INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS
EXPORATIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
We are pleased that you will be bringing your students to the Huntington’s Library
program, “Explorations in American History”. Designed to complement the 5th, 8th,
and 11th grade American history curriculum, this program focuses on primary source
materials and artwork that document important events in our nation’s past. Your
students will receive a guided tour with docents, who will engage your students in a
discussion about Freedom’s in American history and will visit both the Library and
Scott Galleryof American Art.
PREPARATION: To prepare your students for their visit to the Huntington, attached
is teacher information on both the Library and Scott Galleries, which include main
messages, student learning outcomes, vocabulary, and class room activities.
PROCEDURE: The tour will take approximately one and a half hours. You will be
met at your bus by a staff member who will give you instructions for the morning.
Please have each student wear a name tag, so the docents may address each one
personally.
We sincerely hope that this program will meet your objectives, and that it will be both
fun and educational for your students.
If you have any questions please call the Education Department at 626-405-2127.
EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
SCHOOL TOUR PROGRAM
“THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM IN AMERICA”
LIBRARY COMPONENT
TEACHER INFORMANTION
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Letter to Lord Denman,
January 20, 1853
Slave Auction in Richmond , VA, 1865, and
Cover of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
John B. Thrasher, Slavery a Divine Institution, Speech,
November 5, 1861
Main Messages
Freedom does not develop in a straight line—there are advances and retreats and
only by continuing efforts can it be advanced.
There are many ways to contribute to the growth of freedom.
Gallery Lesson Summary
The lesson focuses on opposite views of slavery and the differing techniques—
emotional vs. ―logical‖ (supported by reasons)—used to win people to one side of the
argument. Students are asked to summarize pro- and anti-slavery arguments based on
their knowledge of history and logical thinking. Students are also asked to consider
which approach they personally find more effective and to assess whether or not that
preference proved true in this case.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will understand the reasons people supported and opposed slavery.
Students will understand the many ways people try to make changes in society.
Vocabulary
Abolition-a movement that worked for the end of slavery
wrath-very great anger
oppressed-kept down unfairly (in society)
reviled–used abusive language
serial (publications)–stories published one part at a time
Content Standards
Grade 5
5.4.6-Describe…the responses of slave families to their condition, the ongoing struggle
between proponents and opponents of slavery, and the gradual institutionalization of
slavery in the South.
Grade 8
8.7.2-Trace the origins and development of slavery; its effects on black Americans and
on the [South’s] political, social, religious, economic, and cultural development; and
identify the strategies that that were tried to both overturn and preserve it…
8.7.3-Examine the characteristics of white Southern society…
8.9-This major Standard deals with abolition, though not the specifics of these two
documents.
Grade 11
11.3.1-Discuss the contributions of various religious groups to American civic principles
and social reform movements (e.g., civil and human rights…).
Classroom Follow-up Activities
Select a topic from your curriculum and have the students (individually, in pairs, or in
small groups depending on skill level) write two persuasive letters or speeches—one
based on logic, one based on emotion. Students in another class can read them
and tally which type of paper is more effective.
Have the students create a list of pro- and anti-slavery arguments that includes the
arguments mentioned on the tour and others that they research.
Have the students research instances of slavery today, then write a letter to a
government official asking for appropriate action. Older students can research
positions of those officials and use the type of argument most likely to succeed.
Resources
Ammons and Belasco, Approaches to Teaching Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin,
ISBN 0-87352-755-0
While primarily aimed at how to teach the novel to college students, there
is one essay on teaching to secondary students as well as extensive
resource lists.
Hedrick, Joan, Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life
This is widely considered the best biography of Stowe.
Olmstead, Frederick Law, The Slave States before the Civil War
Olmstead, more noted today for his landscape work including the design
for New York’s Central Park, was also known by his contemporaries as an
anti-slavery journalist. This condensation of three volumes he wrote
detailing his travels through the Ante-Bellum South is full of thoughtful
commentary and interviews offering multiple perspectives on slavery. The
final section includes a cost-benefit analysis of slavery, showing its
economic inefficiency.
