American Revolution
•Incommensurability (nesouměřitelnost)
•parent/child analogy
•over/under sensitivity
•civil war? not true revolution
•economy, class distinctions: little change
•American exceptionalism
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Patriot or loyalist? (note the uniforms)
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•Silk, Weft-silk fabric, foil wrapped threads, paper, watercolor,
attributed to Faith Robinson Trumbull (1718-1780) c. 1770
Lyman Allyn Art Museum at Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut

Paul Revere, “The Bloody Massacre in King-Street, March 5, 1770”
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•A sensationalized portrayal of the skirmish, later to become known as the "Boston Massacre,"
between British soldiers and citizens of Boston on March 5, 1770. On the right a group of seven
uniformed soldiers, on the signal of an officer, fire into a crowd of civilians at left. Three of
the latter lie bleeding on the ground. Two other casualties have been lifted by the crowd. In the
foreground is a dog; in the background are a row of houses, the First Church, and the Town House.
Behind the British troops is another row of buildings including the Royal Custom House, which bears
the sign (perhaps a sardonic comment) "Butcher's Hall." Beneath the print are 18 lines of verse,
which begin: "Unhappy Boston! see thy Sons deplore, Thy hallowed Walks besmeared with guiltless
Gore."

“swallowing the bitter draught”
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Cartoon shows Lord North, with the "Boston Port Bill" extending from a pocket, forcing tea (the
Intolerable Acts) down the throat of a partially draped Native female figure representing "America"
whose arms are restrained by Lord Mansfield, while Lord Sandwich, a notorious womanizer, restrains
her feet and peeks up her skirt. Britannia, standing behind "America", turns away and shields her
face with her left hand. (Library of Congress)

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Benjamin Franklin, 1754


“I’ll force you to obedience, you rebellious Slut”
“Liberty Liberty forever Mother while I exist”
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America as an Indian; Britain as a woman of fashion; French influence as a cock; liberty cap;
British oak, dying; Liberty tree, thriving. (1776; John Carter Brown Library)

Continental currency
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“Spanish dollar” (peso, 8 reales)
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John Trumbull, The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775 (after
1815?)
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Gilbert Stuart, George Washington (the Lansdowne portrait) c 1797
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•Stuart made a good living painting hundreds of portraits of Washington (with the help of
assistants).
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Parson Weems’ Fable (Grant Wood, 1939)
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Washington Crossing the Delaware
Emmanuel Leutze, 1851, oil on canvas
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Spirit of 1876
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•Archibald Willard, for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, oil on canvas

Daughters of the American Revolution
(Grant Wood, 1932, at the Cincinnati Art Museum)
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