Historic Kenmore - Fight for Liberty

Tea or Liberty Painting

Mrs. Lewis and her mother, Mary Ball Washington, drink coffee as a symbol of their support of the Non-Importation Agreement, which Washington signed.
Mrs. Lewis has put her teapot and treasured tea chest (a gift from her uncle, just before her marriage) on the mantle until Parliament lifts the tea tax.
Washington is reading the March 25, 1775 Virginia Gazette, which contains a letter of thanks to Virginia's delegates to the Continental Congress.

George Washington led the American army to victory over Great Britain and became the "Father of his Country."
Fielding Lewis used his own fortune to make arms for his brother-in-law's army, and died, impoverished, within weeks of Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown.
Betty Lewis struggled to keep this house and run the plantation, but eventually moved to her simpler farm in the country.
Tamer and Jack, the slaves shown in the painting, remained with the Lewises rather than joining the British.