Hessian Artifacts from the Revolutionary War

by Gabi Loue

Researching artifacts on an online database is a different experience than researching scholarly articles (the method of library searching I am most familiar with as an English major) or even visiting/viewing artifacts physically in a museum. My primary research database for this endeavor was the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), which allowed me to limit my search results to the designated time period of the class and research by key phrases or terms. For this project, I was particularly interested in the role the Hessians played in the Revolutionary War, having first encountered that word in Royall Tyler’s The Contrast, where an American servant describes another’s speech as “like the Hessians” (822). I had never previously looked into the Hessians before, nor did we discuss much about them in class, so I was curious to learn more, with my knowledge being so limited. After observing a few search results, however, I found it necessary to conduct a slight bit of background research on the group (German soldiers recruited by the British Army to fight the colonies, most notably known for their defeat at the Battle of Trenton) before delving back into the artifacts. 

Hessian Miter Cap

Two particular artifacts drew my attention and helped me cultivate a better understanding of the Hessian army, and the role they had and life they led during the Revolutionary War. The first artifact is a Hessian Miter Cap, a metal and wool head covering made in 1775, complete with an emblem of the Hessian lion. Specifically, the cap is from the Fusilier Regiment von Knyphausen, a light infantry regiment whose cap specifically designated their job and regiment. Following an external link from DPLA, I could look at images from all angles (provided by the National Museum of American History) and found the intricacy of the engravings very interesting to observe. I’m curious as to how these were made and if they were suitable for protection during a battle. On the subject of battles, another interesting artifact of note I found was a document officially titled “Plan der affaire zu Trenton” (Plan of the Affair at Trenton), the most significant battle the Hessians were involved in (and subsequently defeated at). This is a paper document, so it’s faded and some of the writing is difficult to make out, although thankfully I was led to an external source that described it and restated what was written in sprawling script on the right hand side. The document outlines the designation of certain artillery and troops (represented by red and blue) as well as offers a somewhat detailed drawing of the layout. It’s an interesting document to witness and I’m astonished how it’s been preserved on paper, especially with the overwhelming reliance on technology and computers in the modern day.

Plan der affaire zu Trenton, welche den 26ton Decembe, 1776, vorgefallen = [Plan of the affair at Trenton, which occurred on the 26th of December, 1776]

A Deep Dive into the Digital Archives

by Sarah Savage

Upon my brainstorming session for the second blog post assignment this semester, I found that I struggled in narrowing down my interests into a concise post. But after browsing the archives for a little, I found that something I wanted to research further and learn more about was the Battle at Valley Forge. I think it is safe to say that we are all probably somewhat familiar with the broader details regarding this battle, like that it was fought from 1777-1778 and was commanded by General George Washington. Since it is such a well-known battle of the American revolution, I figured that I should know more about it (at least to the point where I know vaguely what I am talking about if the topic were ever to arise in dinner conversation, perhaps).

So I conducted some preliminary research on the battle, just so I was familiar with the basics. If Wikipedia is as reliable as I would like to believe it is, then this battle was actually the third of eight winter encampments of the continental army during the years of the war. Additionally, the battle has been credited with being the “Birthplace of the American Army” because it was believed to be the first battle where the continental army formed a strong, concise unit and fought as a whole. Valley Forge is located around twenty-five miles outside of Philadelphia, and George Washington made the decision to camp there for that very reason-to be close to the British who were stationed in Philadelphia. I was in search of an artifact from this battle that really captured this unity and camaraderie that Valley Forge was best known for, and eventually I found myself browsing around the paintings of Valley Forge on the “Digital Public Library of America” database. I was pleased to discover that there were, in fact, several notable paintings from this battle, so I decided to choose the two that I liked best.

