" 7 Clearly, Pugin saw the historical past through the eyes of an idealist who clung to ancient Greek architectural ideals and principles with great vigor; he was also convinced that Greek Revivalism would play a significant role in all future buildings constructed in Great Britain and America. At the same time, Pugin was quite disillusioned by the Industrial Revolution and firmly believed in the necessity of restoring old craftsmanship which had "honesty and quality." 8 Obviously, Pugin's vision of history, much like that of Schinkel, was based upon the slow but persistent emergence of styles which reflected not only the thoughts of the architect but also the positive and negative conditions of society.

Due to the efforts of Schinkel, the Neoclassic style and its historical foundations swept through Europe in the late 18th century and into the first decades of the 19th century, and when it arrived in the new American Republic, Thomas Jefferson (1743 to 1826) demonstrated his feelings for the classical past by going beyond architects who had incorporated only specific elements of ancient architecture in their buildings. But unlike Schinkel and Pugin, Jefferson tuned to classical Rome for his architectural inspiration and took "the complete Roman temple form as his model for the Virginia Statehouse" in the city of Richmond. 9 While serving in France as an American ambassador, Jefferson had visited the Roman temple at Nimes (the Maison Carree) which later on reflected his admiration for ancient Rome as the "embodiment of the pure beauty of antiquity and as a symbol of idealized Roman Republican government." 10 Overall, Jefferson's love for Roman architecture was part of his attempt to rediscover in antiquity certain principles of life...

Of course, Jefferson's architectural visions of ancient Rome had much to do with the rise of American nationalism following his death in 1826, due to buildings such as the Capitol in Washington, D.C. coming to symbolize Americanism and the great movement towards a true democratic society.
ENDNOTES

History of Western Architecture. Berlin: Laurence King Publishing, 2005, 124.

The First Moderns: Architects of the 18th and 19th Centuries. UK: Cambridge University Press, 1980, 153.

Carter, Rand. "Karl Friedrich Schinkel: The Last Great Architect." 1996. Internet.

Ibid, Internet.

Rykwert, 158.

Carter, Internet.

Healey, Caroline. "Augustus Welby Pugin and the Gothic Revival." 2004. Internet.

Ibid, Internet.

Silverman, Kenneth J. Thomas Jefferson: America's First Architect. New York: Scribner's, 2004, 216.

10 Ibid, 218.

Works Cited

Carter, Rand. "Karl Friedrich Schinkel: The Last Great Architect." 1996. Internet. Retrieved December 7, 2008 at http://www.tc.umn.edu/~peikx001/rcessay.htm.

Healey, Caroline. "Augustus Welby Pugin and the Gothic Revival." 2004. Internet. Retrieved December 7, 2008 at http://www.victorianweb.org/art/design/pugin/healey10.html.

Rykwert, Joseph. The First Moderns: Architects of the 18th and 19th Centuries. UK: Cambridge University Press, 1980.

Silverman, Kenneth J. Thomas Jefferson: America's First Architect. New York: Scribner's, 2004.

Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture. Berlin: Laurence King Publishing, 2005.