Rosenthal, Debra J., A Routledge Literary Sourcebook on Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 0-415-23473-5
The book contains not only critical essays on Uncle Tom’s Cabin but also
summaries and excerpts from the book; these would make the novel more
accessible for fifth and eighth grade students. There is also a resource list
that includes and recommended websites.
THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Main Messages
The Constitution is an organic document of principles allowing for its own selfcorrection through court cases and legislation over time.
The Bill of Rights guarantees individual rights and immunities under the law.
Throughout history Americans have fought to make sure these rights and immunities
would be observed in practice.
Gallery lesson summary
The Bill of Rights of 1789 guaranteed important individual liberties and immunities.
These first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, including freedom of religion, speech,
assembly, and the rights of the accused in the criminal justice system made the United
States the only democracy in the world with individual rights and immunities
enumerated in Constitutional law. Nevertheless, throughout history people have fought
to make sure these rights and immunities have been observed in practice.
Student learning outcomes
To understand the reasons for adding a Bill of Rights to the Constitution
To understand the concept of individual civil rights and immunities
To understand the importance of the Bill of Rights to individual freedom and civil
liberty today
Vocabulary
Amendment
formal revision of, addition to, or change
Black Codes
a series of statutes passed by the ex-Confederate states, 1865–66, dealing with the
status of the newly freed slaves. Although the codes granted certain basic civil rights to
blacks (the right to marry, to own personal property, and to sue in court), they also
provided for the segregation of public facilities and placed severe restrictions on the
freedman's status as a free laborer, his right to own real estate, and his right to testify in
court
disenfranchisement
disfranchisement is the revocation of, or failure to grant, the right of suffrage (the right
to vote) to a person or group of people. Disfranchisement may occur explicitly through
law, or implicitly through means such as intimidation.
Emancipation Proclamation
President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring
"that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward
shall be free.‖ It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery
untouched in the loyal Border States.
literacy test
literacy tests were implemented in the South after the 15th Amendment passed.
Although the amendment forbade any state from barring males from voting on the basis
of race, it did not prevent the implementation of other qualifications for voting, such as
the "literacy tests," which were virtually impossible to pass.
poll tax
a tax formerly required for voting in parts of the US that was often designed to
disenfranchise African Americans or Native Americans
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Act outlawed the requirement that would-be voters in the United States take
literacy tests to qualify to register to vote, and it provided for federal registration of
voters -- instead of state or local voter registration which had often been denied to
minorities and poor voters -- in areas that had less than 50% of eligible minority voters
registered.
Content Standards
Grade Five
5.7.1 List the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation as set forth by their critics.
5.7.2 Explain the significance of the new Constitution of 1787, including the struggles
over its ratification and the reasons for the addition of the Bill of Rights.
5.7.3 Understand the fundamental principles of American constitutional democracy,
including how the government derives its power from the people and the primacy of
individual liberty.
5.7.4 Understand how the Constitution is designed to secure our liberty by both
empowering and limiting central government and compare the powers granted to
citizens, Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court with those reserved to the
states.
5.7.5 Discuss the meaning of the American creed that calls on citizens to safeguard the
liberty of individual Americans within a unified nation, to respect the rule of law, and to
preserve the Constitution.
Grade Eight
8.1.1 Analyze the philosophy of government expressed in the Declaration of
Independence, with an emphasis on government as a means of securing individual
rights (e.g., key phrases such as "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights").
8.2.1 Discuss the significance of the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and the
Mayflower Compact.
8.2.3 Evaluate the major debates that occurred during the development of the
Constitution and their ultimate resolutions in such areas as shared power among
institutions, divided state-federal power, slavery, the rights of individuals and states
(later addressed by the addition of the Bill of Rights), and the status of American Indian
nations under the commerce clause.
8.2.4 Describe the political philosophy underpinning the Constitution as specified in the
Federalist Papers (authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay)
and the role of such leaders as Madison, George Washington, Roger Sherman,
Gouverneur Morris, and James Wilson in the writing and ratification of the Constitution.
8.2.5 Understand the significance of Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom as a
forerunner of the First Amendment and the origins, purpose, and differing views of the
founding fathers on the issue of the separation of church and state.
