The Battle of Lexington
From artist's perspectives.
Photography was not invented until decades later, so there are no photographs of the Battle of Lexington. The first depiction of the battle was created by two young militiamen, Ralph Earl and Amos Doolittle in 1775. Neither witnessed the battle. They visited the site a few weeks later, spoke with participants, and created a sketch of the battle.
What do you notice about this picture?
Who appears to be winning? Why do you think that?
Why did Earl and Doolittle depict the battle in this way?
Cyrus A. Swett,
1830
What has changed in this version?
Why the change? Why did Swett depict the militia shooting at the British?
Remember Earl and Doolittle chose to depict the Lexington militiamen as innocent victims of British tyranny in order to win people to the patriot cause.
Would an artist working in 1830 have felt the same motivation? If not, what might have motivated him to depict the battle as he did?
Hammatt Billings
1859
What do these images, created over 123 years, have in common?
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