Refer to the attached image ONLY for question 1.
1025 Question 1:
This is the most famous painting by the most famous American painter of the 19th century. Painted near Gloucester, Massachusetts, about 1876, it depicts an optimistic, family-oriented interpretation of American life, a dad and his sons sailing at a time when sail was still important in American life. This is all in sharp contrast to the travail of the industrial, urban working classes, the problems faced by poor immigrants in ethnic ghettoes, and the discriminatory issues that confronted Black, Hispanic, and Indian peoples. In later years, Winslow presented a darker view of American life in his final paintings. The painting is an example of realism, the predominant style of the era, but even then a style challenged by impressionism, notably the Hudson River School. Homer was from the Northeast, lived here and there for a time, served as an illustrator in the American Civil War, and ultimately settled near Prout’s Neck, Maine, which is near Portland, Maine.
For our first threaded discussion – a place where we read and comment on everyone’s work – go to the following website on one of the nation’s most remembered conflagrations, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The site is www.greatchicagofire.org (Links to an external site.) where you will see “The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory.” Study the events and the legacy of the fire, along with the photographs, artwork, and maps. Then post a brief comment or response to other comments in the threaded discussion area on some aspect of the tragedy. Think about what we learn about immigration, ethnicity, urban planning, urban construction, and other matters. How and why did cities like Chicago rebuild in a vastly different ways than the earlier Chicago? What boost did fires like this give regulation and more modern fire departments? Why does the fire remain so important in the national web of memory? Can you search the web and find other major fires of the era?
1015 Question 2:
The Salem Witchcraft Trials form one of the most controversial events of the colonial era – and perhaps a repeated theme in American life down to present times. Go to the website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials (Links to an external site.) search the site, and study what interests there and at other links. Then think about these issues. What in your view caused the hysteria? What brought it to an end? What was its legacy? Why have many historians come to see the “witchcraft problem” as a recurring theme in American history? Can you suggest other examples? How do fear and hysteria impact the social, judicial, and political systems? Are there examples of Salem-like “witchcraft” problems even today? What should be our interpretation of Puritan society and of later-day American society?
