Congress at Odds

Creating the Declaration of Independence | Creating the United States Constitution | Creating the Bill of Rights

Forging a Federal Government | Demand for a Bill of Rights | Formation of Political Parties | Election of 1800 | Peaceful Transition

Congressional Pugilists. Congress Hall, in Philadelphia, February 15, 1798. [Philadelphia], 1798. Etching. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (92)
[Digital ID# ppmsca-15707]

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This print captures the heated partisan debates in Congress between Vermont’s Jeffersonian Republican representative, Matthew Lyon (1749—1822), and Connecticut’s Federalist representative, Roger Griswold (1762—1812).

They attacked each other with a cane and fireplace tongs on the floor of the House of Representatives on February 15, 1798. Griswold had accused Lyon of cowardice during the American Revolution and Lyon responded by spitting tobacco juice in Griswold’s face.