Reflection+On+Our+Legacy

= REFLECTION = In organizing the “walls”, I set out to explore what legacy Americans, “inherited” from the past. Alexis De Tocqueville in __Democracy In America__ covered our governmental system, a democracy. The quote from De Tocqueville and the painting by the American artist John Trumbull both showed how deep our democratic roots are. The religious mores that developed in the early years of America were extensively shown in the __Scarlet Letter__ by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Puritans strove to have a perfect society in which citizens were regulated by religious law and governmental law. In Puritan society, both were the same. This inheritance of ours, Puritan values, continue to exist in our society today though not to the extent of before. The painting by  Thompkins Harrison Matteson allows the viewer to visually see the religious mores of Old America. As the adulteress, the preacher, and the offspring stand together on the place of punishment, they are illuminated as if to show them in true light. A villager that passes is stricken and disapproving of the situation. Another part of our legacy is the racial mores that have continued into today since the time of slavery and oppression. In the __Invisible Man__, we meet a black man who has realized that in American society, the color of his skin as made him “invisible” to White America. The paintings of Aaron Douglas, which were made during the Harlem Renaissance, illustrate this point very well. The transparent figures in the painting are working hard to build “stately mansions” and city buildings. Their work for the city is likened to the work slaves did for the Pharaoh as a sphinx is in the background. I began by presenting what we know because I felt it was important to set a foundation before we delved into more current issues. It is important to consider the effect the past has had on contemporary times in order to fully understand the issues of today. http://amlit-kaplan.wikispaces.com/Hope+For+Change%3F+Nay%21 (NEXT PAGE)