Chapter 15

The Dawn of Scientific &Artistic Achievements

P. 334-339

Scientific Achievements• Early Americans, confronted with

pioneering problems, were interested in practical science rather than pure science

• For example, particularly noteworthy was a newly designed plow by T. Jefferson, who , amongst his other numerous talents was also a notable young inventor, as was his mentor, Ben Franklin).

• Other Americans worth noting for their scientific contributions:

– Nathaniel Bowditch : studied practical navigation and oceanography

– Matthew Maury : ocean winds, currents

Matthew MauryNathaniel Bowditch

• 12 Things Thomas Jefferson Invented• When he wasn’t busy drafting the Declaration of Independence, founding the

University of Virginia, or serving as President, Thomas Jefferson liked to invent things (and, frequently, improve upon other people’s inventions). He never took out a patent, owing to his belief that every invention should benefit all of society. Just a few of his numerous inventions (or innovations) include:

• dumbwaiters for wine bottles • the Great Clock • the hideaway bed • macaroni and cheese, not to mention • a macaroni extruding device • the pedometer • the plow moldboard of least resistance • the polygraph (not a lie detector, but a copying machine) • a revolving bookstand • the spherical sundial • an improved swivel chair • the wheel cipher

Most Influential U.S. Scientists– Benjamin Silliman

(1779-1864) - pioneer in chemistry and geology (taught at Yale)

– Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) - served at Harvard; insisted on original research, specifically in biology

– Asa Gray (1810-1888) Harvard, was the Columbus of botany

– John Audubon (1785-1851) painted birds with exact detail

• Medicine in the U.S. was still primitive (i.e., bleeding for smallpox, yellow fever, etc; though it killed many).

• Life expectancy was unsurprisingly low. • Self-prescribed patent medicines were

common, they were usually were mostly alcohol and often as harmful as helpful.

• The local surgeon was usually the local barber or butcher.

Artistic Achievements• U.S. had traditionally imitated European styles of

art (aristocratic subjects, dark portraits, stormy landscapes)

• 1820-50 was a Greek revival, as they’d won independence from Turks; Gothic forms also gained popularity

• Thomas Jefferson was the most able architect of

his generation (Monticello and University of Virginia)

• Artists were viewed as a wasters of time; they suffered from Puritan prejudice of art as sinful pride.

• (1755-1828) - painted Washington and competed with English artists

Gilbert Stuart

Charles Willson Peale

• (1741-1827) painted 60 portraits of Washington

John Trumbull

• (1756-1843) - captured the Revolutionary War in paint in dramatic fashion

• During the nationalistic upsurge after the War of 1812, U.S. painters portrayed American landscapes with a romantic realism – notably the artists of the Hudson River school in New York.

• Ultimately, daguerreotypes (photographs) will provide much unwanted competition for artists specializing in realism.

• Music was slowly shaking off the restraints of colonial days, when the prim Puritans had frowned upon nonreligious singing.

– “Darky” tunes and minstrel shows became popular, most famously Stephen Foster’s “Old Folks at Home” (“Swanee River”, “My Old Kentucky Home”, “I Dream of Jeanie”, “Beautiful Dreamer”, etc.)

Stephen Foster

Thomas Cole of the Hudson River School