American Art, Literature, and Culture

of the 19th Century

American Art

What was the Hudson River School?

● American art movement that celebrated nature and landscapes.

● Famous artists included Thomas Cole, Thomas Doughty, and Asher Durand.

Elements of Hudson River School Paintings

● Technology (telegraphs, railroads, and water mills)

● Open and empty spaces● Heroic figures● Light breaking through● Submissive natives● Jobs/money sources● Safe wildlife

Examples of Hudson River School Art

Examples of Hudson River School Art

Who was John James Audubon?● American painter

● Audubon drew birds, mammals, plants, and other subjects from nature

● His Birds of America, containing life-sized portraits of 1,065 individual birds is the most important work on birds ever published.

Examples of John James Audubon Art

Examples of John James Audubon Art

American Literature

What is Literature?● Literature is the writings of a particular

nation or society.

● America developed its own “voice” in literature during the Era of Reform.

● It was sounding more like the common people and was more personal than European literature.

Who was Henry David Thoreau?● American writer

● Thoreau believed in Transcendentalism and civil disobedience. He was put in jail one night for refusing to pay his taxes in protest of the US-Mexican War.

● He moved to a simple home next to Walden Pond to live alone with nature for two years. He wrote the book Walden about his life close to nature.

Walden Pond & Replica of Thoreau’s Home

Who was Edgar Allan Poe?

● American writer

● Best known for his horror and mystery stories and poems

● Examples of his workinclude suspenseful stories like “The Raven”and “The Tell-Tale Heart”

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

Who was Walt Whitman?● American poet and journalist

● Called the “Father of Free Verse Poetry”

● Free verse poetry often does not rhyme and does not have a regular meter or rhythm

● Famous for his poetry collection “Leaves of Grass”

Who was James Fenimore Cooper?● American writer

● Wrote the adventure story The Last of the Mohicans

● Tells the story of Natty Bumppo (“Hawkeye”) and his adventures in the wilderness

● The Last of the Mohicans takes place during the French & Indian War

Other American Authors:● Washington Irving – An American writer who published a

collection of tales set in New York. Examples of his work are The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle.

● Nathaniel Hawthorne – An American author who explored Puritan life through such novels as The Scarlet Letter and House of Seven Gables.

● Herman Melville – Using American characters, this author focused especially on New England whalers. He was most known for his novel Moby Dick.

● Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – This poet was best known for writing optimistic tales of America’s past, such as “Paul Revere’s Ride”.

● Emily Dickinson – American poet who wrote 1,800 emotional poems about love, death, and loneliness.

American Music

What is the Battle Hymn of the Republic?

● Song written by Julia Ward Howe using the music from the song “John Brown’s Body”

● The song was used by the Union during the Civil War and is now an American classic.

Placard A

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!Glory, glory, hallelujah!Glory, glory, hallelujah!His truth is marching on.

Placard B

Placard C“There is but one deer, and he is dead,” said the Indian, bending his body till his ear nearly touched the earth. “I hear the sounds of feet!”

“Perhaps the wolves have driven the buck to shelter, and are following on his trail.”

“No. The horses of white men are coming!” returned the other, raising himself with dignity, and resuming his seat on the log with his former composure. “Hawkeye, they are your brothers; speak to them.”

Placard DIt is impossible to say how the idea first entered my head. There was no reason for what I did. I did not hate the old man; I even loved him. He had never hurt me. I did not want his money. I think it was his eye. His eye was like the eye of the vulture, the eye of one of those terrible birds that watch and wait while an animal dies, and then fall upon the dead body and pull it to pieces to eat it. When the old man looked at me with his vulture eye a cold feeling went up and down my back; even my blood became cold. And so, I finally decided I had to kill that old man and close that eye forever!

Placard E

Placard FI hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at

sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

Placard G

I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of solid stone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the iron grating which strained the light, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up.

Placard Letter

Artist or Author Two reasons why I chose this artist or author

A

B

C

D

E

F

G