Chesapeake Region
Settler's Perspective
This first paining done c1874 depicts the exaggerated Englishmen and Settler's perspective of the legend of Pocahontas saving John Smith from getting killed in a Native American tradition. The painting emphasizes the manly qualities of Pocahontas and depicts her as a hero in a story that historians still dispute the validity of. The artist also makes a point to portray the foreign culture of the Native Americans by having a large crowd surrounding John Smith wearing the typical Native American clothing.
http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/pga.02281/
http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/pga.02281/
This second painting from c1852 does an excellent job depicting the Eurocentric view of the European settlers. As historians have since pointed out, by the time that William Powell had reached the Mississippi river his group of soldiers was falling apart, starving, and mutinous. The fear that the artist paints onto the faces of the Indians shows how even though the painting is as far away front he truth as possible, Europeans still choose to remember the 'discovery' of the Mississippi as a glorious and religious moment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Powell#mediaviewer/File:Discovery_of_the_Mississippi.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Powell#mediaviewer/File:Discovery_of_the_Mississippi.jpg
Native american perspective
This modern artwork depicts one of the ships that Britain had used during colonial times in the Americas. This great mechanical and architectural feat that had crossed the ocean that bridged the two worlds was the first thing that the Native Americans saw when the Settlers were first coming, and when they were being resupplied. John Smith also used ships similar to this one to scare the Natives into making better trades by firing the massive cannons onboard the ships. This massive creation that was so alien to the Natives created their first impression of the Settlers.
http://wallpaperswa.com/Nature/Oceans/ocean_ships_britain_flags_cannons_british_sail_ship_sails_1920x1200_wallpaper_30163/download_2560x1600
http://wallpaperswa.com/Nature/Oceans/ocean_ships_britain_flags_cannons_british_sail_ship_sails_1920x1200_wallpaper_30163/download_2560x1600
Massachusetts
Colonist's Perspective
The colonists struggled with their first own civil war in 1676 when the still indentured and recently 'freed' indentured servants took up arms against the governing body of the colonists. The rebellion was a response to new legislation that took away the suffrage of the mainly male, poor, free men and to the horrid living conditions the servants were stuck with. The rebellion ended with the leader of the rebellion, Bacon's death by pneumonia. This paining shows the governor challenging Bacon and his men to shoot him.
http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/bacons-rebellion.htm
http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/bacons-rebellion.htm
The first thanksgiving was the response to excess food that the Pilgrims had for the first time. In a very European and colonist perspective this painting depicts the happiness and coexistence of the two people. The reason that the Massachusetts pilgrims had a much better survival rate than the settlers of Jamestown was in big part by the mainly peaceful Native Americans of Massachusetts who helped the Pilgrims learn how to cultivate the land.
http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2012/11/library-of-congress-primary-sources-and-thanksgiving/
http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2012/11/library-of-congress-primary-sources-and-thanksgiving/
Native American Perspective
The early settlers of Massachusetts were almost exclusively devout Puritan Christians who once they arrived in America decided to spread their religion to the indigenous people of America. This painting shows a realistic representation of how the Puritan missionaries would attempt to spread their faith. Many of the tribes in New England became Christian after the arrival of Europeans.
http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-106914/John-Eliot-preaches-to-the-Indians-of-the-Massachusetts-Bay
http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-106914/John-Eliot-preaches-to-the-Indians-of-the-Massachusetts-Bay
Slavery in America
After slaves were captured in Africa, the slave traders next loaded them up on ships to take the new slaves to America. This arduous journey across the Atlantic took between 20-91 days. Most of the ships were overloaded with slaves who were inhumanly packed in side by side without space to move or breath. Many of the slaves believed that they were being taken to be eaten by the 'white man' and so many of the captured slaves ended up killing themselves. This image depicts how a slave ship was packed with slaves going to the New World.
With the discovery that Virginia and parts of America had amazing land for cultivating and growing tobacco, slavers began to bring in massive amounts of slave labor for the laborious, and lucrative farming of tobacco which was then shipped to Britain. These slaves, thanks to new slave laws in America, had children who were born into servitude. After Bacon's rebellion, indentured servants became less desirable and African slaves became much more used in growing tobacco.
French and Indian war
This famous portrait depicts young Colonel Washington during the French and Indian war. Washington was very well off and high up on the social ladder, and even bought his clothes from Britain to be shipped to America. During the time of the painting Washington is still working with the British against the Natives and French. The portrait shows the alliance that was still strong between the British regulars and the colonists.
This is a painting of the French and Indian war in America. The Hurons were on the French side while the Iroquois sided with the British and colonists. The early battles were major failures for the British as they were assaulted by small groups of Natives and French while traveling. These failures were known as Braddock's blunders after the fact that Edward Braddock was the first British General in America.
In one of the major turing points in the war, the British under the control of General James Wolf, defeated the French in the culmination of the 3 months siege of Quebec. The British overnight scaled a cliff near Quebec, and the next morning they took to the plains of Abraham, depicted in the painting above, where they easily defeated the French and took Quebec.
This is a famous painting depicting the death of French-Canadian General Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm. Montcalm and Wolf, the British general, were both mortally wounded in the battle of Quebec. The loss at Quebec was the major turning point in the war, and for the remainder of the war, Britain held on to the nearly impenetrable city of Quebec.