Presidential Reconstruction - Artist Statement by Colleen Whalen

I worked on my quilt square with Maya. This quilt square was harder than the others but I am glad I did it. We did our quilt square on Presidential Reconstruction. We chose to do the Presidential Reconstruction Plan because it sounded interesting. President Johnson’s Plan was to have the South write a new state constitution, ratify the 13^th Amendment, and the South had to get new government officials because the North didn’t want former Rebels to be in charge. On the square, we put the Reconstruction Plan between President Lincoln and Johnson to show the connection between them. However, Johnson’s plan ended up very different from Lincoln’s because Johnson did not help former slaves like Lincoln would have. He also did many things to help wealthy southerners, which is not what Lincoln wanted.

Harlem Renaissance-Julia Glancy-Deborah's Class

Harlem Renaissance

By Julia Glancy

For the quilt square we did the Harlem Renaissance. Our quilt square is divided into four sections. Writers, performers, artists and musicians of the Harlem Renaissance each have their own section. In each section there are people that were part of the Harlem Renaissance. The paint brush represents artists. Musicians are represented by musical notes. We used a pencil to represent the writers. Masks were used to show performers.

The scale in the middle with the question mark is asking if things are now equal. During the Harlem Renaissance African American artists started being recognized for their work. Now African American artists are given credit for their work but not all African Americans are treated equally to whites.

Alex Harris' Artist Statement-Jim Crow laws-Sarah's Office

Me and Devlin's piece gives an example of how colored people, even though they had been liberated from slavery, were still not free to do all that they wanted to do. Most of the time, Jim Crow laws were simply separating blacks from whites by makings separate fixtures, rooms, and even buildings for colored people. There were colored drinking fountains, colored schools, colored waiting rooms (which is what is what is shown in this piece), colored train cars, colored restrooms, and more ridiculous things, and often, the colored versions of these everyday things were in much worse repair than the white ones (which is why the colored waiting room in the picture has no seats). Many shops also did not serve colored people, so it was very difficult to get good quality goods, such as clothing (which is why the person sitting on the floor in the colored waiting room is wearing rags), and many people would not give colored people good jobs, so they mostly ended up working for the same plantation owners who had kept them as slaves just a few years earlier, except that they got a small amount of pay, and didn't get whipped all the time. And some of these Jim Crow laws weren't even restricted to the South. Even in the North, they had colored drinking fountains and other ridiculous things.

The Jim Crow Laws-Hermela-Deborahs class

five primary documents   
The jim crow laws

This website talked about the jim crow laws that created segregation between whites and blacks. This picture above shows that white people and colored people had different drinking water fountains. Not only did they have different drinking fountains but Amferican americans and white americans had to go to different schools, eat at different restaurants and use different facilities.


Old anti-Jim crow poster

This website talked about how the Jim crow laws affected africans americans.
"Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-Black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Craniologists, eugenicists, phrenologists, and Social Darwinists, at every educational level, buttressed the belief that Blacks were innately intellectually and culturally inferior to Whites. Pro-segregation politicians gave eloquent speeches on the great danger of integration: the mongrelization of the White race.  Even simple children’s games portrayed blacks as inferior people."
It also taked about if someone didnt follow the laws they were beaten, jailed, or worse.


Jim Crow Laws

This picture shows an african who protesting to end the jim crow laws and on the right a white american who supports the jim crow laws. This website talks about how the laws were state and local laws in the united states that discriminated aganist blacks. The name Jim crow isnt a person, the name comes from an old song named "jump Jim Crow"
"Seperate but equal"
This website talked about the Jim crow laws and the phrase "seperate but equal". It wasnt true because African americans and white americans were not equal. Black schools and white schools were not equal, white schools got more supplies, funding and more education. The U.S military was segregated until integrated by Harry S. Truman after World War II.




