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Old World, New World In nineteenth century art, the vast majority of images depicting Native American life are neither accurate nor objective. Each piece discussed in Pohl’s “Old World, New World: The Encounter of Cultures on the American Frontier” served, in one way or another, as a subtle, at the time imperceptible vehicle for propaganda, furthering the prejudices, stereotypes and preconceptions about Native Americans through pictorial representation. This, in turn, aided the progress of the United States’ societal homogenization. In 1804, John Vanderlyn painted The Death of Jane McCrea, which depicted a blonde, European female being captured and savaged by two Mohawk warriors. Underneath the obvious connotation of Native American violence and threat towards the European man, this painting is possessed of a complex significance. In “McCrea,” colonists could find justification for their snowballing desire to exterminate and assimilate the Native people. The event depicted is an incident described in Joel Barlow’s The Columbiad, in which Britain, attempting to suppress unruly colonists, enlisted the aid of the Mohawks. However, this painting lacks the social objectivity necessary for it to read as a simple illustration to a piece of literature or even an accurate record of history.
Approximate Word count = 729
Approximate Pages = 2.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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