English+American+Artwork

English American

English Immigrants to America By Michael Schwab

 Many Quakers in England were being oppressed by the Church of English for their radical beliefs. These include their non-violent position, women as equal to men in the meeting houses and no organized services or rituals. The Church of England denounced the Quakers as blasphemous and accused them as plotting against the government. When many Quakers refused to contribute financially to the church they were thrown in jail. Between 1652 and 1689, 15,000 Quakers were thrown in jail. Finally, in 1689 King Charles II gave William Penn, who was a Quaker, a huge expanse of land near the Delaware River in America. Penn call this a “Holy Experiment” where all oppressed people of different faiths could find a home. When they arrived the Quakers made a treaty with the natives in the hopes of peaceful co- existence.

The artwork is a painting of William Penn and the Leni Lenape discussing the treaty for a lasting peace between the two groups. The artist was a Quaker named Edward Hicks. And the building in the painting is the Quaker meetinghouse in Philadelphia. It was built for many purposes including a meeting place and a place of worship.

The art shows how plain the Quakers make their artwork look. Their architecture is very plain and basic. The Quakers don’t have any impressive decorations on the exterior or interior of the buildings. Notice that their clothing is plain and simple as well, especially compared to the clothing that was fashionable in London. They believe that “finery” takes away from looking for “The Inward Light.”





Allie

From East to West By Allie Rubin

British immigrants arrived in America between 1820 and 1930 from England and made the United States a major industrial nation during the nineteenth century. The English were the first non-Native Americans to settle in the United States. Many Englishmen came to America to exercise their own religion because they were being persecuted for their political and religious beliefs while, others were drawn by the economic opportunities. The English explores wanted to establish overseas colonies in hope to provide an outlet for their surplus population and a source of raw materials for their industry. They established a town with a government and church, however, it was not long until half of the Englishmen died of starvation or disease. Later on, many of the English immigrants immigrated to Massachusetts and created a democratic society with religious toleration in which they admitted Jews and Quakers into the colony. They also established a safe community for the Roman Catholics who were being persecuted for their religious beliefs in England. The British were considered colonists or settlers because they established these colonies that formed the United States, so they did not like to be called immigrants because they established these new societies and were not foreigners.

America attracted people from England with technological and agricultural skills. The Englishmen invented the steel furnace, textile machinery, and later cotton factories. They were also one of the only ethnic groups that came to America and continued in the field of agriculture. Many of the British immigrants were involved in the trade union movement, however, America started to have fewer opportunities for these skilled artisans therefore, and immigration from England declined. Besides from being craftsman, the Englishmen were talented artists. Malcolm Morley is a British-born painter who has lived in the United States since 1958 and currently lives in Long Island, New York. He is an interesting man who has combined two different types of media into one. He has took professional photos and transformed them into paintings or a watercolor piece. In the mid 1960’s, Morley produced photo based paintings that were called “super realist”. Recently, Morley has created photorealist paintings in which he takes images from sports photojournalism and puts them into his own pieces of art. In this painting, he illustrates a photo taken at a cowboy vs. buccaneers football game. Morley portrays our American football teams tackling each other which was originally a photo taken for a newspaper. I choose this painting because Morley takes his British artistic talents of painting and combines it with American photos of sports and American events that could originally be seen in American newspapers. For the second media art, I choose Jay Sean, who is also a British American and a very well known artist. Jay Sean is an immigrant who was born in London, England and now currently lives in New York City. He came to America to advance in his career of singing and rapping. Jay is a talented artist, who has successfully produced three albums and is a  great example of why people come to America. He now can bring his British culture into his music to influence Americans. Jay Sean’s album “Down” is the seventh-best selling single of 2009 and has sold six million copies worldwide. Jay Sean was the first British act to be the hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. He has become the most successful British/American male artist in United States chart history. I choose Jay Sean’s album “Down” to show that immigrants like Jay Sean, can come from a different country and influence our people with their talents.

The photo-based painting by Morley shows many of the conventional themes such as, leadership, teamwork, and intensity. He illustrates two players using teamwork and strength to try to take their opponent down. All of the players shown in this picture demonstrate these themes because they are all trying to accomplish their goal of winning the game. Similarly to many immigrants whose goal of coming to America to fulfill their dreams. Morley’s painting shows Americans that we must exhibit these themes in life to achieve greatness. These themes teach us to work together and be strong against objects we are fighting against to achieve our final goals in life, in which we now incorporate Morley’s themes in our everyday life. Additionally, Jay Sean immigrated to America to become a successful artist and to pursue his goals. Throughout producing his number one hit “Down”, Sean portrays many themes such as, drive, ambition, talent, and hope. He strives to be the best that he can be and displays ambition to create a successful album. Sean’s talents have influenced many other American artists in which his work is shown through there’s. Sean’s beat and lyrical ideas can now be shared through America’s media and influence others to be like him. Both of these British-American artists are bringing their backgrounds into American’s media to allow our cultures intertwine. These talented immigrants help America become more culturally diverse.


 * [[image:morley_tackle.jpg width="242" height="283" caption="Morley's photo-based painting: photo taken from a cowboy vs. buccaneers"]] ||
 * Morley's photo-based painting: photo taken from a cowboy vs. buccaneers ||


 * [[image:http://www.snr.ac.th/wita/Music/JaySean_Down_Feat_Lil_Wayne.jpg width="254" height="290" caption="Jay Sean's album “Down” is the seventh-best selling single of 2009 and has sold six million copies worldwide."]] ||
 * Jay Sean's album “Down” is the seventh-best ||

English Immigrants By Mia Spitz The greatest wave of English immigrants to the United States occurred from 1820-1840. Most of these immigrants were tenant farmers and people from rural areas, but also included people from the cities experiencing a social depression. Since there were less job opportunities available in England people immigrated for the opportunity for better jobs and a new life. America offered the possibility for new land to farm and job opportunities in industries such as mining and textiles. English immigrants since the language was the same that made it a lot easier for them to come over compared to other immigrants from other countries. Although this made it a lot easier for assimilation there were many hardships to endure both in finding worthwhile employment and keeping their families connected. Each time period brought with it many remarkable English persons who made a lasting impact on this immerging nation. During the early 1970s the United States was still very much involved in the Vietnam War, from the late 60’s there were major protests against the war. In 1970 John Lennon who was born in Liverpool, England and a former member of The Beatles released the anti-war song “Give Peace a Chance”. This song became one of the rallying points for the anti-war movement. I chose this song because it has become and iconic symbol for protest movements in America. John Lennon as an immigrant and an American citizen has made a lasting contribution to the American voice. Another influential English born American Citizen was Cary Grant. Cary Grant born in the industrial city of Bristol, England became the symbol of American grace and elegance in movies. One of his most famous roles and enduring roles was that of Dexter in __The Philadelphia Story__. Playing Katherine Hepburn’s ex-husband depicts a love story in which her new marriage plans fall through and happily ends with her re-marriage to Dexter. I chose this movie because it portrayed an American optimism in which a sophisticated divorced couple is able to rekindle and repair their relationship. In his many films he defined the sophisticated and charming ideal man who millions of American women wanted to meet and millions of men wanted to be. In different forms both Lennon and Grant tapped into and created an American optimism. Grant’s was more of a fantasy, a romanticized version of the American man, whereas Lennon’s song was a more harsh and realistic attempt to create a positive outcome. Both were highly influential and both many decades later are still enduring and relevant. What is remarkable about these two Americans is not only did they make a lasting contribution but also they made it as Americans. It is precisely in their becoming Americans that allowed them to reach their potential, and that is the essence of the American experience and American dream.