"On December 1, 1955, Parks wearily refused to relinquish her seat to a white man. She was arrested, fingerprinted, and incarcerated. When Parks agreed to have her case contested, it became a cause célèbre in the fight against Jim Crow laws."







Thurgood Marshall

This is a picture of Thurgood Marshal.
In 1954, he convinced the Court that 'separate but equal' public school classrooms were unconstitutional (Brown v. Board of Education).
In other cases, Marshall defended the rights of the individual and affirmed legal protections for women, children, prisoners and homeless persons. He said the Constitution was the best weapon against Jim Crow laws and the equal protections clause was not complicated.
"Equal means getting the same thing at the same time and in the same place," he wrote.

15th Amendment Artist Statement- Haile McIntosh

Along the top of our quilt square is the 15th Amendment. In the center of our piece is a box in which a man of color is casting his vote. Under the box is a copy of the Amendment stating that, all men regardless of their race, color, or previous conditions of servitude had the right to vote. On the left is a picture of the Civil Rights Act past July 2, 1965. This act was built off the 15th Amendment, improving it's faults. On the act is a circle with a cross through it that says "poll tax". This helps to represent that the Civil Rights Act outlawed poll taxes and other obstacles such as literacy tests that stood in the way of voting. The Civil Rights Act is still in action today and significantly rose the amount of registered African Americans with its improvements.

Marley Thirteenth amendment Deborahs class

Marley - thirteenth ammendment - deborahs class

http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiii
the thirteenth amendment states that all slaves will be freed and that slavery or anything of that sort was aggainst the law unless used for punishment from a crime.

http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=18082&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=0
this is a letter written by E.A. Dammers.  it was written to George Fuller regarding the thirteenth amendment.  it also tells some about what life was like back then.

Marley Thirteenth amendment Deborahs class

http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=18082&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=0

this is a letter written by E.A. Dammers.  it was written to George Fuller regarding the thirteenth amendment.  it also tells some about what life was like back then.

Marley Battle of gettysburg deborahs class

Marley battle of gettysburg deborahs class

quote-
"we see the poor fellows...  lying on the ground with the mangled stump of an arm or a leg, dripping thier life blood away; or with a cheek torn open, or a sholder mashed.  and i say, alas!  hear not the roar as they stretch upon the ground with turned up faces and open eyes, through a shell wshould burst at their very ears."

Marley- battle of gettysburg- deborahs class

bit.ly/meMyAv

abraham lincoln giving the gettysburg address

Marley Battle Of Gettysburg Deborahs Class

www.army.mil/gettysburg/flash.html

interactive site

Marley- Battle of gettysburg- deborahs class

bit.ly/kTmzFJ

dead soldiers after the battle of gettysburg

Marley tariff deborahs class

Marley Tariffs Deborahs class

artist statement

tariffs are a tax added on imported and exported goods. (also known as a sales tax) 
our quilt square shows the sepparation between north and south, but it also shows the trade routs to europe.  the square shows that the trade routs from the south were a LOT longer then the trade routs from the north.  an added expense:  the north had alot more factories that manufactured alot of goods, but the south was alot more agracultural and so they had to import and export alot of things, resulting in the added taxes.  it was really nice for the north to have control over the tariffs, because the government got money from the south for protection and other needs.  another feature on our quilt square is the NAFTA routes.  NAFTA is a trade agreement between canada, the US, and mexico where there is no tariffs on any of the goods that travel between those countries.  the problem with nafta is that the usa companies moved to mexico because mexico doesnt have quite as many laws as we do here, and they dont have to pay any extra tarrifs to import the goods to the usa.

 

marley, tariffs, deborahs class

nps.gov/archive/gett/gettkidz/cause.htm
this is information on the causes of the civil war.

marley, tariffs, deborahs class

www.bit.ly/fnjLAC

this is info on the boston tea party

marley- tariffs- deborahs class

http://bit.ly/heLHcy
this explains what a tariff is.

marley- tariff- deborah

http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/commentary/358/entry

this link is about the history of tariffs from 1816 up untill now.

