Post #6: The United States Capitol Building

The Relief Portraits are located in the House of Chambers in the United States Capitol Building.  The 23 portraits are of Lawgivers noted for their work to help establish American law.  The first one that caught my eye was of the French Emperor Napoleon.  I think he was chosen because he was a very important and powerful French leader, and he also wrote the Code Civil, which helped early influence American states.

The next one is of Sir William Blackstone.  I thought this was interesting because he was an English lawmaker, and the Americans took ideas from his although they wanted to rid themselves of English rule.  But the Americans were able to take parts of many different governments and combine them into a perfect version for America.

The last one is of Thomas Jefferson.  He was the third President of the United States.  He was an instrumental part of the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which was the very beginning of America.  I thought it was cool that he was included because he was an American who directly influenced American government, while the others indirectly influenced our country.  Also, he is a founding father, which makes him really important to our country.