.On the Erection of the Eleventh Pillar"
Massachusetts Centinel
Boston: August 2, 1788
Woodcut
New-York Historical Society Library Boston's Massachusetts Centinel had begun a series of illustrations showing "The Federal Pillars" rising to support a "Grand Republican Superstructure," a metaphor for the Constitution. As each state ratified the Constitution, an additional pillar was raised. On August 2, 1788, the Centinel published a cartoon showing the pillar representing New York as erected, followed by a poem, "The Federal Edifice," and a statement that the news of ratification, "an event so little expected," had arrived