Marley tarrifs deborahs class

artist statement

tariffs are a tax added on imported and exported goods. (also known as a sales tax) 
our quilt square shows the sepparation between north and south, but it also shows the trade routs to europe.  the square shows that the trade routs from the south were a LOT longer then the trade routs from the north.  an added expense:  the north had alot more factories that manufactured alot of goods, but the south was alot more agracultural and so they had to import and export alot of things, resulting in the added taxes.  it was really nice for the north to have control over the tariffs, because the government got money from the south for protection and other needs.  another feature on our quilt square is the NAFTA routes.  NAFTA is a trade agreement between canada, the US, and mexico where there is no tariffs on any of the goods that travel between those countries.  the problem with nafta is that the usa companies moved to mexico because mexico doesnt have quite as many laws as we do here, and they dont have to pay any extra tarrifs to import the goods to the usa.

Marley Tariffs Deborahs class

General Hancock having a wispered disscussion with Senator Randolph, deciding weather or not Tariff Reform should be viewed as a 'Local Question'

Marley Tariffs Deborahs class

this is a magazine page from the south telling what an issue the tariff was.

15th Amendment -Artist Statement-Oliver A.- Deborah's

The Artist Statement is at the bottom

This is a photo of African Americans voting.

This is a picture of a black man smiling after the 15th Amendment was passed.

This is a painting of the first black citizen to cast their vote, called "The First Vote"

This is a newspaper from  April 5th, 1870. It  tells the first votes being cast by an African American under the 15th Amendment.   

 This is the 15th Amendment. It was enacted in 1870 and It lets African American or blacks vote. It is still in effect today.

Artist Statement

For are quilt piece Haile and I chose the 15th Amendment. The 15th Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote.

On the top it Says "15th Amendment" showing that was are topic. In the middle there is a box that holds all of the voting slips. To the right of the box there is a black man casting the first vote of a black citizen. The man and the box is exactly like the painting called "The First Vote".

On the bottom you see a copy of the 15th Amendment. You can read what it actually said. On the left there is a copy of the Civil Rights Act showing the connection to 2011. It shows the act is a improvement of the 15th Amendment, plus it is still in effect today. One of the main reasons congress passed the act was so they could have respect over more of their nation, also to give the African Americans what they have been waiting for and thats what are Quilt Piece shows.

Sarah Rose Ezelle-Deborah's class-Sharecropping primary docs

Below you see  a memorandum of agreement between two sharecroppers

Memorandum of Agreement

between R.P. Hames Planter, of the County of Marion State of South Carolina and Bob McGaha Laborer, engaged, or to be engaged, in plantation work upon the lands of said Planter known as McKeller Plantation; made this 1st day of January Anno Domini eighteen hundred and seventy five and to continue in force until the first day of December 1875   The party of the first part (Planter) agrees to furnish the said Bob with the same farm he worked last year and what Guano furnished if any to be put at the credit county price, all other advances that I may furnish to be put on the same conditions reserving the rite of controll of said farm in full.

and the party of the second part (Laborer) agrees to use all diligence, and give his time and attention, to the best of his ability, to the cultivation of the soil, to the tending and gathering in of the crop, and all to be done in due time repair all the fencing and secure [?] from fier by cleaning under it, replace fencing for crossfence ends and finish ditch that is started so as to drain ponds intended to drain do all the surfing [?] in power to do this spring on my cottonland keep fier off of said lands, answer to all calls from the said Hames or his agent     And in consideration of the services of said Laborer the said Planter agrees to give him for his sole use and benefit all crops raised upon such portion of the land as he may cultivate in excess of twelve hundred lbs. good white lint cotton and enough of ballance of crop to pay for all advances from said Hames, if it takes all the crop to do so which last the said planter reserves for his own use and benefit. 