8.2.6 Enumerate the powers of government set forth in the Constitution and the
fundamental liberties ensured by the Bill of Rights.
8.2.7.Describe the principles of federalism, dual sovereignty, separation of powers,
checks and balances, the nature and purpose of majority rule, and the ways in which
the American idea of constitutionalism preserves individual rights.
8.3.7 Understand the functions and responsibilities of a free press.
Grade Eleven
11.1.1 Describe the Enlightenment and the rise of democratic ideas as the context in
which the nation was founded.
11.1.2 Analyze the ideological origins of the American Revolution, the Founding
Fathers' philosophy of divinely bestowed unalienable natural rights, the debates on the
drafting and ratification of the Constitution, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.
11.1.3 Understand the history of the Constitution after 1787 with emphasis on federal
versus state authority and growing democratization.
Classroom Follow-Up Activities
Create a colonial newspaper exposing abuses of civil liberties during colonial times
Have students form groups and brainstorm possible abuses against individual rights
that might occur today. (e.g. Search and seizure without a warrant; arrest without a
warrant).
Have students prepare an illustrated ―Bill of Rights‖ depicting infringements of the
individual liberties. This could take the form of a mural, 10 individual broadsides, or
individual books.
Have students write an essay giving reasons why the Constitution needed to be
amended with a Bill of Rights.
Have students write an essay on the importance of civil liberties in a democracy.
Research Amendments 11-27
Research the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Have students study the copy of the Bill of Rights on display at the Huntington, and
copy down the first two amendments of the original draft of the document. Have
them research the First Congress and the Bill of Rights to discover the final edition
of the first ten amendments, and explain what became of the ―original‖ first and
second amendments to the Constitution.
Recommended Resources
Books:
Amar, Akhil Reed. The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction. New Haven and
London: Yale University Press, 1998.
Hentoff, Nat. Living the Bill of Rights. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.
Levy, Leonard W. Origins of the Bill of Rights. New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 1999.
Schwartz, Bernard. The Great Rights of Mankind: A History of the American Bill of
Rights. Madison, Wisconsin: Madison House, 1992.
Web Sites:
The Bill of Rights Institute
http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/
The Center for Civic Education
http://www.civiced.org/
The Constitutional Rights Foundation
http://www.crf-usa.org/information.html
U.S. National Archives and Record Administration
http://www.archives.gov/index.html
The First Vote
Main Messages
The Constitution is an organic document of principles allowing for its own self
correction through court cases and legislation over time.
Constitutional provisions, freedoms enumerated in the Bill of Rights, and the later
amendments can never be taken for granted and require constant vigilance.
The Reconstruction period was a complex period of adjustment.
Gallery lesson summary
In spite of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, it was clear after the Civil War that
the promises of freedom enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Northwest Ordinance, had not been fulfilled. This
was especially true for African Americans, who had suffered under slavery. With the
passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments in the years immediately following the
Civil War, the country finally made good on its 150 year old promise that ―all men were
created equal.‖ Finally, male ex-slaves were explicitly guaranteed the freedoms that all
other adult males enjoyed under the Bill of Rights. The 13 th Amendment of 1865 made
prohibited involuntary servitude, the 14th gave equal protection under the laws, and the
15th gave the vote to all men, ―regardless of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude.‖ However, even with these post- Civil War amendments in place, black codes
and Jim Crow laws would nullify these guarantees when the Union troops withdrew from
the South in 1877. In fact, it would take another 100 years, and the passage of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, to enforce these amendments under the full protection of the
law.
Student learning outcomes
To understand the reasons for adding the 13th, 14 th, and 15th Amendments to the
Constitution
To understand the provisions of the 15th Amendment
To understand the century-long struggle to enforce the 15th amendment
To understand how broadsides and magazines provided commentary on political
issues
Vocabulary
amendment
arbitrary power
civil liberties
grand jury
indictment
Miranda Rights
warrant
formal revision of, addition to, or change
power used without considering other’s rights and existing laws
freedom from unjust government control or interference
a jury of 12 to 23 persons formed to evaluate accusations against
persons charged with a crime and to determine whether or not a
―bill of indictment‖ is necessary
a written statement charging someone with committing an offense,
drawn up by a prosecuting attorney and handed to a grand jury
right against self incrimination and right to counsel
a judicial order authorizing an officer to make a search, seizure or
arrest
11.10.6 Analyze the passage and effects of civil rights and voting rights legislation (e.g.,
1964 Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965) and the Twenty-Fourth Amendment,
with an emphasis on equality of access to education and to the political process.
