How American Was Colonial Art? To What Extent Does It Illustrate the Developement Cousre Hero

Independence (Squire Jack Porter), 1858, Frank Blackwell Meyer

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The end of the Revolution and the dawn of the nineteenth century brought much societal change in America. Out was the time of the aristocratic admirer and in was the self-made human being; i who did not inherit his fortune, but toiled the earth and reaped the benefits of independence fought for in the previous decades. Americans of this era were beginning to create their ain identity, leaving the trappings and traditions of Europe behind. Daniel La Motte echoes these old world trappings in the formality of his portrait and formal dress, whereas Squire Jack embodies the Jacksonian-era "mutual human being," casually posing on his forepart porch surveying his country, corn-cob pipe in hand.

Having re-asserted the new nation's sense of independence after battling the British a 2d time in the War of 1812, the election in 1828 of Andrew Jackson indicated a shift towards more democratic ideals.  While previous presidents rose to political prominence through family unit background, landed wealth in the original 13 colonies, and education, Jackson'southward apprehensive background and Tennessee roots made his rise to the presidency a powerful metaphor for the self-reliance of the "common man."  During the Jacksonian Era, white men who did not own land gained the correct to vote, and therefore more political power.  Economically, American reliance on international trade with Europe began wane, in favor of the growth of industry and agriculture at home.

Activity: Observe and Interpret

Artists brand choices in communicating ideas. Both Thomas Sully'due south portrait, Daniel La Motte, and Frank Blackwell Mayer's Independence, Squire Jack Porter illustrate the sitter'south relationship to the state. How do the artists convey this connexion? The portraits call back a fourth dimension in United States history when the idea of republic was shifting. Growth, expansion, and social modify pushed the American population westward, and a greater level of equality arose in the western states than there had been in the eastern colonies. The definition of democracy began to change, as western states led the manner by not having property requirements for voting.  Recall near how the definition of republic has inverse over fourth dimension. How do these paintings illustrate that? In the context of the era of the " Common Man " that the election of President Andrew Jackson represented – how might comparing and contrasting these ii portraits illustrate this change?

Observation: What practice you see?

What does the landscape behind Daniel La Motte suggest well-nigh the man in the portrait?

The casual elegance of the sitter reflects Sully'south shut study of eighteenth-century British portrait traditions in which aristocratic men and women were posed before landscape vistas, suggestive of their vast estates. The man in the portrait, Daniel La Motte, was a Baltimore merchant whose land holdings were all-encompassing. Seen through the open window is his extensive property. A river is seen stretching far into the deeply shaded horizon.

What does his attire tell us about his social grade and economic status?

Seated in a chair, Daniel La Motte is dressed in a fashionable sage green coat, white waistcoat, and ruffled shirt tied with an elaborate neckcloth. A rose-colored curtain flutters behind him. Portrayed as a gentleman, he benefits from land ownership but appears far removed from its day-to-day maintenance. LaMotte'southward introspective gaze and posture indicate a superior social position as well as education. Sully's careful pick of pose, backdrop, and costume create the impression of aristocratic wealth and birth.

How does the portrayal of Squire Jack Porter differ from that of Daniel La Motte?

Whereas Daniel LaMotte is portrayed as a gentleman in the European manner and as lord of his estates, Squire Jack Porter in his very informal pose, is shown every bit a man integrally united with his land. Smoking a corncob piping, he gazes intently into the distance, his anxiety propped up on a rough-hewn wooden railing. His broad-brimmed straw hat, worn to shield him from the lord's day, lies beneath the bench. Hullo rugged features and casual pose share an affinity with the mountain range seen through the railing. He wears the breeches of a working man, a farmer'due south tunic, and vest. A ball of yarn and knitting needles on the window sill suggest the presence of a adult female—perhaps Squire Jack Porter's wife or daughter—who share his life on the estate.

Mayer's painting shows a self-made man. Porter relaxes while gazing out over the country that he has turned into a profitable farm. His tanned face up and gnarled easily demonstrate difficult labor in a manner that La Motte's fragile complexion and calculated pose practice non. Everything in the painting—house, bench, clothes, and pipe—has a quality that speaks of the squire's self-sufficient approach to life and the land. Independence is an affidavit both of Thomas Jefferson 's ideal of an agrarian republic and Jackson's policies that made it easier for the lower and middle classes to obtain country.

Interpretation: What does it mean?

