Society of the Cincinnati
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The General Society of the Cincinnati is a historic association in the United States and France with limited and strict membership requirements. The society was organized at the end of the American revolution by officers who were soon to return home, and it continues to exist today.
Origins
The first meeting was held at a dinner in Fishkill (near Newburgh), New York in May of 1783, as the British had not yet withdrawn from New York City. It was chaired by General Von Steuben and they agreed to stay in contact with each other after the war. Membership was limited to officers who served in the Continental Army and also included officers of the French Army who met the same requirements. Membership was passed down to the eldest son, after the death of the original member. The criteria were to have been an officer in the Continental Army for a period of three years, or an officer serving until the close of the war.The Society is named after the Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus, who left his farm to accept a term as Roman dictator, thereby assuming near-total control of Rome to meet a war emergency. When the battle was won, he returned control to the Senate and went back to plowing his fields. The Society's motto reflects that ethic: "Omnia reliquit servare rempublicam" - He gave up everything to serve the Republic. They set the three purposes of the Society:
- To preserve the right so dearly won;
- To promote continuing union between the states;
- To assist members in need, or their widows and orphans.
The Society of the Cincinnati has always been considered the premiere lineage society in the United States. Its members include many of the most distinguished military leaders and civil servants in the history of the country, beginning with twenty-three of the fifty-four signers of the U.S. Constitution.
The Cincinnati Eagle
On June 19, 1783, the General Society of the Cincinnati adopted the Bald Eagle as its insignia. Cherished by past and current Cincinnati, it is one of America's first post-revolution symbols and an important piece of America's rich iconographic tradition. It is the second official emblem to represent America as the Bald Eagle, following the Great Seal of the United States by 364 days. It was likely derived from the same discourse that produced the Seal.
The suggestion of the Bald Eagle as the Cincinnati insignia was made by Major Pierre L'Enfant, a French officer who joined the American Army in 1777, served in the Corps of Engineers, and later become a member of the Society. He noted, in making his suggestion: "The Bald Eagle, which is peculiar to this continent, and is distinquished from those of other climes by its white head and tail, appears to me to deserve attention." In 1784, Major L'Enfant was commissioned to design the eagle medallions. Major L'Enfant later planned and partially laid out the city of Washington, DC.
The scene at the center of the Cincinnati Eagle depicts two soldiers returning home from battle to exchange their swords for ploughshares, instead of using the military as a means to extend political power. It can be debated whether this "exchange" was literal, to include a middleman like Congress; many leading officers' requested that they be compensated with land, true to European military tradition. The Society's colors, light blue and white, symbolize the fraternal bond between the United States and France.
A specially commissioned "Eagle", encrusted with diamonds, was presented to George Washington by the French Navy, and has been worn by each succeeding President General. This "Eagle" is now at the National Headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati at Anderson House on Massachusetts Avenue (Dupont Cirlce) in Washington, D.C.
The Cincinnati Eagle is displayed prominently in various places of public importance, including the city center of Cincinnati, Ohio (named for the Society) at Fountain Square, alongside the Stars and Stripes and the official City of Cincinnati flag. The flag has blue and white stripes and a dark blue square in the upper left corner, with a circle of 13 stars around the Cincinnati Eagle. Refer to the section below on "The Later Society" for the city's historical connection to the Cincinnati.
Reaction to the Society
In the years soon after the revolution, membership continued to expand. Members have served in all the major offices of the United States and many state governments. The Society has remained true to its founding purpose. But some, including Thomas Jefferson, were alarmed at the apparent creation of a hereditary elite. Membership eligibility is inherited through primogeniture, and excludes enlisted men, and in most cases militia officers.Benjamin Franklin was among the Society's preeminent critics. He voiced concerns not only about the apparent creation of a noble order, but as a studied rhetorician he criticized the Society's use of the eagle in its emblem as evoking the traditions of heraldry. It was in his writings on the Cincinnati Eagle that he also safely attacked it's brother symbol, the Great Seal of the United States, without having to do so directly.
On January 26, 1784, in a letter to his only daughter, Sarah Bache, Franklin commented at length on the ramifications of the Cincinnati and the eagle's image for national character [1]. Becuase the image was to appear on the medallions of the Cincinnati, he began, "The Gentleman who made the Voyage to France to provide the Ribbands & Medals has executed his Commission. To me they seem tolerably done, but all such Things are criticised... For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly... [The eagle] is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country, tho' exactly fit that Order of Knights which the French call Chevalieres d'Industrie."