Content Standards
Grade Eight
8.11.1 List the original aims of Reconstruction and describe its effects on the political
and social structures of different regions.
8.11.2 Understand the effects of the Freedmen's Bureau and the restrictions placed on
the rights and opportunities of freedmen, including racial segregation and "Jim Crow"
laws.
8.11.3 Trace the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and describe the Klan's effects.
8.11.4 Trace the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and describe the Klan’s effects.
8.11.5 Understand the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the
Constitution and analyze their connection to Reconstruction.
Grade Eleven
11.5.2 Analyze the international and domestic events, interests, and philosophies that
prompted attacks on civil liberties, including the Palmer Raids, Marcus Garvey’s ―backto-Africa‖ movement, the Ku Klux Klan, and immigration quotas and the responses of
organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti-Defamation League to those attacks.
11.10.1 Explain how demands of African Americans helped produce a stimulus for civil
rights, including President Roosevelt's ban on racial discrimination in defense industries
in 1941, and how African Americans' service in World War II produced a stimulus for
President Truman's decision to end segregation in the armed forces in 1948.
11.10.2 Examine and analyze the key events, policies, and court cases in the evolution
of civil rights, including Dred Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of
Education, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, and California Proposition
209.
11.10.3 Describe the collaboration on legal strategy between African American and
white civil rights lawyers to end racial segregation in higher education.
11.10.4 Examine the roles of civil rights advocates (e.g., A. Philip Randolph, Martin
Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall, James Farmer, Rosa Parks), including
the significance of Martin Luther King, Jr. 's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and "I Have a
Dream" speech.
Classroom Follow-Up Activities
Have students create woodcuts or magazine covers exposing tactics used to
disenfranchise African Americans between 1865-1965 such as literacy tests, poll
taxes, and residency requirements.
Have student take the role of a Northern or Southern journalist (black or white), who
has observed a Southern election during Reconstruction. Have them write an article
about African Americans exercising their right to vote.
Have students research other illustrations and articles in Harper’s Weekly that focus
on Reconstruction and Civil Rights for African Americans.
Have students research the history of black disenfranchisement between 1865-1965
Have students research the historical background to the 15 th Amendment
Have students research the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Have students research disenfranchisement in other countries
Resources
Books:
Eric Foner, (2005). Forever Free :The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction Eric
Eric Foner, (2002). Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877
Eric Foner, (1990). A Short History of Reconstruction
Richard M. Valelly, (2004). The Two Reconstruction : The Struggle for Black
Enfranchisement
John Hope Franklin, (2000). From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans
(2 Vols. in 1) (American Politics and Political Economy Series)
Websites:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/vote/paperballots.html
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/15thamendment.html
http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/pds/africanamer/freedom/text5/text5read.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/intro/intro_b.htm
http://www.core-online.org/history/voting_rights.htm
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=100
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/statutes/voting_rights_1965.htm
http://www.historicaldocuments.com/VotingRightsActof1965.htm
Two photographs of Chiricahua Indian students at Carlisle
Indian Industrial School, 1887
Main Message
Throughout American history there have been (and continue to be) people in the
world who have limited control over their own lives for economic or social reasons so
the fight for freedom has continued.
Gallery Lesson Summary
The lesson focuses on an effort to integrate a group that had been left out of early
efforts to ensure democracy for people in the United States. Students are asked to
evaluate the likelihood that the effort would be successful.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will understand the reasons that people would want to change the culture
of other groups in society.
Students will understand that the struggle for equality for all people in America has
been long-lasting.
Vocabulary
assimilation-the process of becoming similar; in this case, to accept and fit into
the culture of the larger U.S. society
shorncut off or deprived
Content Standards
Grade 5-Discuss…the factors that led to the Indians’ defeat, including…
encroachments and assimilation.
