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Native American Sachem
This portrait by an unknown artist depicts Ninigret, the sachem or leader of the Narragansett peoples. He adorns himself with traditional wampum or quahog shells. -
Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow, King of the Maquas, mezzotint
This engraving of a prominent figure in the Maqua tribe used a engraving technique called mezzotint. Mezzotint and engraving were used to reproduce portraits and paintings onto paper for print. -
The Grounds and Rules of Musick Explained, or An Introduction to the Art of Singing By Note.
Minister Thomas Walter from Massachusetts wrote the first book of music with notes. At this time, American music mostly consisted of hymns and psalms. -
Nuestra Senora de los Dolores, c. 1675-1725
This carved and painted wooden statue depicts Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she is told the fate of her son, according to Biblical texts. -
Westover Plantation, c. 1730-1750
This Georgian-style architecture was owned by William Byrd I and was one of the first plantation to cultivate tobacco. -
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
John Edwards' sermon on Hell and God's wrath gives a glimpse into the First Great Awakening, a revival of evangelical beliefs. -
Portable Pulpit, Oak, c. 1742-1770
Evangelical ministers, like George Whitfield, used portable pulpits when travelling to different colonies, giving sermons in the town squares. -
College of New Jersey
After the First Great Awakening, evangelical ministers founded colleges, like College of New Jersey, later known as Princeton University, to train new ministers. -
Join or Die
This political cartoon was published in Benjamin Franklin's newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, complementing Franklin's editorial on the disunity of the British colonies. -
"My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free”
Francis Hopkinson was the first American singer/songwriter. It is considered to be the earliest secular, or nonreligious, surviving composition. -
Samuel Osgood House
This house is considered the first "White House" or the First Presidential Mansion. It occupied President George Washington from April 1789 - February 1790 during New York City's two-year term as the national capitol -
Penn's Treaty with the Indians
This painted was commissioned by Thomas Penn, William Penn's son, to painter Benjamin West. Penn, who was a Quaker, wanted settlers and the tribe to live peacefully together. -
Common Sense
Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, was written in the plain language so any colonists could understand it. It was the first printed work to ask for independence from the British Government -
Gostelowe Standard No. 10
Regiments of the militias had many different flags. Like this one, they often use imagery and poetics that reflects their cause. -
Watson and the Shark
John Singleton Copley's pictorial account of Brook Watson's near death experience, getting attacked by a shark while swimming in the Havana Harbor, underscores the scene's tension and immediacy. -
Early Map of America
Abel Buell printed the first copyrighted map of America by an American. He used publications mainly, although they did not contain any cartographic material. -
Boston Tea Party, engraved.
W.D.Cooper, although made this engraving in London, depicts the American protest against the taxation of tea and spices by the British government in Boston in 1774. -
The Continental Harmony
William Billing is considered America's first choral composer, arranging music for a cappella four-part quartets. -
The Washington Family
This iconic painting by Edward Savage was mass produced for print in 1798. It depicts President George Washington with his wife, Martha, two of their grandchildren, and a house slave. -
Congressional Pugilists
Political parties were developed shortly after the American Revolutionary War. This political cartoon shows the struggle between the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists.
