The Revolutionary War and the Federal Period

The American Revolution was key moment in the history of the United States. The birth of a new nation brought along a change of artistic and architectural style in America for both whites and blacks. Black art was being influenced more and more by European and American Indian styles. Also, blacks artists and artisans were beginning to be recognized for their creative abilities by name and getting international attention for their work.

As the population rose in the colonies, so did the need for slave labor. At the same time tensions between Britain and the colonies were also increasing due to high taxes and tariffs on goods which ultimately led to the Townshend Acts. (Patton, )

The Boston Massacre is the event that is considered the starting point of the American Revolution. With an abundance of British soldiers patrolling and regulating Boston, a hot spot for resistance against British authority in general and the Townshend Acts in particular, tensions hit a high point on March 5, 1770 when brawls between the civilians and soldiers broke out. Ultimately this fight led to the firing of a soldier’s musket and the death of three civilians, including Crispus Attucks, an African American fugitive that worked on a whaling ship. (Horton,)

Although there are varying stories about how the massacre started it can be linked to the rising tensions and ignorance of a British soldier who walked into a pub and asked about local employment. Since there was great resentment towards the British for their acts and laws, this request was insulting to those in the pub. This fatal incident on top of with other similar ones in previous years escalated to the citizens pelting British soldiers outside of the Boston Customs House with snowballs. Attucks and others who were at the pub when the commotion started decided to join the others but brought clubs along. Some say Attucks attacked a soldier while others said he just had one with him. He was quoted as saying however, “ the way to get rid of these soldiers is to attack the main-guard. Strike at the root: this is the nest.” (Horton, 48) Either way, he was shot twice and became the first victim of the American Revolution. Today, Attucks is remembered as a hero of the American Revolution.

Although blacks fought along side whites when the war started, when George Washington took over the Continental Army, he banned blacks from further participation until the winter of 1777-78 when white enlistment dropped below 18,000. Washington allowed the formation of a regiment of free blacks and slaves in Rhode Island. During this time, however, the British had a great advantage over the colonies due to their black soldiers to whom they had promised freedom. After the war, these slaves were familiar with terrain and would do anything for their freedom, so joining the British army was the best way out at the time. (Horton, 57)

After the war, Washington wanted all slaves who fought for the crown to be returned to their masters, but refusing to do so, the British sent many of those who fought for them to Nova Scotia, rewarding them their freedom for fighting.

The main reason why whites, slave holders, particularly southern, were concerned about having slaves fight in the war was because they were scared of what would happen if the majority black population were armed. Many white slaveholders were terrified of a mass rebellion. Many were much more scared of armed slaves than they were of the British troops. (Horton, 62)

There was almost a contradictory concern that black soldiers were not brave enough to fight in battle. However, black soldiers who did firght during the Revolutionary War proved to be anything but cowardly on either side of the battle. There were numerous times when black soldiers were the reason for the victory. Their heroism during the war would be seen as a point of strength and courage, but it would not last long. Abolitionists used this as an argument for emancipation, showing that the myth of blacks being inferior through their ability to fight as false. By the Civil War, the same issues would arise and blacks would have to prove again that they were capable of fighting.

After the Revolutionary War there was a great economic boom, which also created an increase of artistic development. The Federal period is marked by an increase in classically inspired architecture and decorative art. Thomas Jefferson used his slave labor to help build his home, which exemplifies this neoclassicism. Slaves with skills in cabinet making and carpentry were more sought after than unskilled slaves. John Hemings, one of Jefferson’s slaves, was highly skilled in furniture making and made most of Jefferson’s furniture for his home (Patton, 35) those who were highly skilled were often allowed to make large design decisions. This growing group of skilled slave laborers allowed many slaves, especially in the north, to make money by being hired by others, and in some cases, they were able to buy their freedom. (Patton, 34-35)

The fine arts, and craft art like furniture making also grew greatly during this time. This was especially true for the African American community of both free and enslaved blacks. For the first time the fine arts was graced by black artists like Joshua Johnston. Other artists and artisans of this time include portrait artist Scipio Moorhead, furniture maker Thomas Gross Jr, silversmith Peter Benzton, and poet Phillis Wheatley. (Patton, 42-46)

African American artists, like the ones listed, also demonstrate the syncretism of cultures that had developed due to slavery. Painting techniques common in the western art world were being used in African American art, and traditional African styles could be seen in objects made for daily life. The media used by Moorhead in his portrait of Wheatley, ink drawing turned to engraving, and was a western style.