The first painting I decided to focus on was William T. Trego’s oil on canvas entitled “The March to Valley Forge.” Upon inspection of this painting, I realized that the faces of Trego’s soldiers are nowhere near happy and absolutely did not capture this unified front that we know of now. Then I thought, “well duh, I don’t think I would be too happy either in temperatures less than ten degrees…” I found out that Trego’s inspiration for the depressing hues and faces of his painting was actually a quote from Washington Irving’s “Life of George Washington” which read: “Sad and dreary was the march to Valley Forge.”

Trego: The March to Valley Forge

The second artifact that I found interesting was actually a map of the encampment at Valley Forge that was drawn in 1778. This map was difficult to decipher in my opinion because I had trouble reading the key. There was a number of strange symbols that I could not quite understand, but this made it even more interesting in a way. Click the link and let me know if you can understand it!

 

Trip Around ArtStor

by Caroline Lamm

ArtStor is a digital archive displaying artifacts of all kinds dating back centuries. There is so much in this database it’s almost overwhelming upon first glance. ArtStor contains common creative works such as paintings, drawings, and sculptures, but does not fail to include things like jewelry, costuming, photographs, interior design, and performing arts artifacts as well. With that being said, ArtStor is nothing short of providing a nearly endless supply of artifacts to explore.

In my own personal journey traveling through the site across time periods and artifact types, I ended up having the most luck narrowing my search to a time period and culture. Looking specifically at artifacts created before 1820 in North America, I was able to take on a more tolerable selection of works. I found myself most intrigued when exploring the fashion, costume, and jewelry section under the above search constraints. I think what drew me to look into this selection of artifacts was that I would not have thought to consider these things art per say. With that being said, the creativity and handcrafted nature of them would consider them artistic creations.

The artifact that caught my eye in particular was a Regimental coat, a coat of the Continental Army in particular. The creator of the coat is unknown, however, it is from between 1775-1783 and is of American culture. The materials listed for the composition of this coat are wool, metallic, and metal. What initially caught my eye about this piece was the color. In comparison to the bland, neutral colors of other clothing of the time, this bright red coat was eye-catching. Upon further inspection, I noticed the details on the coat including the stitching of the buttons sewn on the bottoms of the sleeves. 

According to ArtStor, this is the uniform worn by officers during the American Revolution and it is completely hand-made. This really struck me in thinking about the number of coats like this produced at this time and how much work went into the hand-production of them. The digital archive also states that this coat in particular was owned by Colonel William Taylor, and the usage of the coat can be seen by the significant visual amount of wear. Another fact that stood out to me was that the color, style, and number of buttons were used to differentiate and distinguish one’s military unit or regiment. This coat was identified as being a part of the Connecticut Regiment of 1776. 

Regardless of this work in particular, something else I discovered during my exploration of the digital archive was the pattern in creators. I realized that it is much more common for works such as paintings, drawings, written works, and sculptures to know the name of the creator as opposed to jewelry and clothing. This is not something I would have thought about otherwise, but it makes sense considering these aren’t necessarily things that would contain a signature or be easily remembered by the creator. With that being said, I enjoyed my look around the archive and would recommend a “trip” to anyone interested!

Tea Tax Tempest

by Caden Albert

I chose an image from the during the American Revolution regarding the taxation of America colonists. I really didn’t know what to expect, but this is one of the first images that I found that wasn’t a document or letter of some sort. I was shocked to see this image due to the layers of detail within it.

First, it seems that an angel is projecting an image of a revolutionary battle on a sheet or window covering. This was INSANE to me because how did the artist think of this? Projecting an image onto something else certainly isn’t something from this time, but it’s found clear as day here. It really could be a coincidence that an angel is providing a lens for the future, but it still was pretty damn cool to me.

Secondly, the characters in this room were of such diversity. An angel is the one projecting, two women seem to be discussing the image, a black woman looks upon it scared along side a Native American. This really differed from a lot of the other images that I found at first and definitely different from images that we have seen in class. Interestingly, it looks like there is a Native American man leading the charge at the battle “on screen.”

