American Civilization 1600-1865

Progressive Poet

2009-12-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

There are few poets that captivate, shock, and entertain with the same class, and excellence that Whitman displayed. Whitman emerged during in important, and pivoting era of American cultural philosophy, in a time when a transition was being made from American transcendentalism into American realism. It was in this cultural agenda that the language of Whitman’s now infamous poems was established, and cultivated. Although Whitman was not appreciated until sometime after his death, reading his writings offers a glimpse into the American psyche, and a taste of the emerging ideology of realism.
Realism was an attempt to capture the true vulgarity, and raw essence of day-to-day interactions. Proceeding transcendentalism as the cultural mindset, there is and element of overlap that can be observed. As such, elements from both can be found in the writings, and poetry, that Whitman published. The graphic description of events shadows the use of realism, while the romanticizing of such experiences show the lingering effects of the transcendentalists.
One area of debate in Whitman’s poems is the way in which he describes and uses human sexuality. Many critics of the time pointed to his poems as pornographic, and shunned the legitimacy of such vile literature. This can be used in conjunction with the general population’s reaction to group the style of realism with the idea of progressiveness . Whitman continues to uses this style of progressive thinking for the majority of his lifetime, tackling such taboo subjects as homosexuality.
Whitman uses strong language, which no doubt aids in the solidification of his poetry’s recognition as some of America’s finest. It is truly fascinating the style that emerged from such a unique period of American society. A period in which, society was controlled, while at the same time pursuing personal independence, and social content was meticulously filtered, while there was a demand for raw unfiltered content. It is in this paradigm that Whitman constructed and refined his literary masterpiece.
Whitman’s various poems give us a glimpse of an American society littered with hypocrisy. A society that created false realms of purity, and established controlled gender and social roles. To the culture of the time, Whitman’s style was like a bad glass of milk, it had all the right ingredients, the problem was it was just being consumed at the wrong time. Although it was not admired then, it can be admired now for its unique and interpretive style, a style that could have only come from a developing American Social structure.

Cited
Whitman, Walt. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition [serial online]. October 2009;:1. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 8, 2009.

Transcendentalism. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendentalism, Accessed December 8, 2009.

Donna Campbel, M. (2008, july 7). Realism in american literature, 1860-1890. Retrieved from http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm, Accessed December 8, 2009.

Whitman and sexuality

2009-12-07T23:07:00.000-08:00

Walt Whitman was born in Long Island in 1819. He was a poet, journalist and humanist from the 19th century. During the civil war he worked as a teacher, and a volunteer nurse in addition to publishing poetry. He was part of the transcendentalist movement and realism, his works containing both views. The “Calamus” in Leaves of Grass promotes the manly love of comrades, however it can be seen as homosexual love. The poems are personal and seem to be telling the story between the narrator and a male love. In his works Whitman talks about “comradeship” which of course could be interpreted as a code for homosexual love. Like homosexuality itself Whitman refuses to be shaken off (Tayson 4). I believe from what I have read that Whitman is attracted to men, and enjoys being with them.
In “The Base of All Metaphysics” Whitman says “The dear love of a man for his comrade, the attraction of friend to friend, of the well married husband and wife, of children and parents, Of city fir city, and land for land” (102). I believe this poem to be about relationships, including homosexual relationships, because when he talks about the dear love of a man for his comrade it is not friendship since he talks about it after. Also ““for the one I live most lay sleeping by me infer the came cover in the cool night, In the stillness in the autumn moonbeams his face was inclined towards me, and his arm lay lightly around my breast-and that night I was happy” (103) in “When I Heard at the Close of the Day” seems to be showing the relationship the author has with his lover, another male, and how he worships it. “Calamus” gives the impression to be about Whitman’s interest for men.

