Juan Navarro
Professor Powell
English 5B
12 October 2015
Imperfections of History Over the years, the United States has always had controversies arise as time progresses. With technology advancing at a rapid rate, the amounts of historical inaccuracies that appear are tremendous. One of the most famous historical inaccuracies to appear, especially in United States history, is when George Washington crossed the Delaware River. Many historians have speculated the accuracy of the famous painting, drawn by German artist, Emanuel Leutze. Historians have addressed the inaccuracies of the painting, but no actions have been taken to change the status of the painting. Even though the painting has become a major part of American history, it is important …show more content…
One of them is that the mini-icebergs in the Delaware River did not actually occur. Since Leutze was not born near the Delaware River he could not have historically, accurately depicted his artwork. Mini-icebergs do not form on the Delaware River, but rather a thin ice sheet when it gets cold enough. According to Corey Kilgannon, who interviewed Mort Künstler, a painter who is known for his historical images, said, “Leutze did not shy away from imbuing the scene with a dose of glory, inspiration and heroism” (Kilgannon). The mini-icebergs were exaggerated because Leutze needed to evoke a sense of heroism to portray Washington’s journey as a brave decision. Leutze needed the Europeans to see this portrait and ask themselves if they can create change like Washington did, but to do so he needed to exaggerate the …show more content…
The painting depicts a man holding the American flag, which did not happen at the time. Hamon states, “the flag depicted was not created until about a year after the battle” (Hamon). Hamon clearly states that the flag did not exist during the time of the crossing of the Delaware. According to the website, Archiving Early America, “Notice that it is the flag commonly referred to as “The Stars and Stripes. This flag did not exist at the time Washington made his famous crossing” (Corssing). “The flag in Leutze’s painting was not adopted until June 14, 1777. Leutze should have shown the Grand Union flag” (Crossing). The flag in the painting was called, “The Stars and Strips Flag” and that flag was not adopted until the following year. The real flag during the revolutionary war was called, “The Grand Union Flag.” A reason Leutze might have added that flag was so the Europeans could identify the men on the boats as American. Leutze could not have known about the flags because he drew the painting 75 years later and it did not help that he drew it in Germany. How was he going to
Professor Powell
English 5B
12 October 2015
Imperfections of History Over the years, the United States has always had controversies arise as time progresses. With technology advancing at a rapid rate, the amounts of historical inaccuracies that appear are tremendous. One of the most famous historical inaccuracies to appear, especially in United States history, is when George Washington crossed the Delaware River. Many historians have speculated the accuracy of the famous painting, drawn by German artist, Emanuel Leutze. Historians have addressed the inaccuracies of the painting, but no actions have been taken to change the status of the painting. Even though the painting has become a major part of American history, it is important …show more content…
One of them is that the mini-icebergs in the Delaware River did not actually occur. Since Leutze was not born near the Delaware River he could not have historically, accurately depicted his artwork. Mini-icebergs do not form on the Delaware River, but rather a thin ice sheet when it gets cold enough. According to Corey Kilgannon, who interviewed Mort Künstler, a painter who is known for his historical images, said, “Leutze did not shy away from imbuing the scene with a dose of glory, inspiration and heroism” (Kilgannon). The mini-icebergs were exaggerated because Leutze needed to evoke a sense of heroism to portray Washington’s journey as a brave decision. Leutze needed the Europeans to see this portrait and ask themselves if they can create change like Washington did, but to do so he needed to exaggerate the …show more content…
The painting depicts a man holding the American flag, which did not happen at the time. Hamon states, “the flag depicted was not created until about a year after the battle” (Hamon). Hamon clearly states that the flag did not exist during the time of the crossing of the Delaware. According to the website, Archiving Early America, “Notice that it is the flag commonly referred to as “The Stars and Stripes. This flag did not exist at the time Washington made his famous crossing” (Corssing). “The flag in Leutze’s painting was not adopted until June 14, 1777. Leutze should have shown the Grand Union flag” (Crossing). The flag in the painting was called, “The Stars and Strips Flag” and that flag was not adopted until the following year. The real flag during the revolutionary war was called, “The Grand Union Flag.” A reason Leutze might have added that flag was so the Europeans could identify the men on the boats as American. Leutze could not have known about the flags because he drew the painting 75 years later and it did not help that he drew it in Germany. How was he going to