I couldn’t find anything about it on the website, but the text at the bottom would suggest to me that this was printed in someplace like a newspaper? Some of the language is English, but some other words that are faded at the bottom look like Latin.

Another thing that I found really interesting is the amount of detail found in this drawing. I have to assume it is a drawing because of the lack of color other than the shading and the fact that it was probably printed. To start with the foreground, the two white women look to be of high stature due to their clothing and items that they are holding. I also think the location that they are in is of Roman architecture because of the two huge pillars in the top right corner as well as the drapes and tassel hanging down from the ceiling.

Similarly to a lot of the readings we have done and artwork about Washington, this piece looks like the artist wants to make the American colonists backed by God. The spear, shield, and angel watching over the battle all point to this conclusion. This battle does involve everyone in the colonies and is represented by the black woman and Native American watching over from a distance as well.

I really do think the coolest part of this piece is the projection of the battle on the drapes. To see a technology that didn’t exist until over a century later included in a piece like this is absolutely insane. It does look exactly like a projector because of its ring of light as well as the device the angel is holding. Also, with the rest of the drapes being white and plain, it is clear that this is a live projection.

Blog 2: An Old and Beautiful Map

by Chase Baker

I am obsessed with maps. I find them incredibly interesting, especially old ones. After looking through the Digital Public Library of America for some time, I ended up coming across this beautiful map from 1755 of British and French territories in North America. The great thing about this map is that we are shown the differences in territories when compared to today. For example, South Carolina and North Carolina have essentially the same borders as today in the North, East, and South. But out West, it is all different. Their borders seem to extend all the way to the Mississippi river which is essentially where French Louisiana was. This makes complete sense considering that Louisiana was not acquired by the United States until the Louisiana purchase.

Another interesting aspect of this map is where Georgia is. Georgia is incredibly small compared to what it is today. This seems to be because of Spanish Florida which cuts off a lot of what Georgia is today. Throughout the Western section of the map there are also indications of where certain Native American tribes are. The map is also incredibly detailed with a huge amount of information written throughout such as longitude observations and cities in towns being identified all along the Eastern territories.

The legend of the map tells all the information it contains. It is as follows: cities, capitals, towns, villages, Indian villages, Indian towns, Indian forts, roads and their distances, waterfalls, and rivers. We also see the majority of French territories up north towards Canada. This map puts a lot of history into perspective since it shows us three world powers who no longer hold any of the territories shown on the map. However, I do think that there is still a French overseas territory in Canada that is shown on this map. But that is tiny and almost not worth mentioning. This illustrates to the average viewer of this map how much the world has shifted since the colonial period and also the failure of colonial powers to maintain their hold on their colonies.

But the most interesting thing to me about this map is how it is truly a work of art. Modern maps are very bland and have the objective of only presenting information. However, this map, like most old maps, has extensive decoration and designs throughout. The main drawing is located on the bottom right corner. The best way I can describe it is as a mixture of enlightenment art and tropical themes with nude women and cherubs. The letters are also incredibly ornate and flowery.

Altogether, I love old maps such as this one because they are not only filled to the brim with information but also pleasing to look at due to them essentially being works of art as well.

 

 

 

What Does Sewing Mean for Women?

Henry Moses’ The Sewing Circle. (1804)

by Grace Nichols

When embarking on this digital archive journey, I took inspiration from “On the Equality of the Sexes”. In Murray’s essay she questions, “is the needle and kitchen sufficient to employ the operations of a soul thus organized?” (773) Throughout her essay she argues that “the needle” is not adequate, and how instead the cultural practices in America limit women’s capabilities. Interestingly, I just read an academic article for another class, “These Threads Capture Shadows”, in which the author explains how engaging in the act of sewing for Jewish women during the Holocaust was not only an intrinsically feminist act but an act of rebellion. Obviously, these differing opinions on sewing have extremely different contexts, but this interplay of how sewing can be stifling and empowering depending on circumstance is what intrigued me.