Grade 8
8.12.2-Identify the reasons for the development of federal Indian policy…
Grade 11
11.2.9-Understand the effect of political programs and the activities of the
Progressives…
Classroom Follow-up Activities
Point out that the label information for the Carlisle School photos refers to the
students being ―shorn‖ of their traditional way of life. Ask why that word is
particularly appropriate in this label. [Their hair was shorn.]
Henry Ward Beecher, the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe whose letter is also part
of this tour, had said in another context, ―The common schools are the stomachs of
the country in which all people that come to us are assimilated within a generation.‖
Have the students offer interpretations of that quote and discuss whether or not they
believe public schools still function in that way.
Classroom Follow-up Activities Related to the Overall Theme of Freedom
Discuss the questions posed to the students as they moved between galleries—―Is
having freedom the same as having power? Can you have one without the other?‖
Have the students create a timeline covering the period 1780-1910; include all of the
documents and art on the tour. Discuss what groups were affected by the efforts to
win freedom at that time.
Have the students organize an effort to make a change at school or in their
community. Ask them to plan it carefully, starting with a list of tactics and defending
their choices. Younger students could lobby to change something more personal—
bedtime, for example.
Have the students respond to this question—What freedoms do you think people
will be fighting for in the future and how might they best achieve their goals?
Resources
Pratt, Richard Henry, Battlefield and Classroom: Four Decades with the
American Indian, 1867-1904, 0806136030
This is a reprint of the memoirs of the founder of the Carlisle Indian School
with added comments.
Waldman, Carl, Atlas of the North American Indian, 0-87196-850-9
Waldman’s book has an excellent review of the U.S. government’s
changing policies regarding Indians.
One of Richard Henry Pratt’s major speeches can be found at:
http://socrates.bmcc.cuny.edu/bfriedheim/pratt.htm
EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
SCHOOL TOUR PROGRAM
“THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM IN AMERICA”
SCOTT GALLERY COMPONENT
TEACHER INFORMATION
Artworks
(After) Charles Willson Peale (American, 1741-1827), George Washington, after
1779
George Caleb Bingham (American, 1811-1879), In a Quandary, or Mississippi
Raftsmen at Cards, 1851
Nancy ―Anne‖ Moulton, Needlework Sampler, 1796
Mary Cassatt (American, 1844-1926), Breakfast in Bed, ca.1984
Main messages
Art reflects issues of time, place, and culture in selected artworks.
The elements of art (color, shape, value, etc.) and principles of design (balance,
harmony, etc.) contribute to an artwork’s meaning.
By looking closely at images created at key points in America’s history, we can learn
how individual artists responded to changes in society related to freedom.
Vocabulary
Asymmetry – Intentionally unbalanced parts on opposite sides of a perceived
boundary.
Background – The part of the picture that appears to be farthest from the
viewer.
Border – An outside shape that frames other elements.
Color – The visual connections dependent on the reflection or absorption of light
from a given surface.
Cool Colors – Colors suggesting coolness; blue, green, and violet.
Warm Colors – Colors suggesting warmth; red, yellow, and orange.
Contrast – The difference between two or more elements in a composition;
juxtaposition of dissimilar elements in a work of art.
Floral – Resembling flowers.
Foreground – Part of a two-dimensional artwork appearing to be nearer to the
viewer or in the front.
Harmony – The design principle that combines elements in a work of art to
emphasize the similarities of separate but related parts.
Mood – The state of mind of feeling communicated in a work of art.
Needlework – Working with a needle.
Pastoral – Reflecting the simplicity and charm of country life.
Portrait - A formal painting of a person.
Pose - A bodily attitude or position, especially one assumed for an artist.
Sampler – A piece of cloth embroidered to reflect various stitches that show off
the skill of the maker in needlework.
Sculpture – A three dimensional artwork.
Shape – A two-dimensional area that may be open or closed, free form or
geometric, found in nature or made by humans.
Symmetry – A balance of parts on opposite sides of a perceived midline.
Texture – The surface quality of materials, either actual (tactile) or implied
(visual).
Unity – A sense of wholeness accomplished when all of the elements of art work
well together.