Having re-asserted the new nation's sense of independence after battling the British a 2nd time in the War of 1812, the ballot in 1828 of President Andrew Jackson indicated a shift towards more autonomous ideals. While the previous six presidents rose to political prominence through family unit background, landed wealth in the original thirteen colonies, and education, Jackson'due south humble background and Tennessee roots made his rise to the presidency a powerful metaphor for the cocky-reliance of the "common man," or cocky-fabricated man. During the Jacksonian Era , white men who did not own land gained the right to vote, and therefore more political power. Economically, American reliance on international trade with Europe began wane, in favor of the growth of industry and agriculture at home. This duality between the aristocrat and the common man tin be seen through the advisedly composed portraits of Daniel La Motte and Squire Jack Porter.

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Historical Background

Federalism to Jacksonian Republic

Independence from Britain caused leaders of the American Revolution to face the problem of establishing a national government while at the same time maintaining the rights of u.s.. A national government based on a loose marriage of states was formed nether the Articles of Confederation , only debt and regional factionalism threatened to deliquesce it. The Great Compromise of 1787 balanced the interests of the states with large populations and those with small ones by dividing a new national legislature into two bodies or houses. In this arrangement, the lower house was to correspond the states according to population; in the upper business firm, the senate, all the states were represented as, though senators were not to be straight elected past the people in the program. A " federalist party" favored a strong central government drafted in a proposed new "constitution." The anti-federalists, fearing that a president or main executive might become an oppressive dictator, or king, opposed the adoption of the constitution without guarantees that personal liberties would be protected. Later a convention and careful drafting of the constitution, a questionable political strategy on the function of the Federalists led to the ratification of the document by each of the original xiii colonies by 1790.

Federalists and non-Federalists, most of whom were among the nation'due south economic aristocracy, believed that wealthy, well-educated men should govern. The nation's kickoff two presidents, George Washington and John Adams , supported the buying of state as a prerequisite to vote, equally did Thomas Jefferson and James Madison . Land was a major economic resource. Information technology was the determiner of social status and source of political ability. It created almost American fortunes in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, provided the basis for American economical development, and fueled public and private business transactions. Men like Daniel La Motte (in the portrait Daniel La Motte) would take been an ideal candidate for the part of governing the new nation. Equally a member of the economical elite, La Motte was a merchant based in Baltimore, and later in Philadelphia. He was related by marriage to the DuPont family, ane of the richest families in nineteenth century America and lead manufacturers of gun powder in the state. La Motte's portrait by famed English portrait painter Thomas Sully is emblematic of this elite economic class. Dressed in gentleman's attire, he is positioned in front of a window overlooking his vast land holdings – a visible and tangible symbol of his wealth.

With the inauguration of Jefferson in 1800, the Democratic-Republican Party came to ability. In his inaugural address, Jefferson vowed to promote the "equal and exact treatment of all men." Jefferson opposed the proliferation and growth of cities and instead promoted the ideal of a peaceful agrarian nation governed through local assemblies. This view differed from the Federalist Political party ideal of a regime dominated past a wealthy elite.

Even so, the shift from Federalism to Autonomous-Republicanism did not provide as large of a change as some likely hoped. Belongings owners with formal instruction and feel in managing estates were still idea to be the best qualified people to govern the new nation during Jefferson'due south administration. Women, African Americans, Native Americans, and about tenant farmers were unable to vote or participate in regime. By the early 1800s farmland became scarce and expensive, preventing many settlers from acquiring land and the right to vote. The regime of the new nation remained in the control of an elite of wealthy and well-educated men through the assistants of John Quincy Adams .

Jacksonian Commonwealth and the Mutual Homo

The 1820s brought with it a radical change in the political atmosphere. The shift to a Jacksonian Democracy began after a long and backbreaking presidential entrada, when Andrew Jackson defeated the incumbent John Quincy Adams in the ballot of 1828. Jackson ran as the champion of the mutual homo and as a state of war hero. He was the hero of the Battle of New Orleans of 1815, which was one of the few state victories of the War of 1812 and was actually fought after the peace treaty was signed. Equally a native of Kentucky, Jackson was the first president to come from the frontier, exterior the traditional centers of political ability — Virginia and New England. Although Jackson represented the aspirations of the eye and lower classes, he was able to concenter voters from all social sectors. Jackson felt that hardworking, motivated men should be allowed to attain the aforementioned degree of financial and political success every bit those who inherited wealth. By the belatedly 1820s, almost all states had ended the holding requirements for voting for white males. Increased literacy and effective political advertising were as well of import factors in the election'southward outcome. Equally a result, the number of voters participating in 1828 doubled from the election of 1824.

