Mount Rushmore National Memorial: A Shrine of Democracy Essay

Have you ever wondered what happened behind the gates of Tuxedo Park when it was first discovered? The book “The World with a Fence Around It,” by George M. Rushmore, is about Tuxedo Park in its first years. Pierre Lorillard was the founder of the Park, while Bruce Price was the architect. Many people visited Tuxedo Park in its early days such as Mark Twain, and Emily Post. Although, Tuxedo Park may be an old town, discovered in 1885 by Pierre Lorillard, it has much to offer, such as, a weekend home, hunting, fishing, and more sports that started around the same time the Park.

The most stunning monument in our capital is the Washington Monument. At 555 feet high, it is the tallest such monument in the world. It is an obelisk by shape, yet not a true obelisk because it is not carved out of a single stone. The monument was built at intervals between 1848 and 1885. It memorializes George Washington's achievements and his devotion to principles and to his country.

Mount Rushmore is a carved mountain sculpture in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They started building it on October 4, 1927 and it opened October 31, 1941. The project cost $989,992.32 and 14 years to build it, the actual craving was done by a team of over 400 men. This mountain has carved faces of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln and each presidents face is 60 feet high. The sculpture was led by Gutzon Borglum and it was originally designed for the four presidents to be represented from the waist and up. George Washington was chosen because he was our nation’s founding father. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to represent expansion, because he was the president who signed

George Washington’s relation to the Arlington National Cemetery is that his step-grandson, (George Washington Parke Custis), once owned the land. George is related to Mr. Custis by his wife, Martha Washington. Martha had a different affair with George Washington Parke Custis’s grandfather, Daniel Parke Custis, who died July 8, 1757 of most likely a heart attack.

This was not addressed when Mount Rushmore was constructed, and because of this the monument is tainted from its original purpose of honoring former United States presidents. “It is bad enough that white men drove the Sioux from hills they still hold sacred; did they have to carve faces all over them too?” Source C questions, enlightening the reader on the blemished past of Mount Rushmore, and how the placement of such a monument is wholly disrespectful (Source C). The planners of Mount Rushmore failed to recognize the faux pas of defacing the land of people who were disregarded by those to whom this monument is dedicated. Though a group may deem a historical figure or event as worthy for memorialization, when monuments are constructed paying no heed to placement, the original gesture can often be in

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy said this during his inaugural speech encouraging all Americans to be active citizens and better their country (Life of John F. Kennedy).He believed in ending racial discrimination and creating peace within the world. John F. Kennedy should be added to Mount Rushmore because of all he did to expand the United States.

“As the President’s remains went further westward, where the people more especially claimed him as their own, the intensity of feeling seemed if possible to grow deeper.” (Swanson 246) The fanfare and festivities taking place in Cleveland, Ohio were spectacular. Planning had begun the instant the tour route had been announced. A myriad of delegations, committees and subcommittees were created to deal with every minute aspect of mourning. Cleveland was determined to show their respect for the late commander in chief. There was no building large enough in Cleveland to house the coffin and all the expected grievers so they built an outside pavilion. 100,000 people came to see the body that once was

It started as an idea to draw sightseers, but in 1923 state historian Doane Robinson suggested carving some giant statues in South Dakota's Black Hills. Robinson was not the first American to think that a big country demanded big art. As early as 1849, Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton proposed a super-scale Christopher Columbus in the Rocky Mountains (1). In 1886 the 150-foot Statue of Liberty was unveiled. In the 1920's, an unconventional sculptor named Gutzon Borglum was carving a Confederate memorial on Stone Mountain in Georgia. Robinson wanted his sculptures to stand at the gateway to the west, where the Black Hills rise from the plains as a geographical prelude to the Rocky Mountains. Here, the granite outcropping resist erosion to form the Needles, a cluster of tall, needle-like peaks reminiscent of the spires on a Gothic cathedral.

Lets take a trip back in time to 1884 in the Black Hills of South Dakota. A New York lawyer had just traveled there to inspect mining claims in that region. The man 's name was Charles E. Rushmore. Rushmore was curious by one of the mountains and asked a towns person what the name of the mountain was. The towns person replied saying it had no name. From then on Charles Rushmore started calling it Rushmore Peak. Over time it became known as Mount Rushmore (history.com). During the following years the area of the Black Hills decided they wanted to start attracting tourist the region. I the early 1920s the state historian of South Dakota, Doane Robinson, came up with an idea to attract tourist. He thought of the idea to to carve famous historic heroes of the west into the side of the mountain (history.com). In 1924, Robinson decided to contact the famous American sculptor, Gutzon Borgium, about his idea. Borgium at the time was working on another project for Georgia, but Robinson was able to convince him to abandon his project and come

America has made an obsession out of remembering past events by making monuments, like the Lincoln Monument. These type monuments can be used to teach anyone what their country has been through. This is a method that has been in use since long before America was founded, but America is not immune to the influence of Memorials. America uses memorials to commemorate fallen soldiers, influential leaders, founders of peace, and some of the nations most devastating moments, like 9-11. Some of the most important, and well known memorials in the world can be found in America, such as the Washington monument, Lincoln monument and many others.

However, Gutzon Borglum rejected that location and chose Mount Rushmore because of its better granite and facing southeast into the sun. Borglum wanted a national focus and settled on four presidents representing the first 130 years and the expansion of the United States. Construction began in October of 1927 and ended in October of 1941 with a crew of 400 workers. The original design was for the carvings to be from head to waist but after the death of Gutzon Borglum in 1941, his son Lincoln said the sculpture was fine just the way it stands. Only some finish work on the structure was accomplished before it was declared complete. Even with all the dangerous carving and blasting not one fatality occurred at Mount Rushmore while it was being created. Annually two million visitors come to Mount Rushmore to view its magnificent tribute as the Shrine of Democracy.

We infer that George Washington was built first and that he took the most time to build. He was the first president of the United States, so it would only make sense that he would be built first in Mount Rushmore. We also think this inference because he is more detailed than the others. For example, he has a collar of his shirt. And also, it seems as though he was built down to his torso, while the others seemed as though only the heads were built. When we look at the image it looks like the others only have their faces, and another reason we think this is because it looked like he takes up more space than the others do and they were added in afterword because the spacing isn’t great.

The Washington Monument used to be the tallest tower in the world. It has iconic structures and it is honoring to the man known as the father of his country. It shows the importance of him for the Americans that even the country has racked up scores of tributes, cities, highways, lakes, mountains, schools and an entire state have been named in his honour. He even got multiple monuments in his name. The Washington Monument, monumental obelisk was worked to respect George Washington, America's first president and stands today as the world's tallest detached stone structure. An unmistakable change in the shade of the stones can be seen around thirty-three percent of the path up the landmark; the somewhat darker stones at the base were put before

PBS describes the story this way: "The story of Mount Rushmore's creation is as bizarre and wonderful as the monument itself. It is the tale of a hyperactive, temperamental artist whose talent and determination propelled the project, even as his ego and obsession threatened to tear it apart. It is the story of hucksterism and hyperbole, of a massive public works project in the midst of an economic depression."

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