre CharlesL'Enfant,^[2] who was laterselected by President George Washingtonto design the capital city on the Potomac River. This was the first example of Federal Stylearchitecture in the United  States. It was renamed Federal Hall when itbecame the first Capitol of the United  States under the Constitutionin 1789. The 1st United StatesCongress met there on March 4, 1789, to establish the new federalgovernment, and the first thing they did was count the votes that electedGeorge Washington as the first President ofthe United States. He was inaugurated on the balcony of the buildingon April 30, 1789.

Many of the most important legislative actions in the United Statesoccurred with the 1st Congress at Federal Hall. Foremost was the proposal andinitial ratification of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution; twelveamendments to the Constitution were initially drafted (ten were later adopted),and on September 25, 1789, the United StatesBill of Rights was proposed in Federal Hall, establishing thefreedoms claimed by the Stamp Act Congresson the same site 24 years earlier. Also, the Judiciary Act of 1789was enacted in the building, which set up the UnitedStates federal court system that is still in use today.

George Washington in front of Federal Hall National Memorial

Customs House and Treasury building[edit]

In 1790, the United States capital was moved to Philadelphia, and what had been Federal Hallonce again housed the government ofNew York City until 1812, when the building was razed with theopening of the current New York City Hall.^[3] Part of theoriginal railing and balcony floor where Washingtonwas inaugurated are on display in the memorial.^[4] The currentstructure, one of the best surviving examples of classicalarchitecture in New York,was built as the country's first Customs House. Designed by John Frazee,it was constructed of Tuckahoe marbleand took more than a decade to complete. It opened in 1842.

In 1862, Customs moved to 55 Wall Street and the building served as oneof six United States Sub-Treasury locations. Millionsof dollars of gold and silver were kept in the basement vaults untilthe Federal Reserve Bankreplaced the Sub-Treasury system in 1920.

In 1882, John Quincy AdamsWard's bronze George Washington statuewas erected on its front steps, marking the approximate site where he was inaugurated as Presidentin the former structure.

In 1920, a bomb was detonated across the street from Federal Hall at 23 Wall Street, in what became known as the Wall Street bombing.Thirty-eight people were killed and 400 injured, and 23 Wall Street was visibly damaged, butFederal Hall received no damage. A famous photographof the event shows the destruction and effects of the bombing, but also showsthe statue of Washingtonstanding stoically in the face of chaos (see below).

Main hall of the memorial

Federal Hall National Memorial[edit]

The building was designated as FederalHall Memorial National Historic Site on May 26, 1939, and redesignated anational memorialon August 11, 1955. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service,the memorial was listed on the NationalRegister of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Federal Hall wasdesignated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on 000000001965-12-21-0000December21, 1965.^[5]

Congress convenes for a special session at Federal Hall National Memorialon September 6, 2002

On September 6, 2002, approximately 300 members of the United StatesCongress traveled from Washington, D.C. to New York to convene inFederal Hall National Memorial as a symbolic show of support for the city,still recovering from the September 11,2001 attacks. Held just four blocks from the World Trade Centersite, the meeting was the first by Congress in New York since 1790.^[3]

The site closed on December 3, 2004 for extensive renovations. In 2006,Federal Hall National Memorial reopened after a $16 million renovation, mostlyto its foundation, after cracks threatening the structure were greatlyaggravated by the collapse of the World Trade Center'sTwin Towers.

It was reported on June 8, 2008, that New York City MayorMichael Bloombergand ABC News invited 2008 United Statespresidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama to a town hall forum at Federal Hall.^[6] Both candidatesdeclined the offer "because they do not want it limited to one television network."^[7]

The National Park Service operates Federal Hall as a national memorial. Asa national memorial, the site is open free to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. It has touristinformation about the New York Harbor area's federal monuments and parks, and a New York City tourisminformation center. The gift shop has colonial and early American items forsale. Normally its exhibit galleries are open free to the public daily, exceptnational holidays, and guided tours of the site are offered throughout the day.Exhibits include George Washington’sInauguration Gallery, including the Bibleused to swear his oath of office; Freedom of the Press, theimprisonment and trial of John Peter Zenger; and New York: An American Capital, preview exhibit created by the NationalArchives and Records Administration.

Shrine[edit]

Two prominent American ideals are reflected in the current building'sarchitecture: The Doric columns of thefacade, designed by Ithiel Town and Alexander JacksonDavis, resemble those of the Parthenon and serve as a tribute to the democracy of the Greeks; the domed ceilinginside, designed by John Frazee, echoes thePantheon and is evocative of the republican ideals of the ancient Romans.

The current structure is often overshadowed among downtown landmarks by theNew York StockExchange, which is located diagonally across Wall and BroadStreets, but the site is one of the most important in the history of the UnitedStates and, particularly, the foundation of the United Statesgovernment and its democratic institutions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Hall