Jacksonian Democrats believed that industrialization was essential to the progression of American industry – a far weep from Jeffersonian Democrats similar Daniel La Motte who feared the consequences of industrialization and believed that the chosen course was the yeoman farmer, non the planter or common laborer. The portrait of Squire Jack Porter embodies an independent and enduring spirit that, by the 1850s, had become an American ideal: an image emblematic of Jacksonian Republic's self-fabricated, " Common Man " which was celebrated by painters and writers akin. Squire Jack Porter was one of the pioneer settlers of Alleghany County, Maryland. Following his service as a helm during the War of 1812, Porter and his family settled on a farm outside of Eckhart, Maryland called "Rose Meadows," named for its profusion of wild roses. Porter made his living opening up coal mines on his property – the first mines opened for domestic utilize in Allegany County.

Porter's dwelling was known for its hospitality, having been known to e'er "keep a plate for the stranger." It was at Rose Meadows in the early on 1850s that historic Baltimore artist Frank Blackwell Mayer painted this portrait of Squire Jack Porter. Mayer aptly evokes Porter's leisure years, financial well-existence, and strength of character. 70-five years old at the time, Porter is depicted lounging on the porch of his farmhouse. As described past the artist, the painting shows Porter "on the porch of his stone cottage farm house in his shirt sleeves, smoking a corn-cob pipage, 1 human foot comfortably resting upon the balustrade of the veranda, the other on the floor of the porch. . . looking out over his farm, his countenance depicting satisfaction, condolement and independence." Everything in the painting—house, bench, clothes, and pipe—has a quality that speaks of the squire's cocky-sufficient approach to life and the land. Independence is an affirmation both of Jefferson's ideal of an agrestal nation and Jackson's policies that made it easier for the lower and eye classes to obtain land.

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Artwork Connections

Southeast View of "Sedgeley Park," the Country Seat of James Cowles Fisher, Esq.,  ca. 1819, Thomas Birch

Thomas Birch painted Sedgeley Park for its owner, James Cowles Fisher. Fisher served as interim president of the second Banking company of the U.s.. The painting was executed in 1819, the year of the economic panic. Fisher clearly wanted Birch to correspond his family in a dignified natural setting oblivious to the economic distress. The paradigm suggests that Fisher's genteel existence will survive the panic. In the wake of the panic, nonetheless, the general public became less interested in viewing mural painting that chronicled a luxurious manner of living enjoyed by a privileged few.

Long Island Homestead, Written report from Nature, 1859, Andrew Due west. Warren

Andrew Warren's pocket-size study, executed at the scene, shows this fairly large subcontract as a self-sufficient, harmonious microcosm; a model of America'southward agrarian wealth. The wheat field is non very all-encompassing, suggesting that it is for the family's own consumption. The homestead's cocky-sufficiency directly contrasts with the emerging urban world of specialization and interdependence.

Media

Federalism: Crash Course Government and Politics – PBS

This PBS video teaches y'all almost federalism, or the idea that in the United States, power is divided betwixt the national regime and the l country governments. You will larn almost how federalism has evolved over the history of the US, and what powers are given to the federal government, and what the states control on their own.

Additional Smithsonian Resource

Exploring all nineteen Smithsonian museums is a smashing style to heighten your curriculum, no affair what your discipline may be. In this section, you'll find resources that we take put together from a diverseness of Smithsonian museums to enhance your students' learning experience, broaden their skill ready, and non simply see didactics standards, but exceed them.

Glossary

agrarian democracy: a philosophy advocated by President Thomas Jefferson in which a rural society is seen as superior to an urban society. It values the independent farmer as superior to the paid laborer. The philosophy values farming as a way of life which can shape ideal social values.

Andrew Jackson: (1767-1845) 7th President of the United States, armed services general, governor, and senator. He is most well-known as the founder of the Autonomous Party, and for his controversial passage of the Indian Removal Human action of 1830. He epitomized the "Common Man," or self-made human being, of the nineteenth-century, having been the first U.Due south. president to non have been born into a wealthy, aristocratic family unit or to have received a formal education.

Articles of Confederation: (1781) a written agreement by the xiii original states that provided a legal symbol of their union by giving the central government no coercive power over the states or their citizens.

Battle of New Orleans: (January viii-fifteen, 1815) the final major battle of the War of 1812. The American forces, allowable by then-General Andrew Jackson, prevented a much larger, combined British-American Indian strength from capturing New Orleans.

Common Man: the everyday, working class man – not a wealthy landowner or human being of power like a pol. Andrew Jackson, despite his high office, became emblematic of the mutual man because he came from humble beginnings.