Works Cited
Tayson, Richard "The Casualties of Walt Whitman." 79-95. Virginia Quarterly Review, 2005. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York: Bantam Dell, 2004

The Influence of Experience

2009-12-07T22:27:00.000-08:00

In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first set of 12 poems in the first edition of Leaves of Grass. He was not widely received, as many people of the time did not understand the points to his writing. One writer, however, Ralph Waldo Emerson, praised it. Whitman then added more poems to his book, including “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” In 1865, he again added a collection of poems referred to as Drum-Taps, which was influenced by his experience in the Civil War. Towards the end of his life, his poems took a deathly turn, like in “Whispers of Heavenly Death.”

As one may later understand, Walt Whitman’s poems grew and matured as he did, with his experiences influencing his creations like an adult influences his or her child. Ernest Smith suggests that “a reader should resist examining any period of Whitman’s work, or any edition of Leaves, in isolation from other periods or poems” (Smith 228). This is good advice, considering that his poems changed significantly over the course of his life. This transformation is so apparent, that it can be spotted in even the titles of the poems. “Song of Myself” turns to “Drum Taps” which morphs into “Whispers of Heavenly Death.” His first set of poems was influenced by living in Brooklyn(i.e. "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry"), while later poems were highly influenced by his involvement in the Civil War, and even later poems could be attributed to his sense of his coming death. Smith describes Whitman in his first “stage” as an “ecstatic poet of body and soul in 1855”, who then, in his second, Civil War era stage, becomes a “doubtful Drum-Taps poet who struggles to comprehend and console in 1865”, and later decomposes into meditative, faltering death poems (228). Smith correctly analyzes and criticizes Whitman’s progression, and makes a case to re-read Whitman’s poems after reading poems from each of his stages in order to better understand each poem and the immense influence his experiences has on them.

Smith, Ernest. "Restless Explorations: Whitman’s Evolving Spiritual Vision in Leaves of Grass". Papers on Language & Literature, Summer2007, Vol. 43 Issue 3, p227-263, 37p;

Whitman, Walt. "Leaves of Grass"

Whitman The Patriot

2009-12-07T15:55:00.001-08:00

During the Civil War, Walter Whitman served as a nurse to do his part in securing the sanctity of the nation which he had such high admiration for. By 1871 Whitman had perfected one of his most famous poems called, “Song of Myself”, by removing the word “American" from the verse, "American, one of the roughs, a kosmos" and merging the meaning kosmos with the quote "Walt Whitman am I, of mighty Manhattan the son" to its final form in 1871: "Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son." Many experts such as Richard Rorty, a writer, openly criticized Whitman as not being a patriot during such a crucial time in the nation’s history. Due to all the atrocities that the Union soldiers had to go through during the bloody Civil War era, Rorty believes Whitman lost his sense of nation patriotism “After the Civil War, the story might go. Whitman saw the rampant greed and materialism around him as profanations of the sacred blood-sacrifice he witnessed so closely in Washington hospitals between 1862 and 1866” (Cushman). Critics can point to the evidence that Whitman had developed a belief that all American’s were greedy and had lost touch with core American values; however, as Cushman proves, Whitman later removes American from his poem because he believes that kosmos and American are synonymous. Whitman regards himself as such a devout patriot that he does not need to explain what he is implying, and that it is understood that his poem is reflecting American values when he uses the word kosmos. In order to understand Whitman’s reasoning we have to look at the revised verse as a whole. Kosmos is used to describe both Whitman and the city, as if they are both cosmopolitan, then the last three words of the revision tie everything together. Whitman is the son of Manhattan, which is the son of America which is a kosmos. In one simple verse Whitman declares his identity, patriotism, and pride for his city and country. Furthermore, more evidence can be drawn from the fact that Whitman never revised the quote which claims "The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem." If Whitman truly became anti-American he would have undoubtedly changed or expunged this verse.

Cushman, Stephen "Whitman and Patriotism." 163-185. Virginia Quarterly Review, 2005. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.

Whitley, Edward "Whitman's Occasional Nationalism: "A Broadway Pageant" and the Space of Public Poetry." Nineteenth-Century Literature 60.4 (2006): 451-480. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.

