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Home , George Caleb Bingham, John Wesley Jarvis, Philip Hone

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Delaware Montana and Hudson Oregon Lake Canal North Dakota Minnesota Superior Maine Yellowstone Idaho NP Vermont Lake Huron New Hampshire Wisconsin rio Wyoming South Dakota Onta Lake Massachusetts New York Great Salt Lake Michigan Nevada Lake Michigan ie Er ke Rhode Nebraska Iowa La Island Utah M Pennsylvania Yosemite NP i s Connecticut s o Ohio u Colorado r New Jersey i R Illinois Indiana iv r Washington D.C. e er Delaware iv Kansas R West io California h Missouri O Virginia Virginia Maryland Grand Canyon NP Kentucky

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s i Georgia M Alabama Union States Texas Mississippi Confederate States Louisiana A t l a n t i c Border states that O c e a n stayed in the Union Florida Other states G u l f MEXICO National Parks o f Delaware and M e x i c o Hudson Canal, 1866

John Wesley Jarvis (1780–1840) Philip Hone, 1809 Oil on wood panel, 34 x 26¾ in. (86.4 x 67.9 cm) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd 1986.84 I wonder. . .

19th-Century American Object Information Sheet 8th Grade 1 Philip Hone Lakes to the Hudson River. This new 19th-century america waterway greatly decreased the cost of shipping. iety c o Politically, Hone was influential al S Your Historic Compass: c in the organization of the Whig Whig party: The Whig party first took shape in 1834. Whigs were generally istori party. He was friends with both eastern business people and southern John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. “Hone’s leadership guarantees planters who believed the federal success of Delaware and Today Philip Hone is best known for government should work to promote the the detailed personal diary that he growth of the American economy. Hudson Canal.” kept between 1828 and 1851. When: Throughout this diary, Hone tion of the Minisink H Valley 1809, three years after c made notations regarding the Colle financing and planning of the the invention of Fulton’s Here Mr. Hone appears with the Wurts brothers Delaware and Hudson Canal. The and Benjamin Wright who engineered both the Wurts brothers had first devised the steamship Erie Canal and the Delaware and Hudson Canal. idea of building a canal after dis Where: covering coal on their Pennsylvania New York City property in 1814. After the war of 1812, the United States was cut off from British coal supplies. Since coal was in great demand, the Wurtses knew they Who: could turn a large profit if they could ship their coal to New York markets. Philip Hone Shipping large quantities of coal, however, posed a huge transportation problem. The brothers hired the chief engineer of the Erie Canal, Benjamin What: Wright. Wright designed a 108-mile‑long canal system for the Delaware Portrait painting—represents Looking closely and Hudson. To overcome the 972-foot difference in elevation between the Philip Hone, seated on a simple wooden chair, pauses Pennsylvania coalfields and the banks of the Hudson River, the canal also how a person looks or how ith they want to appear momentarily in his reading to greet the viewer. With included 108 locks. It is unclear when Philip Hone first became involved with

his arm balanced across the back of the chair, he sits the Delaware and Hudson Canal project. We do know that he served as the obbie Sm R in an informal manner. The pastoral landscape seen first president of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company formed in 1825. This is a photograph of the Delaware and just beyond the red curtain adds an intimate quality to Hone’s reputation and political connections proved invaluable when raising Hudson Canal. Notice the sturdy gate that holds back the canal water. A pair of gates, such as the portrait. However, the artist is careful to depict his the funds needed to build the canal. Upon completion in 1829, the Delaware those seen here, form what is known as a “lock.” patron with a commanding presence. Hone’s sharp and Hudson Canal became the first million-dollar enterprise established in By allowing water to flow into or out of the gates, nose, strong chin, piercing eyes, and rosy cheeks the United States. lock operators were able to either lift or lower large barges, such as the one you see waiting in convey a sense of character and vitality. His crisp white the distance. In this photograph the lock needs collar and ruffled shirt suggest that he is a man of About the artist to fill with water before the barge enters. Once the barge was safely secured in the lock, water means. Hone’s large black coat adds a sense of weight John Wesley Jarvis, the artist who painted this portrait, was known through would then be released from the other gate to the composition and emphasizes his dark eyes and out New York City as the world’s greatest storyteller. It was even rumored slowly lowering the barge to the lower canal. unflinching gaze. that he kept a baby crocodile in his coat pocket. Jarvis gained his early training as an apprentice to a portrait painter and engraver. During his career, History connection Jarvis was favored by New York’s upper class. He painted some of the city’s Along with his brother John, Philip Hone earned his most influential residents, Philip Hone among them. He maintained a studio living by managing the family auction house, one of in a large public building that also housed the Customs Office, New-York New York’s most lucrative establishments. The business Historical Society, and the American Academy of Arts. Working from this was so profitable that in 1821 Hone retired at the age location, Jarvis placed himself at the center of the city’s financial and artistic of forty-one. Hone then pursued a career in politics, activities. When not painting in New York, Jarvis traveled to the South where becoming the mayor of New York City in 1825. During he frequently visited New Orleans, Richmond, and Charleston. Jarvis’s his first year in office, Hone presided over the opening career began to suffer when the economy declined in the 1820s. In 1834, festivities of the Erie Canal that connected the Great the artist suffered a stroke, making it impossible for him to paint. I notice. . .

