Bellamy Style Carved American Eagle "Free Trade & Sailors Rights" Banner

An exceptional contemporary carved and painted spread wing eagle in gold paint with white painted banner that reads 'Free Trade & Sailors' Rights' in carved letters in relief painted gold. Carved in the style of John Haley Bellamy1836 – 1914) was a folk artist of New England, known for his highly stylized carved wooden eagles and other decorative items for ships and homes. Great art piece celebrating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812! Measures 18''H x 40 1/2''L x 1 1.2''D.

Free Trade and Sailors' Rights, the Rhetoric of the War of 1812.

On July 2, 1812, Captain David Porter raised a banner on the USS Essex proclaiming "A free trade and sailors rights," thus creating a political slogan that explained the War of 1812. Free trade demanded the protection of American commerce, while sailors' rights insisted that the British end the impressment of seamen from American ships. Repeated for decades in Congress and in taverns, the slogan reminds us today that our second war with Great Britain was not a mistake. It was a contest for the ideals of the American Revolution bringing together both the high culture of the Enlightenment to establish a new political economy and the low culture of the common folk to assert the equality of humankind. Understanding the War of 1812 and the motto that came to explain it " free trade and sailors' rights " allows us to better comprehend the origins of the American nation. Quoted from the Textbook 'Free Trade and Sailors' Rights in the War of 1812' by Paul A. Gilje. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_the_early_republic/v030/30.1.gilje.pdf