I first went to the Digital Public Library of America. Ironically, against my intention of finding artifacts from women one of the first I came across was from a man. The archive showed a shoemaker’s account book where he had cataloged his work which entailed sewing and mending shoes. With this first stumble in my search, I moved on finding that a lot of the artifacts related to sewing were actual sewing boxes or tables. The pieces ranged some having high style furnishings such as gold paint and the others being more simple looking similar to an antique bed side table.

Anna Cleveland’s Sewing Case (front)

After searching I decided to settle on an artifact literally titled “Housewife”, a name given by the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database, which I found through the DPLA. This sewing case created by Anna Holmes Cleveland sometime between 1800-1836 served as a place to store needles, thread, and other sewing stables. The case achieves a similar purpose to sewing boxes or tables except for this homemade kit can be rolled up, and therefore is more suitable for traveling. What drew me to this besides the somewhat alarming name which equates being a housewife to merely a sewing kit was the different fabrics used to make the case. Cleveland’s piece has ten separate brightly patterned fabrics for the ten small pockets just on one side. The inside uses a solid black fabric as lining and on the back is one cohesive patterned fabric.

 

 

Cleveland’s Sewing Case (back)

When analyzing this artifact, I could not help but think of why Cleveland used so many fabrics. It seems so much more time consuming to pick out at least 12 different fabrics that somehow go together color scheme wise than to just use one. It is possible Cleveland was just using scrap fabrics, but to put that much effort into a case that not a lot of people will see because it ends up deep in a trunk when traveling suggests to me that Cleveland valued sewing greatly. This conclusion is not meant to undermine Murray’s argument that women are adept to more than the constraints placed on them, but rather is a testament to the cultural framework that Murray suggests.

George Washington’s First Inaugural Address

By: Mallory Berry

My close friend is a Historic Preservation major, here at The College. I have spent plenty of hours sitting beside her, watching her screen while I did my own homework. Seeing her go into different databases, and look up historical documents always amused me, and part of me believed that I would never have to do that same research, as she did every day. However, through her I was able to really appreciate this search for documents.

I started my search for a document that related to the early United States, and quickly became fascinated with the idea of viewing primary documents from that time period. Seeing the cursive-script lined pages brought life to that time period, for me. As an English major, and throughout this class, it has been interesting to read from a printed book; but I think that reading texts as they were written can bring a new perspective to what was said. The careful lines, how the text was organized by the author, coffee-stained pages, and any mistakes crossed out, or notes left in the margin can allow readers to see something very personal, as opposed to Times New Roman on a bleach-white page.

Browsing The Library of Congress’s database, I was able to find a section on Words and Deeds in American History. From there, I searched through, looking for something that felt relevant to our coursework. Dated back to April 30, 1789 shows the written document for George Washington’s inaugural address to Congress and the House of Representatives. Having the opportunity to view the original document, and to be able to read through his thought process while writing was extremely interesting to me. People now see figures like George Washington as stable figures who do not make any mistakes. However, being able to see words scratched out, and marks notating where he wants to add a sentence, or change his word choice was very humanizing.

The formatting of the page is a scanned version of Washington’s journal. The quality of the document is not great, just because of the fact that it is a document from the 18th century, and moving that to a digital format can also affect the way in which it looks. Reading the document was a little difficult, with the smudged letters, and being able to see the pen strokes from the previous page bleeding through. Reading the cursive text was not incredibly difficult for me, but all of the other marks on the page did slow me down in reading it. On the other hand, had this page been typed up, and placed in front of me, I do believe that it would be significantly easier to read than how Washington wrote it. If this was reproduced to be printed, I would hope that all of the marks Washington made would be maintained, or put in a footnote– because I think that there is great power in the words that he chose to use, and how exactly he got to that point.

