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The Americas are what they are today because of what happened before, during, and after the exploration and colonization of the Americas. Many things contributed to the beginning interest in the Americas, like the crusades of the 11th – 13th centuries and the travels of Marco Polo. The culture of the Americas is due to the protestant reformation, the renaissance, and the defeat of the Spanish armada.

The crusades marked the beginning of exploration and adventure. The European people started to obsess for Asian products, such as silk, drugs, perfumes and spices. There were many other goods the European people needed and wanted. They also sought cheaper prices on merchandise that weren’t from the Mediterranean. The Europeans experimented with new ways to sail to the Asian countries so they (more…)

I. Western Philosophy

Western philosophy first came about when a philosopher named Thales, who was born in approximately 585 B.C., became the first man to think outside the box and sway away from using myths and gods as the answer for all intellectual questions. Known as the first Greek philosopher, Thales initiated a way of understanding the world that was based on reason and nature. Once he revealed this whole new way of philosophizing, Western philosophy was born. There are many different subjects that Western philosophy covers, including logic, natural philosophy, ethics, poetics, and metaphysics. Philosophy can be described as the certain knowledge of things through their ultimate causes seen in the light of the principles of reason.

Western philosophy consists of expanding the mind and exercising the intellect. It differs from other types of philosophy because it is the only type that analyzes things to such a certain extreme. For example, under Western philosophy, the very question of what is beauty? Is brought up under the subject of poetics. While a normal human being living today would not really think twice about what is beautiful, Western philosophers such as St. Thomas Aquinas suggest that the beautiful can be reduced to the good, nevertheless it differs from it in concept. It is a special kind of good that which pleases on being the continues to go on and discuss the concept of both good and beauty.

Not only are things such as beauty philosophized about, but also things such as truth, what it is, and if we as people can actually know truth. The study of truth is what makes up epistemology, a category of the subject Metaphysics. Philosophers known as skeptics argue that humans can never know truth, while those in opposition believe that evidence is the decisive factor in determining truth. Questions such as these (more…)

In Glover’s book I: The Philosophy and Psychology of Personal Identity, he states “my corpse is not me” to Frida Kahlo’s paintings Self Portrait with Hair Cut Off, and The Little Deer this quote is most applicable because in more than one way Frida Kahlo felt she was already dead. In Both paintings portrays someone who she feels she is but is not. These paintings depict her longing to be in another body because suffering she endured from the physical pain of the accident and the mental pain she felt from her marriage. First, a brief biography of Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo had a history of dressing rather plain . She did this because she was severely teased in her school due to the fact that she had a deformed leg. This deformed leg was the result of an accident on a bus on September 17, 1925. Frida was greatly injured in this accident; she was found to have eleven factures of the right leg and her right foot had been dislocated and crushed and the left shoulder was also dislocated. Her spine and pelvis were also injured. To top off all this her collarbone, two ribs and the pubic bone were all broken. The worst injury of all is an iron rod that had gone through her left hip and came out of her vagina. This injury is what led Frida to feel inadequate as a woman.

All of this pain led Frida to be a very rebellious teenager. While going to school in Mexico City, Frida met Diego Rivera, who she eventually married. After the accident, while bedridden, Frida’s mom gave her the first art (more…)

During the early 1930’s the United States was amidst the abyss of the Great Depression and right on into the early stages of World War II, unprecedented support from the Federal government was allocated to the world of the arts. For eleven years, between 1933 and 1943, artists, actors, writers, musicians, dancers and photographers were employed through federal tax dollars. Never before in the history of our great nation had the United States government been such an advocate and a sponsor of the arts. The recently inaugurated president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was at the head of this great undertaking and it was obvious that during his first one-hundred days of the New Deal he felt the urgency to put Americans back to work.

By the end of 1932, almost thirteen million Americans were out of work and the soup lines and homelessness were a direct result. Artists from al fields were not immune to the effects the Great Depression had placed upon society. The inability to procure the necessary material with which to work would immediately force the painter, the writer, the musician, and the actor into a world of joblessness. Through the New Deal Roosevelt had put into action, arts projects provided work for these unemployed artists. The scope of this New Deal for the arts would go even farther concentrating itself somewhat on the promotion of American art and culture. Through this President Roosevelt hoped to give more Americans access to what he described as “an abundant life.” For many Americans the projects enabled them to see an original painting for the first time, attend their first professional theater, or take their first music or drawing class.

As with all plans or projects one must expect that along with the positive aspects there will surface some negative. From the beginning there did exist some controversy concerning the arts projects. Believing them to be wasteful propaganda some politicians wanted them ended while others wanted them expanded. This controversy, along with issues associated with the United States’ entry in World War II would eventually end the projects. But much of what was accomplished during those eleven years still exists for our learning experience and enjoyment.

Embedded within much New Deal art was the aspect of Artistic Nationalism. Many forms in which things American existed had an interest taken in them. State and Regional histories were produced by writers, daily life during the Depression was documented by photographers, American heroes came out (more…)

“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” Patrick Henry, although dead before Frederick Douglass was ever born, used his words and poetically described Douglass’s life. Originally known as Frederick Bailey, he was born into slavery but lived to become Frederick Douglass and accomplish an impressive legacy. His childhood was filled with only awful memories of cruelty and inhumanity. When Frederick had learned of the significance of literacy, he educated himself and immediately planned an escape to success. He became one of the most prominent African American of the nineteenth century who represented the black minority as a successful orator, journalist, and anti-slavery leader. As a young man, he deviously escaped slavery and headed north toward freedom, or at least the closest thing to freedom for men of color at that time. He spoke to many people in this area, instilling the importance of eradicating human bondage. While living in the New England area, he became a great author, writing many articles for local newspapers and even composing three versions of his autobiography. During this time in his life, Mr. Douglass also campaigned for the elimination of slavery and civil rights for minorities. He became an inspiration to all and held governmental positions as he persistently worked for constitutional rights throughout his entire life. Frederick Douglass’s arduous past led to his successful influence on the abolition of slavery and effort to end racial discrimination.

Frederick Douglass was born Frederick Augustus Bailey in Tuckahoe, Marylany. He was unaware of his exact age, for he never (more…)