Metropolitan Museum of Art - George Washington Crossing the Delaware Composition is the arrangement of different elements in a work of art. Let's look at a painting in which the artist used light, color, form, perspective, proportion, and motion to create the composition. This painting describes the historic moment when General George Washington led the American revolutionary troops across the Delaware River in order to surprise the English and Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton the day after Christmas in 1776. Keep in mind that this reproduction is small: the original painting is more than 12 feet high and 21 feet long! Click on the image to see a larger reproduction. The artist Emanuel Leutze used a number of elements to express an emotional and patriotic message about this event. Choose an element below to find out more. Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, American, 1816-1868 George Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851 Oil on Canvas; 12 2/5 x 21 1/4 in. (378.5 x 647.7 cm) Gift of John S. Kennedy, 1897 (97.34)
From Wikipedia:
In the United States, Independence Day, known as, and more commonly referred to by the phrase “Fourth of July“, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.
The Declaration of Independence
43 responses so far ↓
Kari // July 4, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Very nicely done, Dave.
Where are all the ladies?
Marinade Dave // July 4, 2009 at 7:44 pm
It’s a holiday, Kari. I imagine there are picnics and barbecues. I know there will be fireworks later. Plus, weekends, Saturdays in particular, are usually slow. Thank you for the compliment. It was my patriotic duty to say something.
Kari // July 4, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Sure, weekends and holidays are family time, so it’s just us bachelors and bachelorettes…
Also, I have to work, so when boredom overcomes me, I check back into Marinadeland!
detwill39 // July 4, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Happy July 4th United States of America!!
Marinade Dave // July 4, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I hope to keep Marinadeland open for a long time, too, Kari.
Beatrice // July 4, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Detwill39 How do you put a card or video on these posts.
detwill39 // July 4, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Beatrice~~I copied the link at youtube and pasted it in here. Just the link should be showing in here and not that whole box. Sometimes Dave has to change the ones from youtube because they slow down the page.
Beatrice // July 4, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Thanks, Happiness to you and all our good neighbors also.
Beatrice // July 5, 2009 at 2:42 am
A beautiful painting. Are those women rowing that boat?
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 4:24 am
Hey hallo David, thanks for explaining the holiday. Hope you have all your fingers left after the fireworks.
So in 1776 America was independent from England, but I thought there were also pieces of land that were France’s and Spains? When were their independent moments? Before or after? I think after?
Nice you are proud about / of your country. America has a lot of good things. Obama for instance ! I can imaging you are proud to be part of the number 1 nation in politics, economy, sports, trade etc. .
Patriotism sleeps here, but I think it would wake up under an attack or something. Or a cup final
I don’t think I would ever say I was proud to be Dutch btw, (only when we win with soccer) or, even further away, to say that about being European. Somehow that would sound horrible and much too much nationalistic and racist in my ears. Imperialistic?
But America is different. And so are its inhabitants and their feelings for national symbols. For example: if an American flag gets burned, Americans get really personally upset. When Dutch flags get burned or trampled (after Fitna, a movie) everybody I know just shred shoulders and laughed a bit. It is just a flag, who cares. It doesn’t feel like a personal attack or insult.
Why didn’t the Americans start a language of their own, after their independence? I know some words are different, but it basically is the same language. They could have incorperated native words? Lazy huh?
And what will New York be celebrating this year, 400 years of something; I just happen to know because someone who lives here will do the organisation of a festival there, but what is the occasion?
Marinade Dave // July 5, 2009 at 7:27 am
Ina, I’m not going to go through an entire history lesson with you. There are plenty of places to look on-line. The colonies had been settled for some time before independence was declared. Then, the colonists went to war with the British.
Think about it. What would be the point of starting a new language when most people already spoke one?
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 7:32 am
There are plenty places to look for a friendly banter too
See you!
Kari // July 5, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Well, kids! Dave, your reply to Ina is so unexpectedly terse, that after mulling it over, I come to the conclusion that you believe, and you know her better than any of us, that Ina is pelting you with questions as a subtle way of needling you, or faintly mocking your noble, patriotic stance.
