American and regional culture

Teaching guides: American and regional culture

Help your students explore works of art as primary documents.

Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom

Teaching guide<br>Hicks, ​<em>The Peaceable Kingdom​</em>

By Smarthistory

In his Peaceable Kingdom series, Hicks depicts a visionary scene of peace on earth that extends back to include William Penn and the founding of Pennsylvania. Hicks captures the greater religious diversity and tolerance of the Middle Colonies, but the determination of English settlers to take Native American land would undermine the racial harmony he imagined.
APUSH: KC-2.1.II.C

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Aaron Douglas, Aspiration

Teaching guide<br>Aaron Douglas, <em>Aspiration</em>

By Smarthistory

Aaron Douglas's paintings at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition focused on how the rich African past inspired a bright future for African Americans, even in the midst of Jim Crow and the Great Depression.
APUSH: KC-7.2.I.B
TEKS: 113.41.(24)(B)

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Explore the diverse history of the United States through its art. Seeing America is funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.