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Civil War Art Essay

Decent Essays

The Civil War happened in 1861 and lasted until 1865. During that time period, artists depicted the war itself, the Native Americans, the landscape of America, and the people of the nation. The artists sought to show that America was a great country, and that the people themselves were hardworking, committed, and determined.
To start, the civil war art (figures 23 through 32) evokes a feeling of patriotism, but also conflict. Figure 23 shows what seems to be a parade, with many soldiers and American flags. However, the pictures then move to show a child drummer, with no shoes, and clothes that are too big for him, most likely symbolizing that the war is forcing children to lose their youth and childhood. Figures 25 through 28 show pictures …show more content…

The first four figures (17-20), depict Native Americans in states of relaxation to states of almost going to war. The first two seem relaxed, perhaps simply doing their daily chores, while the second two are painted in war colors and are wearing feathers. These four pictures perhaps showed that the artists saw that Native Americans, while they did have their warriors, were also like others in that they simply lived their lives. The last picture, figure 21, shows maybe a painting of a battle, so perhaps this artist wanted to capture this part of this tribe’s history. These pictures show that Native Americans were not forgotten by American …show more content…

All of these pictures show very picturesque views, and show that the artists saw the United States as a land full of natural beauty and worth. Figures 27 and 28 do not look exactly like the United Stated, but rather a more Greek or Roman area. However, while figure 27 shows prosperity, figure 28 almost seems to be showing the downfall of a nation, which could have been how the artist viewed the Civil War time period. The rest of the figures simply show more natural beauty, once again signifying that the artists saw the worth of the United States, and perhaps wanted to bring this to people’s attention again to help them realize that the war was hurting such a wonderful

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