In the early 19th century, Americans embraced classicism as an international style that had its European beginnings in the 18th-century excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and as an expression of America's own emulation of classical precedents in government, ideal beauty, education and the decorative arts. This work investigates the wide-ranging impact of political, intellectual and aesthetic classical values on early 19th-century American culture through a close examination of 225 objects from the period, including paintings, sculpture, furniture, silver, base metals, glass, ceramics, textiles and printed materials. The book also delves into the symbolic and actual significance of classicism in American life revealed in the adaptation of antique forms and motifs by American craftsmen and consumers.