Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

Bomb • United Nations •WorldWar I

•WorldWar II

Warhol, Andy

AndyWarhol was a U.S. artist famous

for his paintings of Campbell Soup cans

and portraits of celebrities.Warhol himself

became a celebrity, in part because

of his unusual personality and sense of

style.

AndrewWarhola, as he was originally

named, was born in Pennsylvania in

about 1928. He studied art at the Carnegie

Institute of Technology. After

graduating in 1949, he moved to New

York City. There he drew illustrations

for advertisements. But he wanted to be

an artist whose works were shown in art

galleries.

In 1962Warhol showed some of his

paintings at a gallery. He had painted 32

pictures of different flavors of Campbell’s

soup. The soup cans were all

painted in the same flat style.

Warhol’s paintings were a new kind of

art.Warhol took familiar objects and

made them into art.Warhol and other

artists were called pop artists because

they took images from popular culture,

or everyday life.

By 1963Warhol had begun to make

pictures from photographs. He started

creating portraits of such stars as Marilyn

Monroe and Elvis Presley. He made

numerous portraits of the same person

using different bright colors for each

picture.

Warhol called the place where he created

his art the Factory. Unlike other artists,

he did not treat his works as unique.

Instead he mass-produced his art, similar

to the way factories make products. The

Factory became a place for unusual and

famous people to meet.Warhol worked

with some of these people to create

films. The films were known for not

having plots and for being very long.

In 1968 one of Warhol’s followers shot

and nearly killed him. After recovering,

Warhol continued to make art. He died

in New York City on February 22,

1987.

#More to explore

Advertising • Arts • Painting

Andy Warhol created paintings of everyday

objects and celebrities.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Warhol, Andy 11

 

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was the second war

between the United States and Great

Britain. The United States won its

independence in the first war—the

American Revolution. Neither country

won anything important in the War of

1812.

Background

In the early 1800s Great Britain was

fighting a war against France. The

United States did not take part in this

war, but Britain tried to keep U.S. ships

from stopping at French ports. The British

also took sailors away from U.S.

ships and forced them to join the British

Navy. These actions angered many

people in the United States.

People who lived in newly settled areas

of the United States were also angry

with Britain. They accused the British

of getting Native Americans to attack

settlers.

Most of the fighting in the War of 1812 took place near seacoasts and lakeshores in North

America.

12 War of 1812 BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Henry Clay of Kentucky led a group in

Congress called “war hawks.” The war

hawks got President James Madison to

sign a declaration of war against Britain

on June 18, 1812.

Early Battles

The United States was not ready for war.

The Army first tried to take Canada,

which belonged to Britain. The attacks

failed. Britain struck back by taking

Detroit, Michigan. The U.S. Navy was

more successful at first. The USS Constitution

(“Old Ironsides”) won several

battles in the Atlantic.

U.S. forces won two notable victories in

1813. On September 10 ships commanded

by Oliver Hazard Perry

defeated British ships on Lake Erie. He

then helped recapture Detroit. In October,

Perry’s ships and troops commanded

by William Henry Harrison

chased the British into Canada. There

the U.S. forces defeated the British in

the battle of the Thames. The Native

American leader Tecumseh died while

helping the British. After this battle,

most of the Native Americans stopped

fighting.

Later Battles

These victories did not stop the British,

however. In August 1814 British troops

sailed up Chesapeake Bay and entered

Washington, D.C. They burned the

White House and other government

buildings. They then tried to capture

Baltimore, Maryland, but failed. Francis

Scott Key wrote the words to “The Star-

Spangled Banner” after this battle.

On January 8, 1815, British soldiers

attacked troops led by Andrew Jackson

at New Orleans, Louisiana. Jackson’s

forces defeated the British. Both sides

fought this battle without knowing that

their countries had signed a peace treaty

in Ghent, Belgium, on December 24,

1814.

The war was over, but there was no

clear winner. The boundaries returned

to where they were before the war.

Andrew Jackson and William Henry

Harrison were considered heroes

because of the battles that they won.

Both were later elected president of the

United States. Another result of the war

was that the United States became more

independent from Europe. The country

developed more of a sense of national

identity.

#More to explore

Harrison,William Henry • Jackson,

Andrew • Key, Francis Scott • Madison,

James • Tecumseh • United Kingdom

• United States • White House

A painting shows the USS Constitution and

a British warship fighting a sea battle during

the War of 1812. Smoke from the guns

fills the air between the ships.