With Washington being a historical figure that we often reference throughout this course, but have not had the chance to examine his writing, I thought that this would be a perfect document to examine. I really enjoyed looking for it, and encourage anyone looking for some historical reading to check out the 12 pages of Washington’s writing.

George Washington’s first inaugural address, 30 April 1789.
(George Washington Papers)

https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage

“America” at the Digital Public Library

by Mallory Maples

First and foremost: while I actually enjoy browsing through historical works of art, fiction, and even things like legal documents, I couldn’t help but find myself feeling frustrated during this assignment. There is just so much that I could look for, so many topics and themes that I wanted to cover. 

 I typically use JSTOR for many of my other research-based assignments and have always struck gold there, but Artstor just didn’t really lend me the same success. With that in mind, I decided to check out the Digital Public Library of America; I had some better luck there, thankfully! I ended up not checking out the other databases suggested for this assignment, but since I feel I could benefit from them in the future, I’ve put the proverbial pin in them for further study. 

For this assignment, I was interested in looking into more artistic depictions of America, especially personified ones. We have discussed some American-centered art in the course on several occasions, which is what initially piqued my interest. The practice of personifying countries is endlessly fascinating to me, so I chose a “Lady America” type piece to write about (pictured above!) 

The artwork, and engraving, was created by Rudolph Ackermann in 1801, just at the turn of the century. The title is, aptly, “America,” and we see the subject in the center of a teal background: a pale woman, done in a Grecian style, garbed in the clothes of a Native American. Two cherubs are pictured, one attending the lady and placing a feathered crown on her head, the other hunter a moose in the background. 

The association of North America with the Native Americans has been such a recurring theme throughout world history. I mean, they were around before the Europeans, so of course they’d be correlated to their homeland. Aspects of cultural appropriation are seen even in 1800s. I’ve seen other pieces of art where Native American iconography is correlated with North America. 

Additionally, and on a lighter note: I found the fact that a moose was included amusing. Of all the animal imagery, I would not expect a moose. Of course, my first impression when it comes to American animals is always the eagle and the alligator. This was a unique detail, one that ingratiated the piece to me. 

When I’m analyzing imagery like this, I always think about how I could teach it. Since I’m studying to be an English teacher, I like to consider the value in history alongside literature (which is really just a form of art). Being able to analyze artwork like Ackermann’s, to identify themes and then make connections to society and literature, is a crucial practice that can help students understand the world. 

Blog post 2 – Early Revolution Judaism!

by Michael Stein

I used the Digital Public Library of America database, which was super easy to look through. I’m very interested in Judaism, especially in the early American South, and I wanted to look at the images about Judaism that would pop up. I found two that interested me specifically: 

“Gemaskerd bal, by gelegenheid van het Joodsche Purim-Feest,” in English “Masked ball, on the occasion of the Jewish Purim Festival,” which is a Dutch piece by Pieter Wagenaar, Jr., dated 1780. (left)

and 

“A Rabbi dressed for Prayers,” dated 1816, by a man named T. Hamilton, who was probably just the publisher. (right)

These were both engravings, but nearly forty years apart. I sort of assumed that the pictures I might find relating to Judaism would be negative and stereotypical, but it seemed like these pieces are just outsiders trying to understand the social practices and customs of Judaism. The first piece is relevant because it’s on Purim, which just happened this past week. It shows a beautiful scene of a magnificent party, men and women all dancing by candlelight. I will say that it looks a bit creepy, just because it’s in the dark and the way the dancing is drawn looks a bit unnatural, but it seems to be a relatively positive image, and I was surprised to see that they did not have any wildly stereotypical Jewish dress on or anything that labeled them as Jewish other than the title of the engraving.

