The New Imperialism

So far we've taken a bird's eye view of the New Imperialism, as well as a comparative analysis of imperialism in Africa and Asia. We've examined literary aspects of imperialism with "The White Man's Burden," "The Black Man's Burden," and an advertisement.


We will now turn to politcal cartoons and geography.


Below you will see three political cartoons about imperialism. Analyze and discuss on your own sheet of paper. Read more here about the political cartoon immediately below, and the bottom cartoon depicts British financial magnate Cecil Rhodes, about whom you can find out more here.

The final part of the assignment is to complete this module about imperialism. Answer all questions on your own sheet of paper. Be prepared to discuss in class.

Looking for Lincoln

Here's a link to what appears to be a fantastic documentary on Abraham Lincoln. I'm watching it right now. So far, so good.

Herny Louis Gates of Harvard is the main host, and he interviews many of the leading scholars of Lincoln. Also, there's a section of the documentary in which Gates sits in a Chicago high school classroom and discusses Lincoln with AP U.S. history students.

Brushing Up on the Past: Understanding Romantic and Realist Art

While I'll resist making a pun by saying that I love Romantic art, I will provide links to the paintings several artists.



Take a look at the paintings, and brush up on the basic biographical details of the painters' lives; we will need this information as we canvass the history of Romantic art.



[For the first three links, find Romanticism on Mark Harden's homepage, click, and find the painters and their paintings here.] In addition to some of the artwork featured in your book, there are some arresting landscapes from John Constanble. Check out the work of French artist Theodore Gericault, and the German painter Caspar David Friedrich. And finally here is an assortment of paintings for your viewing and analysis. You should also read more about Realism, and see examples of some realist artwork here and here.




The assignment: pick one artist, and one painting by that artist. On Thursday you will discuss basic biographical details (birth, death, education, influence, importance, etc.), and then using the SMARTboard to display images of your artist's painting(s), analyze the paintings in class. The aim of this assignment is to better understand Romantic and Realist art.






[Photo credit here and here.]

Ideologies of Change: Marxism

Today we will take a of the life and influence of Karl Marx, and watch this to see how Marxian analysis influences American pop culture.

Find out more "below":

Read more about Marxism and compare Marxism and socialism here. There are scholars and citizens who call themselves "non-Marxist socialists," while others employ the term "democratic socialist."