Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="368" caption="After the Exhibits Modernization Program, an exhibit case in the Bird Hall at the United States National Museum, now known as the National Museum of Natural History, features birds sitting on a tree branch in their natural surroundings, 1956, by Unidentified photographer, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution
Description: Smithson's Bequest Sparks Political DebatesWhether or not to accept the Smithson bequest was a matter of controversy among the ranks of those governing the new nation. States' rights advocates, nationalists, federalists, anglophobes, xenophobes, and others disagreed over the possible repercussions of accepting such a gift.President Andrew Jackson asserted his belief that the