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Political activities
The Ogińskis actively participated in the political life of the state. The website accords most attention to documents of the late 18th – early 19th century that concern fateful moments of state life. The earliest documents tell about reforms for the strengthening of the state proposed by Trakai Castellan Tadeusz Ogiński, the fighting on the side of the Bar Confederation by the Grand Hetman of Lithuania Michał Kazimierz Ogiński. Other documents deal with the political career of Michał Kleofas Ogiński: the representation of the nobles of the Trakai Voivodeship in the Warsaw Sejm, the Consitution of May 3 and speeches for the independence of the state. At the time of the Uprising of 1794, Michał Kleofas Ogiński joined the ranks of the insurgents, so the largest group of documents in this chapter concerns the uprising and its leaders, Tadeusz Kościuszko and Jakub Jasiński. Among the showcased documents are the portraits of the latter; images of the headquarters of the Supreme National Council in Vilnius, the Slushko Palace, in the photographs of Jan Brunon Bułhak and Józef Czechowicz; the texts of the oath to confederation, the appeal to support the uprising, and of the townsmen’s oath; the newspaper and the circular of the uprising etc. Here, the visitor will also find information on the draft of the Constitution of the GDL prepared by Michał Kleofas Ogiński and its dissemination in the country. The chronological range of the documents encompasses 1762–1915.