Value – Lightness and darkness of a hue or neutral color.
Visual and Performing Arts Standards
5th grade
1.1 Identify and describe the principles of design in visual composition, emphasizing
unity and harmony.
3.3 Identify and compare works of art from various regions of the United States.
4.1 Identify how selected principles of design are used in a work of art and how they
affect personal responses to and evaluation of the work of art.
8th grade
1.1 Use artistic terms when describing the intent and content of works of art.
3.1 Examine and describe or report on the role of a work of art created to make a social
comment or protest social conditions.
4.5 Present a reasoned argument about the artistic value of a work of art and respond
to the arguments put forward by others within a classroom setting.
9th – 12th grade
1.3 Proficient: Research and analyze the work of an artist and write about the artist’s
distinctive style and its contribution to the meaning of the work.
3.1 Proficient: Identify similarities and differences in the purposes of art created in
selected cultures.
3.3 Proficient: Identify and describe trends in the visual arts and discuss how the issues
of time, place, and cultural influence are reflected in selected works of art.
History-Social Science Content Standards
5th grade
5.6, #1. Identify and map the major military battles, campaigns, and turning points of the
Revolutionary War…
5.8 #2. Name the states and territories that existed in 1850 and identify their
locations…
th
8 grade
8.6 #7. Identify common themes in American art…
8.9, #5 Analyze the significance of the…Compromise of 1850.
8.10, #7. Explain how the war affected combatants, civilians, the physical
environment…
11th grade
11.1, #4. Examine the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction…
11.2, #2. Describe the changing landscape, including the growth of cities linked by
industry and trade, and the development of cities divided according to race, ethnicity,
and class.
Classroom Follow-up Activities
Getting the message out
In the library, we saw/will see that people sometimes publish documents or
books to help them spread their ideas about freedom. How do you think artists
got their messages out to other people?
1. (After) Charles Willson Peale (American, 1741-1827), George Washington, after
1779
Ask students where they think a painting this large painting would have
hung. In someone’s home? No, it was probably too big. In a museum? No,
there weren’t any in the U.S. yet. What about a public building? Ask students to
name public buildings that they have visited or know about.
This original painting hung in the chambers of the Supreme Executive Council in
Pennsylvania. The Supreme Executive Council in PA was comparable to a
governor’s office today. In fact, the State Capital in Sacramento has a portrait of
George Washington hanging in the chambers where the California Senate
meets.
Many people who weren’t in the government also saw this image. Ask students
how they would share an important message with others at their school.
Their answers (email, blog, MySpace, make handouts and photocopy them, put
posters up) will probably involve reproduction.
Point out that this painting’s attribution includes the phrase “(After).‖
Explain that ―After‖ means that someone made a copy of Peale’s original
painting. Peale didn’t have a photocopier or email, and so he painted at least
eighteen other artworks that looked like this one by hand. Some of the copies he
made were sold to kings and queens in other countries. And those buyers liked
the painting so much that they had their artists make copies of it. We think that a
French painter copied the original Peale painting, in France.
Art Activity: Your own copy. Sketch a copy of this painting. Then, make another
copy but substitute George Washington with another leader, either from history
or from your lifetime. Be sure to switch out the details in the background so that
they act as clues to this person’s identity.
2. George Caleb Bingham (American, 1811-1879), In a Quandary, or Mississippi
Raftsmen at Cards, 1851
Ask students how one single image can reach many people today.
Engravings of Bingham’s artwork reached many eyes through his involvement
with an organization called the American Art-Union. Members received
admission to a biannual art exhibitions and a copy of ―The Bulletin,‖ which
featured reproductions of works by American Artists. Tell students that almost
ten thousand members saw reproductions of Bingham’s paintings through the
Art-Union.
Many of Bingham’s viewers hadn’t been to the West to see for themselves what
it was like. So they relied on pictures of the West to form their opinions. Make a
comparison. Have they seen images on TV that advertise a place and then
found it to be a different experience in real life than what they expected?
Disneyland, or even McDonalds?
Writing Exercise: Persuasion. Looking at Bingham’s picture of life in the West,
did he successfully make you believe that life was harmonious? Write a
paragraph explaining why or why not. Be sure to mention details that you see in
the painting that persuaded you – or made you disbelieve him.
