Revolutionary Art

Did you know that art can be a primary source? That means you can study a painting or other artwork, looking for clues about the time in which it was made, the person who made it, and how they felt about the events represented.

The artists who lived before, during, and soon after the American Revolution (1775-1783) knew they were living through an important time in history. And this was decades before photography was invented, which meant the artists documented the war with the tools they had: painting, drawing, and even needlework. Read on to learn how they carefully crafted images that captured the political, physical, and emotional landscapes of the emerging nation.

Before the Revolution began, John Singleton Copley was one of America’s most famous artists. He painted portraits of important colonists in Boston, including the 1768 example showing Paul Revere, above. Revere was a silversmith who protested British policies in the years before and during the Revolution. When the British government taxed many goods—including tea—imported to America with the 1767 Townshend Acts, Revere and many American colonists were outraged. Copley’s portrait of Revere, painted the following year, shows Revere holding a silver teapot at a table with his silversmithing tools and hints at Revere’s feelings about tea taxes.

James Peale was an artist who fought in the January 3, 1777, Battle of Princeton. Memories of the battle inspired Peale’s c. 1782 painting The Battle of Princeton, above, which shows General George Washington rallying his forces. It’s unlikely that Peale experienced the event from this exact viewpoint, but he chose the angle because it clearly conveys the drama of the battle. This painting is the only known work showing a battle of the American Revolution completed by an artist who actually participated in the battle. 

In 1817, more than 30 years after the war’s conclusion, the United States Congress asked John Trumbull to create a series of paintings about the nation’s founding. The paintings still hang in the Capitol today. In the one above, Trumbull imagined the moment when Thomas Jefferson handed the first draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress on June 28, 1776. The painting includes all the delegates at that time, even though some were not present that day. The serious mood in the painting emphasizes how the leaders of the Revolution carefully considered the ideals presented in the Declaration.

Another painting by Trumbull in the Capitol, below, shows the British surrendering to American troops at the end of the Revolutionary War. American Major General Benjamin Lincoln sits on a white horse in the middle of the composition, reaching out to accept the sword of the British officer standing next to him in a symbolic gesture of victory. Washington, mounted on a brown horse, watches from behind. The white flag of the French royal family shows that the French officers on the left are American allies.

Once again, Trumbull was not present at this event, but he wanted to document the moment as faithfully as possible. He traveled to Yorktown, Virginia, so he could correctly render the background, and he visited officers then living in New York and Paris so he could accurately capture their likenesses.

An American girl made the needlework above sometime between 1800 and 1815. At this time, many girls from wealthy families sewed needlework to display their skill and refinement. This artist stitched an eagle to represent America and a liberty cap on a flagpole to symbolize the nation’s democratic foundation. Do you see any other symbols in this image?

Almost 70 years after the Revolution, German American artist Emanuel Leutze painted General Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware River on their way to the battles at Trenton and Princeton. Leutze shows the soldiers heroically struggling to secure their nation from unjust rule. Leutze was born long after the event occurred, but he used the emotional moment to inspire people to support lofty political ideals. Many details in Leutze’s painting are incorrect—such as setting the scene during the day instead of at night and including massive icebergs. But he captured a feeling that continues to stir emotions today.

The artworks shown here date from before, during, and after the Revolution. How does the artists’ proximity to the events affect the way they represent what happened? Which works would you consider primary sources?