But I was very relieved to hop over to open forum and find that you are still speaking to one another!
Ina, that’s an interesting glimpse into another country’s point of view. And one we don’t usually hear from. I mean, we hear a lot from the middle-easterners who hate America and blame us for everything, and we hear from some of the European countries who seem to mostly look on us as an annoying but rich cousin.
But I usually imagine Holland as being pretty much neutral, like Switzerland, only mostly gardens.
Why were Dutch flags burnt after Fitna–you said Fitna was a movie?
Marinade Dave // July 5, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I think that’s a subtle way of putting it, Kari.
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Hi kari, David! I am surprised to read your comments here, I was really not needling and not aware you took it as such. I was just making notice of the difference in approach to national symbols really. If it looked like needling: that was not my intention! It was not an attack.
The flags were burnt after Geert Wilders ( a rather nasty politician who hates islamic foreigners) made a negative movie about Islam. He had hoped for a lot more negative response, but it stayed rather calm.
But this posting is about US, not us
Gardens… I think we have very small gardens here. It is England that has the gardens
Marinade Dave // July 5, 2009 at 2:08 pm
I think, Ina, that I was telling you that there’s an awful lot of information on-line and I didn’t feel like writing a lengthy comment about our history when you know you can look anywhere for it. About the language. It didn’t make any sense to me. Why would anyone want to start a language from scratch just because they were on foreign soil?
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I saw you mentioning that, and it looked as if you were angry for asking. Of course I can look it up. But I just wanted to make converstation.
As the language is concerned: Yes I know most people that came here, spoke English, but a lot didn’t. So a choice was made. I still don’t understand why words that were already here in the land, never inegrated in the national language. It would not be from scratch to call the sky the way the Native Americans already called it? This is not needling, not criticism, just something I wonder!
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 2:18 pm
integrated.
Marinade Dave // July 5, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Ina, there were hundreds of Native Americans here at the time. They all spoke different languages. What were the Colonists supposed to do? Forget English and draw straws for one of the Indian languages?
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I don’t know. It looks as if they didn’t really cared about who already lived there. Perhaps they could do it now then?
I suppose they had other things to be concerned with.
What is the Apache word for sky? The Dakota word for water? I would like to know if I lived there.
But it was just a thing to wonder about.
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 2:29 pm
care. This is how a flurry is born
Id'claire // July 5, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Flurry on, Ina. I like that word.
Like Dave said, there were many tribes, many languages, insomuch that they had difficulties amongst themselves.
Bits and pieces of their languages were gleaned as can be seen by looking at names of counties, rivers, cities, etc. on a map.
Many of the colonists didn’t care who lived here… in terms of saving or honoring lifestyles or cultures. Many tribes (not all) were quarrelsome and vicious, towards each other not just newcomers.
To come and colonize would mean to maintain ones own values. Much of the native values and lifestyles was grounded in their spiritualistic religions, superstitions, sometimes worshiping rituals and objects over and above the value of people. It would be impossible to harmonize this with Western Protestantism which based its beliefs on the Bible. It would be like harmonizing with voo-doo and witchcraft….which is what much of the natives believed.
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Thank you id’claire, that makes sense
What does your nick mean btw?
Ina // July 5, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Heavy thunderstorm now so I am closing the lap
See you!
Kari // July 5, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Id’Claire could be a pun on 2 names, Ida and Claire and a (southern) phrase “I declare!”
Or, then it could be a three-way pun, too, with the Freudian term ‘id’ and the name Claire, meaning something like Claire’s alter ego.
I am so glad you and Dave are not quarreling, Ina.
I suppose British people would say we did make up our own language!!
But English has dominated, or at least been adopted as a second language, almost everywhere it has been spoken… I understand there are some countries where they are pretty warm on the subject of preserving their mother tongue, like France, and Finnland (I think), but some places have almost completely lost their mother tongue to English, like Hawaii, or to Spanish, like most of Central and South America.
Kari // July 5, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Do enlighten us, Id’Claire, when you come back, about your screen name! It’s clever.