The other piece I picked was about the Rabbi. This was a bit more interesting to me because I can relate it to myself. I’m what’s called a Reform Jew, meaning that we don’t do a lot of the practices that more conservative branches do, except that recently, I’ve begun to take on more and more of those conservative practices, specifically, wrapping tefillin, which is an everyday commandment. In this picture, we see a Jewish man wearing a tallis (tasseled prayer garment) and tefillin around his head and arms (phylacteries). Although the man looks a little bit cross eyed, it seems like again, this piece was used just as a sort of study and identification piece. 

Both of these pieces could be used to answer questions about religion in the United States in this period. The first piece could answer questions about social life – it’s always important to look at holidays and large scale gatherings like this one, because we want to see how people interact with each other. The second piece could answer questions about the typical dress of a group, which can help us understand how we look at stereotypes and discrimination in the United States today. 

I was expecting to find more anti-Semitic rhetoric in these pieces, but I guess a lot of those stereotypes either had not made it over from Europe yet, or we had a group of researchers who were devoted to telling scientific fact. It’s funny to see how not that much has changed. Just last week, there was a Purim Festival over at the Charleston Aquarium, where we all got together and danced!

Early Attempts to Distinguish American from British English

by Dahlia Watson

Last semester in my English course on New Romanticism, we had an assignment similar to this one in which we searched through archived lyrical Ballads from the Romanticism period. Both times I thoroughly enjoyed accessing historical literary information that isn’t typically instructed in the classroom. This time around I was more engaged and interested because the artifacts provided insight on my country’s history. I was most intrigued by Noah Webster’s “The Grammatical Institute of the English Language” published in 1804. This 136 page descriptive linguistic outline functions to “furnish schools with a collection of rules or general principles of English grammar” (Webster 3). As a linguistics student, I have always desired to understand the significance of prescribed grammar and the stigma against descriptive grammar. In the History of English course offered at the College, I learned that during the second half of the eighteenth century, a movement formed intending to ‘freeze’ the English language in an attempt to avoid the degeneration of the language. English writer Samuel Johnson’s dictionary played a significant role in outlining standards for semantic connotations in English. Noah Webster followed Johnson’s lead but his publication was significant in distinguishing a unique American standard of English. The preface of his grammar book includes personal anecdotes about his decisions to include idiomatic expressions which have been criticized by linguists but he believes they demonstrate the adaptability of the English language. The preface further details his credibility by attesting to his long hours of studious attention to patterns and phrases commonly used in America. The beginning of the book is really interesting because it reads just like an introductory linguistics textbook, explaining the significance of grammar and differentiating between written and spoken speech. He continues these thorough explanations by describing, with correlating examples, all the parts of speech and their functions. I couldn’t help but to notice how the examples he uses such as “doth” and “mayest” have not been preserved within the language. While some of Webster’s “correct grammatical constructions” would cause confused and concerned glances if uttered in conversation today, other assertions are still stressed in grammar classes today but still are commonly used incorrectly in speech. The distinction between “who” and “whom” is observed on page 41 and still continues to baffle native English speakers today. 

Also, the use of the subjunctive was extremely challenging to me when I began learning my second language because I realized that I commonly use the subjunctive incorrectly in English. Instead of correctly conjugating the verb to be as “If I were you,” I frequently say “If I was you,” and I don’t remember a single time when it caused a miscommunication. While some of these grammatical elements are omitted in today’s speech, other definitions such as those for nouns, adjectives and verbs almost identically align with modern grammar textbooks today. 

Examining the first ever American grammar guide further confirmed my knowledge of the inevitably of language change. Webster’s ability to outline all the rules, with provided examples and specific exceptional cases requires a lot of thorough study and significant technical writing skills. It’s to say, Webster constructed a document which has had a significant impact on the development and social understanding of American English. Although Webster intended for his “Grammatical Institute of the English Language” to establish a set standard for how English should be taught and spoken in America, he forgot one thing in his acknowledgement between the difference between written and spoken speech; spoken speech is forever evolving and cannot be regulated by prescribed grammatical rules. 

 

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433069256646&view=1up&seq=28&skin=2021