Architecture in the South shows how the opposite was also taking place In New Orleans free blacks were able to build many of their houses. Two new housing typologies to America, the Creole cottage and the shotgun house, were mixes of French structures and Afro Caribbean dwellings. The shotgun house has its roots in the traditional Yoruba home of Nigeria (Patton, 58) The shotgun house in particular became the prevalent building in the South because the houses were efficient uses of land, and suitable for the climate of the region. (Patton, 59)

White people, both abolitionists and slavery supporters were also at this time creating works of art that supported their particular cause. Abolitionists used the horrors of slavery to get their message across in both written biographies and images describing the Middle Passage.

Olauduah Equiano was one of the earliest Africans to write about the horrors of slavery. While enslaved, Equiano learned how to read and write and used these tools to tell his story. Abolitionists used this as proof of many of their points on why slavery should be abolished, as Equiano demonstrated that black people were intelligent, that the slave trade was inhuman, and the institution of slavery was unconstitutional and against any natural rights.

Another image commonly used by the anti-slavery group were the drawings of the Brooke’s slave ship. Though we know very little about the origins of authors of these plans and sections, their depiction of the tight quarters that the slaves had to endure while at sea have been much repeated. The diagrams showed how the African slaves were treated like cargo, packed in as tightly as possible. Like Equiano’s biography, the inhumanity of the trade through artistic representation was used as propaganda by abolitionists.

Slavery supporters were also hard at work in the early federal period. The reason why the South, not the North, was so intent on keeping the institution of slavery was because the South relied much more directly on the free labor. Mainly agricultural, the slaves labor gave slave owners more profit from their crops. The North, however, had little agriculture due to its climate. As a result, most slave supporters lived in the south and depended on the slave labor for their livelihoods. (Horton, )

Visual depictions of African Americans by these supporters were vastly different from those of the abolitionist sentiment. Anatomical drawings physical correlation of the black man to the ape was one way in which whites tried to show the inferiority and lack of intelligence when compared to whites. For example, writers J.C. Nott and George Gliddon compared the head and imagined skull of a classical statue those of a black man. To complete the comparison, they then compared both to a young chimpanzee, visually suggesting the black man’s features and physical make-up resembled more closely that of the ape than the white man. (Savage, 10)

Although this argument was commonly used to explain racial differences, the pro-slavery supporters used these images repeatedly to show that whites were naturally superior to blacks. As art historian Kirk Savage says in Standing Soldier, Kneeling Slave, “…classical sculpture served as the benchmark of whiteness and, indeed, served that function over and over again in writings of the racial taxonomists. The importance of the aesthetic dimension of racial theory cannot be overemphasized.” (Savage, 11)

Another way in which slavery supporters often depicted blacks was through caricatures. Often, whites are shown in an erect posture, with their chins up. They are nicely dressed and exhibit a controlled demeanor about them that can only be considered proper for that time. Black people, on the other hand, are shown acting wildly as “the ragged ‘darky’ of the plantation or the uppity ‘coon’ of the city.” (Savage, 13) Their bodies are drawn as curvy figures with exaggerated body movements, and without any sense of decorum.

On the sheet cover music for The Songs of the Virginian Serenaders this difference is shown, The seated black musicians are shown wildly playing their music, while the white men are shown in erect posture.

(Savage, 12-13) This juxtaposition of body languages parallels the aims of the “scientific” drawings were also trying to do, illustrate the suggested racial inferiority of black people to the ideals of the classical [white] man. (Savage, 12)

The Revolutionary war brought on much change both politically and artistically. The revival of the classical ideals for the human body as well as for architecture became both a positive and negative ideal of blacks in America. It allowed for many black art and artisans to become well known and highly thought of, but it also was a way to suggest racial inferiority. Both would be seen again throughout the 1800s and well into the 20th century. By the time of the Civil War, more black artists would become famous and folk art typologies, like quilting will become not only a skill but also a social construct.