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George Caleb Bingham (1811–1879) Boatmen on the Missouri, 1846 Oil on canvas, 25¹⁄8 x 30¼ in. (63.8 x 76.8 cm) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd 1979.7.15

19th-Century American Object Information Sheet 8th Grade 2 distance. This detail may account for Boatmen on the the relatively relaxed nature of the figures. Perhaps they are resting Missouri 19th-century america after the activity of a recent sale. History connection Your Historic Compass: Invented in 1807, steamboats

s greatly increased the speed of river t “According to Bingham, life e a m transportation. They also played a bo at along the American frontier de tail crucial role in the settlement of the area promises independence and acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. The natural living.” Missouri River was one of the major waterways in this new territory. Intersecting with the Ohio River, the Missouri River connected the East When: Coast with the nation’s western territories. The Missouri River also connected the North with the South via the Mississippi River. By 1835, 1846, the same year c L ibrary of

steamboats served as the primary means of shipping goods and produce ubli ilton County ilton Americans living in California throughout the central United States. declared independence from Boatmen played a crucial role in river commerce of the period. By ourtesy of P

purchasing wood from flatboatmen, steamboats carried less timber on innati and H a m

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board. Steamboat companies used this extra space for cargo and thereby Copy c Cin Where: substantially increased shipping profits. Buying wood from flatboatmen also This is an early photograph of the city of Cincinnati taken in 1848. Notice the steamboats Missouri River allowed steamboats to refuel while traveling rather than stopping for fuel. docked along the shore of the Ohio River. Looking closely This system cut down on travel time for the steamboat companies. The Transporting goods to and from urban centers Who: Men like those depicted in Boatmen on the Missouri decrease in travel time provided a valuable competitive edge in the cutthroat such as Cincinnati, steamboats served two functions. The ships transported raw materials to George Caleb Bingham and were commonly seen selling wood to passing steam shipping business. factories located in the cities and helped settle boats during the 1800s. Boatmen were generally The life depicted in Bingham’s portrayal of the Missouri boatmen differs remote regions such as the wilderness depicted Missouri boatmen in Boatmen on the Missouri. regarded as unsavory and troublesome characters, sharply from the industrial lifestyles of people in the northeastern part of What: yet Bingham’s boatmen appear well kept and sociable. the United States. Eastern factory laborers worked indoors under poor Genre painting depicting a Their broad shoulders and large arms indicate the conditions and for extremely long hours. In contrast, the boatmen’s workday scene from everyday life physical exertion involved in their work. Though their followed the commercial activity along the river. Bingham’s idealized view clothes appear tattered, the artist has removed any of the West offered an alternative to eastern urban living. Images such as trace of dirt from them. Also missing from this painting Boatmen on the Missouri promoted the westward expansion of the United are the hordes of pesky insects that infested the States that was supported by the popular belief in Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny: the idea that the riverbanks. Picturing the men at ease and free from United States should occupy the territory between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans everyday troubles, Boatmen on the Missouri offers About the artist an idealized view of life along the river. However, the George Caleb Bingham was one of the first well-respected American artists surface bubbles, and the large branch at the left of from the western frontier. At the age of eight, Bingham moved with his the composition suggests the unseen dangers that family to the territory that eventually became the state of Missouri. He spent lie below the river’s surface. much of his childhood along the banks of the Missouri River. Bingham was While acknowledging the hazards of working on the principally a self-taught artist. During his early career, he traveled to New river, Bingham carefully arranged this composition to York and Philadelphia to further cultivate his artistic skills. He also spent four express a feeling of ease. The three men form a visual years in Washington, D.C., painting portraits. Upon returning to Missouri, triangle. This construction balances the composition and Bingham started to paint genre scenes of life along the western frontier. guides the viewer’s attention from figure to figure. The These images were widely circulated as prints. The popularity of these artist painted the background in strictly muted tones, prints heightened Bingham’s national acclaim and provided him the financial enhancing the luminous quality of the work. These resources for travel to Paris and Germany. Known nationally as an artist, tones sharply contrast with the bright colors used in Bingham also became a local politician. He served in the Missouri State the boatmen’s clothing. A steamboat appears in the Legislature in 1848 and as state treasurer between 1862 and 1865. I notice. . .

