Here's a picture of Dolley Madison giving her husband James a piggy back ride. No, I am not making this up.

When my sister mentioned to me that James and Dolley did this sort of thing, I had a hard time believing it at first. They had always come off as rather serious to me. Then, my sister sent me a link to a Smithsonian article that talked about their fun sides. They roughhoused, joked, and otherwise had fun in private, although in public she was the lively one and he was more on the reserved side. It seems she was a lot bigger and stronger than him, so sometimes she would lift him onto her back and carry him around. They sound like a cute couple.

I think, if we are to draw a moral from this, it's that we should always remember that appearances can be deceiving. Even a Founding Father with intense expressions in paintings can be playful.

I recieved a request to do something on American Civil War naval history. Sorry it's a little late! Hope this is what you wanted!

During the Civil War, the Union navy strategically blocked off the Confederacy's access to supplies via waterways. In order to distract them, the Confederate navy Union commercial ships in the oceans. The CSS Alabama, one of these ships, was eventually taken down by the USS Kearsarge, which is the confrontation shown here. Obviously, I made some exaggerations. The ships were each manned by more than one guy pointing at the other ship, for instance.

Click here for a brief description of Confederate Commerce Raiders, or click here for a more detailed description of the CSS Alabama by the Naval History and Heritage Command.