Democratic-Republican Party: an American party formed by Thomas Jefferson. They supported an agrarian-based, decentralized, democratic regime. The political party was established to oppose the Federalists who had pushed through the ratification of the Us Constitution.

federalist: a member or supporter of the Federalist Party, the first American political party. Federalists supported a stiff national government, economic growth, and an brotherhood with Great Great britain. They were politically opposed by the Autonomous-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson.

George Washington: (1732-1799) 1^st President of the United States, Founding Father, Commander-in-Main of the Continental Army. Known equally the "father of his state" during his lifetime.

Bang-up Compromise of 1787: a measure proposed at the U.Southward. Constitutional Convention of 1787 which created a system of proportional representation in the Firm of Representatives; also known as the Connecticut Compromise.

Jacksonian Democracy: also known as the Jacksonian Era. A movement for more democracy in American government. Led by President Andrew Jackson, the move championed greater rights for the common man and was opposed to any signs of aristocracy in the nation, Jacksonian democracy was aided past the strong spirit of equality among the people of the newer settlements in the Due south and the Due west. Information technology was likewise aided by the extension of the vote in eastern states to men without holding; in the early days of the Usa, many places had immune only white male holding owners to vote.

Jacksonian Era: also known as Jacksonian Republic. A motion for more democracy in American government. Led past President Andrew Jackson, the movement championed greater rights for the common man and was opposed to any signs of aristocracy in the nation, Jacksonian democracy was aided past the strong spirit of equality among the people of the newer settlements in the South and the Due west. It was too aided by the extension of the vote in eastern states to men without property; in the early on days of the The states, many places had allowed only white male holding owners to vote.

James Madison: (1751-1836) 4^th President of the U.s.a.. He played a pivotal role in drafting and promoting the United states Constitution and the Pecker of Rights.

John Adams: (1735-1826) 2nd President of the U.s.a., lawyer, diplomat, pol, and Founding Father. As a lawyer before the American Revolution, he dedicated the British soldiers in the Boston Massacre trials. This event catapulted him to notoriety and led to his political involvement in the American Revolution.

John Quincy Adams: (1767-1848) 6th President of the United States. American statesman, diplomat, Senator, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives; son of the 2nd U.S. president John Adams.

Squire: a man of loftier social standing who owns and lives on an estate in a rural expanse, especially the principal landowner in such an surface area.

Thomas Jefferson: (1743-1826) 3^rd President of the United States, Founding Begetter, author of the Annunciation of Independence, and American lawyer. Jefferson oversaw the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France and arranged for the exploration of that territory past Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

War of 1812: (June 1812-February 1815) a military disharmonize between the United States and Nifty U.k.. The U.S. alleged war for several reasons, chief among them the continued impressment of American sailors past the British navy, trade restriction brought on past United kingdom'southward war with French republic, and British support of Native American Indian tribes who opposed the American authorities over land disputes.

Standards

U.South. History Content Standards Era 3 – Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)

• • Standard 2C – The student understands the Revolution's effects on unlike social groups.
    • five-12 – Compare the revolutionary goals of dissimilar groups—for example, rural farmers and urban craftsmen, northern merchants and southern planters—and how the Revolution altered social, political, and economic relations amid them.

U.S. History Content Standards Era 4 – Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)

• • Standard 2A – The student understands how the mill system and the transportation and market revolutions shaped regional patterns of economic evolution.
    • 7-12 – Evaluate national and state policies regarding a protective tariff, a national bank, and federally funded internal improvements.
    • 9-12 – Explain how economic policies related to expansion, including northern potency of locomotive transportation, served different regional interests and contributed to growing political and exclusive differences.
    • vii-12 – Evaluate the manufactory system from the perspectives of owners and workers and appraise its touch on on the ascent of the labor movement in the antebellum period.
  • Standard 3A –The student understands the irresolute character of American political life in "the age of the common man."
    • 7-12 – Relate the increasing popular participation in state and national politics led to the evolving autonomous ideal that developed white males were entitled to political participation.
    • 7-12 – Clarify how Jackson's veto of the U.S. Depository financial institution recharter and his deportment in the nullification crisis contributed to the rise of the Whig political party.
  • Standard 4C – The pupil understands changing gender roles and the ideas and activities of women reformers.
    • 9-12 – Compare the North, S, and Westward in terms of men'south and women's occupations, legal rights, and social status.

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Source: https://americanexperience.si.edu/historical-eras/colonization-revolution-and-new-nation/pair-daniel-lamotte-independence-squire-jack-porter/