Archibald Willard painted The Spirit of ’76.
Willard created the patriotic painting for the 1876 centennial celebrations. It depicts three figures marching to music: an older drummer, a fifer, and a young drummer. The work was originally titled Yankee Doodle and was designed for exhibition in Ohio.
The painting became widely reproduced and was renamed The Spirit of ’76, linking it directly to the centennial year and Revolutionary-era symbolism. Its popularity helped turn the image into a familiar representation of American patriotism.
The painting is sometimes confused with Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware, another famous nineteenth-century Revolutionary subject. They are separate works by different artists, and Willard’s painting focuses on marching musicians rather than Washington’s river crossing.