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Thomas Waterman Wood (1823–1903) Moses, The Baltimore News Vendor, 1858 Oil on canvas, 24¹⁄8 x 15 in. (61.28 x 38.1 cm) Museum Purchase, Mildred Anna Williams Collection 1944.7 I wonder. . .

19th-Century American Object Information Sheet 8th Grade 3 Moses, The Baltimore by carefully depicting his posture and clothing. 19th-century america Yet, another story is disguised News Vendor behind Moses’s clothing. In the years leading up to the Civil War, Your Historic Compass: Maryland was a border slave state. “Famed African American news As a border state, Maryland held ties both to the industrial North vendor painted by traveling and the agricultural South. The artist.” state also maintained a society of both free and enslaved African

When: iety Americans. Moses Small was a c o

1858, three years before member of Baltimore’s free African al S c American community. His choice of

the start of the Civil War istori attire reflects his unique position in Where: society. The colorful scarf around

his neck can be connected to a Maryland H Maryland, a border slave state When walking down the streets of Baltimore, long tradition of African Americans wearing bright colors as a mark of self- Moses Small would have observed a scene Who: expression. He presents himself as an independent urban citizen rather much like the one illustrated in this lithograph. than a rural servant. What different types of jobs do you see people Moses, a Baltimore news performing? vendor Looking closely A free African American community had existed in Maryland since 1790. Standing in a pool However in the years leading up to the Civil War, state legislators passed a What: of light, Moses lifts series of laws designed to limit the freedom of free African Americans. Sec Genre painting depicting a his hat to greet his ond, slaveholders strongly supported this new legislation for two primary next customer—the reasons. First, they feared free African Americans would encourage revolts. scene from everyday life approaching viewer. Slaveholders also feared that once freed, former enslaved African Ameri He wears a worn green cans would show their capability to provide for themselves and disprove velvet coat, a yellow the myth of passivity and helplessness. As a free African American living in vest with brass buttons, Baltimore in 1858, Moses would have been well aware of these new laws. and a multicolored scarf Under this new legislation, free African Americans were limited in their ability around his neck. Moses’s choice of clothing suggests to travel and could not testify in court against white citizens. Worst of all, if a sense of dignity. Smiling at the viewer as he lifts his charged with a crime and found guilty, free African Americans could be sold hat, Moses appears friendly and approachable. He into slavery as punishment. Lawmakers also banned “disorderly assembly” encourages the viewer to cross the cobblestone street and loitering. The only right that differentiated free African Americans from to purchase one of the many newspapers he holds in slaves was the right to own property. his left arm and has stuffed into his right coat pocket. About the artist History connection Primarily a self-taught artist, Thomas Waterman Wood started his career Moses was a famous Baltimore resident. In an article as a portrait painter. Today he is known for his paintings of ordinary people published in Lippincott’s Magazine describing the doing everyday activities. In search of subjects for his paintings, Wood noteworthy aspects of Baltimore, the author mentioned traveled frequently through the slave states of Maryland, Tennessee, and the news vendor Moses Small. The author described Kentucky. Inspired by his travel, he created many paintings of African Moses’s humble “charm of his own fidelity, cheerfulness Americans and rural laborers. From 1891 to 1899, Wood served as the and patience” which he brought to the act of selling president of the National Academy of Design, the most prestigious art newspapers. The artist captures Moses’s personality school in the United States.