    And it is mutually agreed that none of said crop shall be removed from said plantation without the written permission of said Planter; and the said laborer, for any violation herein, shell forfeit all share and interest in said crop. 

    And it is further agreed that the Laborer shall deliver to said planter the planter’s portion of said crop as fast as he may direct--in gathering and lined [?] as he may direct--and put in marketable condition on or before the fifteenth day of November 1875. 

And to the performance of this agreement each party binds himself, his heirs, executors and administrators.  The seed to the amount of three hundred an seven bush belongs to the said Hames in return of seed used this year for  [illegible] said crop advanced by said Hames.        sined Feb 26, 1875Witness,                                   Robt. P. Hames
J.J. Sineath                              Bob  McGaha + his mark

---

 Below, this is a picture of a family farming on land that they are using.

 Below, this picture shows a family picking cotton outside their cabins.

                                         
                                             Below, this diagram  shows the cycle of  sharecropping.
                                     
                                   


                                         Below is a cycle of how sharecropping is better, in some ways, than farming on your own land.

Below is a picture of a 13 yearold boy sharecropping on a farm.

                                  

Sarah Rose Ezelle-Deborah's class-Sharecropping-Artist's Statement

For our quilt square Heath and I chose the subject of sharecropping. Our square has a scene of what land that was being sharecropped might look like.In the middle is a large, fancy house. This os the owner's house. All around it are garden plots and small shacks next to them. These would be where the farmers live. On the bottom left corner is a slightly bigger house with a satellite dish on top. This symbolizes how sharecropping is still done today.

When the slaves were freed, they were left without jobs and houses.So they had the idea to have an agreement with a landowner to farm on the owner's land if they gave the owner  portion of the crop, normally about half. In return the owner would give them a place to live and some food. Sharecropping helped reconstruction because it gave more people land and jobs.

Artist Statement by Blake/ Deborah

      Lenny and I had decided on some last minute things to put into our quilt square. Up top, you see an African American skull and a woman crying , because of all the sadness the KKK had caused. The KKK member holding the Mexican flag, symbolizes that they don’t want any more immigrants coming in to the US. The other KKK member with the flaming cross was meant to symbolize a ritual to God. The African American man being hung and the man lying down in a pool of blood refers to what the KKK did to other races different from theirs. And of course the big letters at the top, gives the onlooker what topic this quilt square is about.

madeline-Harlem Renaissance -Deborah

Links:
This website gives a brief summary of what harlem renaissance was, it also gives a timeline, biographies, and other links
http://029c28c.netsolhost.com/blkren

This is the symbol of the National Association for the Advancment of Colored people(NAACP). They had a lot to do with Harlem Renaissance. The NAACP published a newspaper for colored people. It was called the Crisis (as seen below). The NAACP put a lot of their art work , poetry and photography into the Crisis. It was one of the only ways for colored people to have their work published.

 

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_harlem.html

This website has good info relating to the NAACP.

Langston Hughes was a member of the Harlem Renaissance, here is one of the poems he wrote

 The Negro Speaks of the Rivers

I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
     flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln 
     went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy 
     bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Madeline's artist statement

I did my quilt square with Julia and Abby. Our topic was Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time in reconstruction where African American artists, musicians, writers, singers, actors, dancers and others, met up together in Harlem, NY. This was a way that African American's could express themselves through their passion without being judged by whites. 

In our quilt square, we divided it into four sections. They each have a symbol to represent the topic. One is a paint brush to represent the artists, one is a pencil to represent the writers and poets, one is the symbol of thearter (happy face, sad face) To represent the actors, the last one is a note to represent the musicians and dancers. In each one there is a few faces of people who were involved in that topic. On the top half there is the Apollo thearter and Cotton Club to represent where they performed. On the Bottom,There is The CRISIS to represent where their things were published. In the middle there is a scale with a question mark representing the question of, are blacks and whites equal today? 

 

These are some examples of art in Harlem Renaissance