The Federal Home

The political landscape of North America changed dramatically in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with the formation of the United States. The ongoing project of establishing a new nation, amid colonial, European, and Native American political interests occurred on not only the battlegrounds of the Revolutionary War and the pages of the founding documents, but also within the home. The textiles of The Federal Home record the attempts to unify the nation through recognizable emblems, such as the eagle, and mottos, such as E Pluribus Unum (“Out of Many, One”). Textiles also depicted current events as they unfolded, inscribing new historical narratives onto the backdrops of daily life, both within the United States and abroad. Domestic production of textiles was a political tactic as leaders decided what “independence” meant economically, nationally, and individually. As much as textiles contributed to a federal mission, they were also a site for political negotiation. Almost as soon as symbols of the new nation and historical scenes became familiar, alternatives to these were incorporated, representing new political ideals, factions, and causes in the stuff of everyday life. The contested expressions of federal affiliation continued through the nineteenth century, as the boundaries of the United States expanded, with devastating impact on Indigenous communities.

Coverlets are woven textiles used as the top layer of bed covering; they were a common feature in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century American homes. Originally made from wool, and sometimes later from a combination of wool and cotton, the graphic patterns of coverlets were created as the fabric was woven and highlighted the skill of the weaver as well as developing technologies of looms. There were two main types of historical coverlet design, either geometric or figured and fancy. Geometric coverlets feature patterns based on squares and circles, while figured and fancy coverlets incorporate more complex shapes and often represent flowers, fruits, buildings, animals, and text. Although bedcovers were objects of family intimacy, they were also valuable objects that were displayed proudly in the home. These more pictorial coverlets became a canvas for political emblems and mottos, showing how domestic textiles were used to signal national allegiance.

These two coverlet fragments demonstrate the distinction between geometric and figured and fancy styles of weaving. They also reflect the shift between an abstract invocation of politics to specific graphic representations of emblems and mottos. The fragment on the left was woven in a pattern from Great Britain known as the Whig Rose in reference to the British Whig Party. A similar motif was incorporated into American quilt design in the nineteenth century, potentially in line with the establishment of the American Whig Party in the 1830s. In contrast, the fragment on the right incorporates the eagle and motto of the Great Seal of the United States, as well as the phrases “United we stand…Divided we fall.”

Slavery was an economic foundation of the United States. By the early-to-mid nineteenth century, cotton grown, picked, and processed by enslaved persons became the United States’ primary export. This enslaved labor produced roughly three quarters of the world’s cotton supply. In The Federal Home, cotton objects are almost certainly associated with slavery. Antislavery societies in the United States, Britain, and the Atlantic World gained traction in the late eighteenth century. The enslaved man on this toile derives from a 1791 painting by British painter George Morland. While the painting shows this figure off to the side, the person who cut this fabric made him the protagonist. This piece is itself made of cotton, meaning it is more than likely a self-critique of the slave trade. Abolitionist goods were fashionable, and examples of this kind of furnishing fabric were used for bed hangings and other important household goods.