As the international firestorm during the Society's early years subsided, the Cincinnati emerged in the 19th century as an invaluable pool of honest, dedicated, and noble civil servants that would push America westward, while helping to build unity in Washington. History would no longer paint the organization as a threat to the Republic, but rather, a crutch it could fall back when its leaders were lost. This tradition continues today. As the Pennsylvania Society proclaims, the Cincinnati is the Republic's "living link to the men who created the American Revolution."
The Later Society
The Cincinnati were intergral in establishing many of America's first and largest cities to the west of the Appalachians, most notably Cincinnati, OH and Pittsburgh, PA. The first governor of the Northwest Territory, Arthur St. Clair, was a member of the Society. He named Cincinnati to honor the Society, and to encourage Society members to settle there. Lt. Ebenezer Denny (1761-1822), an original Pennsylvania Cincinnatus, was the first mayor of the incorporated city of Pittsburgh (elected 1816). Pittsburgh grew from Fort Pitt, which was commanded from 1777-1783 by four original Cincinnati.
The Civil War was a great trial to the Society as it was for all of the United States. Robert E. Lee was an eligible member, and many Confederate and Union officers were members of the Society. Nevertheless the Society recovered after the war and remains active into the twenty-first century.
Today's Society supports efforts to increase public awareness and memory of the ideals and actions of the men who created the American Revolution. Unlike centers of political power in the United States today, most of the Society's decision-making authority, including membership requirements, has remained with the state societies rather than with the General Society in Washington.
Over the years membership rules have remained essentially intact. There is a provision for approving the application of a collateral heir if the direct male line dies out. Membership has been expanded in some state societies to include descendants of those killed during the war and Naval Officers, but remains highly restrictive. While no official record has been made public, it is estimated that membership remains under 3,500 worldwide today, including many living former Presidents of the United States, cabinet members, and their eldest sons. Broader-based organizations have been created, including the Sons of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
The Society continues its strong tradition of service in American government, especially in the federal executive branch--beyond the presidency itself, the Cincinnati have a long record of service in the State Department and other presidential appointments. Larz Anderson III, from a distinguished Cincinnati, OH family and a great grandson of Richard Clough Anderson of the Virginia Society, served a distinguished career as Second Secretary of the American Legation and Embassy in London, First Secretary of the American Embassy and Charge d’Affaires in Rome, and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Tokyo. Ambassador Anderson maintained a palatial winter residence called the Anderson House in Washington, DC, which his widow presented to the General Society following the Ambassador's death in 1937, along with much of the building's original art and furnishings.
The Anderson House, National Headquarters
The Anderson House, at 2118 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., now houses the Society's national headquarters. It was built in the Late Renaissance Revival style between 1902 and 1905 by the architectural firm of Little and Browne of Boston and is widely regarded as their best work. The Anderson's furnished their home with fine and decorative European and Asian art the couple acquired in their extensive travels. Most of the collection is preserved today in the House environs and in the Larz and Isabel Anderson Collection.
The Cincinnati added an unrivaled museum collection of Revolutionary War artifacts as well as objects related to the Society. Its revolution-era artifacts are the envy of many top museums but have remained mostly undisturbed and on display exclusively at the House. Its extensive art collections include portraits by early American artists, 18th-century paintings, and 17th-century tapestries. The Society also maintains a state-of-the-art, archive-quality, primary-source library containing many priceless revolutionary-era works accessible to selected historians and academians. All collections are managed by a world-class curator and, with the exception of the library, are open to the public during limited hours. The House is closed during Society meetings and other special functions.
Affiliations
American Philosophical SocietyPhi Beta Delta (honor society for international service and education)
References
[1] Olson, Lester C. Benjamin Franklin's Vision of American Community: A Study in Rhetorical Iconology. University of South Carolina Press, 2004.External links
- [Bryce Metcalf's "Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the Society of the Cincinnati"]
- [Washington D.C. Headquarters, Library and Museum]
- [The Connecticut Society]
- [The Pennsylvania Society]
- [The Society in France]
- [History of the Society] from The Hereditary Society Community
- [Article on the foundation of the Society of the Cincinnati - explains origin of wording of the Latin motto]
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