Id'claire // July 5, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Claire is my ID, my identification.
And, because I give my opinion (too much), I’m not merely stating, I am declaring! an exclamation (more oomph)
LosAngeles // July 5, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Marinade Dave // July 5, 2009 at 9:39 pm
LosAngeles, you have a nice pair of… smiley faces.
LosAngeles // July 6, 2009 at 12:35 am
Why, thank you. I try to maintain my youthful — faces.
LosAngeles // July 6, 2009 at 1:54 am
I found the following comment on another blog, and I thought it was an interesting comment:
“The Federal Reserve must be abolished.
It is no accident that WWI, the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank, and the initiation of the Federal Income Tax all occurred at about the same time.
WWI was expensive. The creation of the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank allowed the government to borrow money. To pay the interest on the debt, the U.S. government had to initiate the income tax.
If the United States were to use publicly issued currency rather than Federal Reserve Notes (dollars), there would be no debt and no income tax. California may hit on this solution if its government issued IOU’s are allowed to trade on the open market. If I owe state sales tax, I could purchase the California IOU from a neighbor and give the state its IOU back. Eventually the dollar in the middle of the transaction could be eliminated, and the people of California could simply trade in IOU’s.
Under the current system, the Congress has given up this responsibility as it is delineated in the constitution to be the sole issuer of currency, preferring to borrow from the private sector at interest.
The Federal Reserve system is a destructive beast. The founders of the U.S. knew the danger of central banks, having lived under the tyranny of the Bank of England. It is unfortunate that the provisions of the U.S. constitution that prohibit a central bank are ignored.”
Ina // July 6, 2009 at 1:59 am
Id’claire, now there is a nick that has been thought about
It must be my time of year for having to deal with grumpy men, because my husband is even worse. But he still has a mouthfull of pain.
Kari, I never knew I was quarreling. He is!
David, the painting you put here reminds me of the landing on the moon somehow. The flag. I never understood: is the moon officially American territory now
?
My son the most clever bought a piece of moon some years ago. He had an officile certificate to prove it. We told him he had been had, but he is convinced he owns a piece of moon. Every now and then you can find him outside the house glancing up there
Ina // July 6, 2009 at 2:10 am
LA still up? : “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous than standing armies…If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency…the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered” – Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
I quotted this one once on a posting on this blog called Zeitgeist.
Must go work now, have a nice night
Kari // July 6, 2009 at 9:14 am
Wow, I am totally out of my depth with Economics! But both you ladies have impressed me, now I don’t know which way to think…
I really don’t like money. That’s why I don’t have any.
Ina // July 6, 2009 at 9:19 am
Marinade Dave // July 6, 2009 at 9:28 am
It doesn’t remind me of the moon, Ina, but I have been to that very spot where he crossed the Delaware River, many times, in fact. No, the Moon is is not America’s. It belongs to the cosmos. We were there, that’s all.
Ina // July 6, 2009 at 9:32 am
Yes you were. And we were not. But looking at your avatar, I feel the moon is close
And shining.
Ina // July 6, 2009 at 9:34 am
The Delaware is a river in eh New Jersey then? Yes I could look it up I guess…
Marinade Dave // July 6, 2009 at 9:52 am
Gee, Kari, we are in the same boat, but not on the Delaware.
Marinade Dave // July 6, 2009 at 9:52 am
O, I can see that. I guess I could remind people of the Moon, only my head doesn’t have any craters.
Yes, the Delaware runs between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Ina // July 6, 2009 at 9:53 am
Ahum. No craters? Ok. Your head does have some holes though. But I am not pettyfogging.
Kari // July 6, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Oooh, pettyfogging, there’s one I haven’t heard for a while! So long, I think I’ll have to look it up to be sure. Does it mean nit-picking? Or filibustering?
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Ah, it means nit-picking. And it’s spelled with an i instead of y, pettifogging, which I kinda thought, but the y looked good to me, too.
LosAngeles // July 6, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Ina, I think that’s a great quote by Thomas Jefferson.
Kari, I don’t like money so much either. It’s often times the root of all evil.