Art Activity: Asymmetrical balance. Sketch a copy of this painting. Then, cut out
the figures and other elements of the painting and rearrange them on a piece of
construction paper. Make the new composition asymmetrically balanced. How
does that change the meaning of Bingham’s artwork?
3. Read the following three quotes about how women like Nancy ―Anne‖ Mouton were
valued for their accomplishments. Have a group discussion or write a short essay on
which quote you agree with the most and why.
―Tell me how you improve in your work. Needlework is the most important branch of
a female education, and tell me how you improved in holding your head and
shoulders making a curtsy, in going out or coming into a room, in giving and
receiving, holding your knife and fork…These things contribute so much to a good
appearance that they are of great consequence.‖
– Mrs. Shippen (Nancy Shippen Her Journal Book, ed. Ethel Armes. Philadelphia,
PA 1935, pp. 39-40).
―How are you occupied? Write me a letter…and answer me all these
questions…How many pages a day you read in Don Quixot? How far are you
advanced in him? Whether you repeat a Grammar lesson every day? What else you
read? How many hours a day you sew? Whether you have an opportunity of
continuing your music? Whether you know how to make a pudding yet, to cut out a
beef stake, to sow spinach or to set a hen?...‖
- Mr. Jefferson in a letter to his daughter. (The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson,
ed. Edwin Morris Betts and James Adam Bear Jr., Columbia, MI 1966, p.35).
―The few advantages hitherto enjoyed by our sex, with response to learning, have
been in general misapplied; and their attention mostly directed to the acquisition of
…accomplishments, better adapted to fascinate and please others, than to
contribute to
their own substantial happiness. The…world has…brought about a
reformation…and being convinced, that women, with such an education are not
prepared to fill the responsibility of the character of wives and mothers, the other sex
have…allowed us almost equal advantages with themselves. Women are now
prepared to educate their children..make the enlightened as statesmen.‖
- A young lady at her school’s public examination in 1822. School Exercises of the
Lafayette Female Academy, (Lexington KT, 1826, pp. 44-45).
4. Mary Cassatt (American, 1844-1926), Breakfast in Bed, ca. 1894
Mary Cassatt was born in America, but spent most of her adult life in Paris,
where she was associated with the French Impressionist artists. This group of
artists liked to present snapshots of daily life. Cassatt painted an isolated
moment, when a child ate breakfast in bed.
Writing Exercise: What happens next? Develop a story based on the details in
the painting, noting what is seen. Write about what happens next.
Art Discussion: Color. Colors are influenced by the presence of light. In Cassatt’s
painting, light falls on the sheets and causes highlights and shadows, which she
indicated in a number of colors. Identify the many colors in the white sheets.
Then study a form in nature, a tree for example, and identify the variety of
greens created by direct light and shadow.
Hidden Political Messages
Art can sometimes convey political messages. Use this information to extend the
lesson in the classroom.
George Caleb Bingham took an active interest in state politics, culminating with an
unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Missouri legislature in 1846. He was a member of the
Whig party at a time when Whigs wanted the new western territories to trade goods and
services with the east so that the whole country could be financially strong. This is, after
all, an image of trade: note the boxes of cargo.
Contemporary Comments on Freedom
Artists and musicians today continue to make statements about freedom.
Students could research and present to their classmates 20th-century artists
whose work is political in nature. Some good ones to start with include:
o Käthe Kollwitz
o Diego Rivera
o Betye Sarr
o Ben Shahn
o http://www.pbs.org/art21/education/war/lesson1.html
Graphic Arts in the 20th century were employed to persuade the general public
towards a particular viewpoint. Students could research & present:
o Political Posters, World War I & II
http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/amposter.htm
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/prop/home_front/
http://www.teacheroz.com/WWIIpropaganda.htm
o Contemporary Political Posters
http://www.politicalgraphics.org/home.html
Robbie Conal
Resources
History Channel program on The American Revolution
http://www.historychannel.com/classroom/classroom.html
Discovery Channel program on portraits of Washington:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050131/washington.html