Misinterpretation

2009-12-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

When “Calamus” first appeared in the section of “Leaves of Grass” in the third edition in 1860, there were some controversy during that time about homosexual, or, as Gay Wilson Allen says “homoerotic”. However, the twentieth century thinks that Whitman was celebrating “manly love” and that each poem if just a direct “confession”, according to Russell A. Hunt in “Whitman’s Poetics and the Unity of ‘Calamus’”. Hunt also thinks that “Calamus” has a deeper meaning then just Whitman’s homoerotic tendencies, “consideration of the section can restrict itself to the implications of the clearly homoerotic passages only by ignoring much that is of real importance in determining how those passages are to be understood” (Hunt, 483).

Hunt introduces a theme in “For You O Democracy” is about the social values of “the reader-poet love-relation” (Hunt, 490). Other democratic poems that we have read are “I Hear It Was Charged Against Me” and “I Dreamed in a Dream.” These poems were frequently thought as “Whitman’s way of rationalizing and sublimating his homosexual urges” (Hunt, 490). The interpretations made from these poems are that the stronger the urge, the stronger the society will be.

Even though poems like “We Two Boys Together Clinging” is expressing companionship, because it is placed in the “Calamus,” it is frequently misread. Although there is much homosexual imagery placed in “Calamus,” Hunt thinks that it “represents one of the ways in which Walt Whitman artistically transcended his personality” (Hunt, 494).

It is easy to interpret the “Calamus” as a homosexual poem because of way it written. Many readers would jump to the conclusion it is a poem about homosexuals. Like in “We Two Boys Together Clinging,” it starts of “We two boys together clinging…” sound more than just a hug. The in “When I Heard at the Close of the Day”, “for the one I live most lay sleeping by me infer the came cover in the cool night, In the stillness in the autumn moonbeams his face was inclined towards me, and his arm lay lightly around my breast-and that night I was happy.” It can easily be read as Whitman was with another male figure. There are many instances like this in the “Calamus” making this section of “Leaves of Grass” to be thought as his homosexual interest.

Hunt, A., Russell. “Whitman’s Poetics and the Unity of ‘Calamus’”

Whitman, Walt. “Leaves of Grass: First and ‘Dead-Bed’ Editions”

Shared Time & Space

2009-12-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

Walt Whitman is known today as one of the most crucial American writers ever to live. During the late 19^th century his work flourished and his thoughts and ideas were shown in his poetry. His extraordinary way of thinking was new and in some ways his ideas were embraced by the American people. In the book, “Leaves of Grass”, several of Whitman’s pieces are collected together to form one amazing piece of work. Included in these poems are abstract ideas that hold underlying messages. Many different poems have many different meaning, but today I will be trying to take a part Whitman’s "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”, and piecing it together to paint his image.

"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” is Whitman’s first person view of living and experiencing life in America. Here he describes this new phenomenon and this new way of living. With the ferry now in play time is something that is now extremely important to American living. There is a set schedule for the working people/passengers and technology is the reason for this change. The world is combined into two elements witch are science and nature. Science and nature collaborate with one another further more creating this new ear for human beings. This idea of a time consuming world was new, but it was also something that was shared with all Americans.

In the article, “In Whitman's Country”, Meena Alexander describes her new life her in America. She was born in India but after finishing school she moves to America. In her article she describes her emotions that came up during her first ride on the Brooklyn Bart. She describes her experience just as Whitman describes his. Though all the other passengers are not aware, each and every one of them is connected by this shared experience. The sense of time and space is something that all Americans will share. As Whitman and Alexander are connected, so is everyone else. The space between their time and are time does not matter. We all are American sharing the same experience.

Though everyone may be doing different things with their life everyone is connected by time. Whitman’s "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”, and Alexander’s “In Whitman's Country” are prime examples of this American ideal. No matter where one is from, if you are now living in America then you are now living in this new era of technology, time and space.

Work Cited:
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York: Bantam Dell, 2004

Alexander, Meena "In Whitman's Country." 186-192. Virginia Quarterly Review, 2005. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.

Evil!

2009-12-07T11:33:00.001-08:00

Walt Whitman in all of his poetry refers to emotions that potentially have a different connotation to the American of the present day and age. The belief that everybody has evil inside themselves is not an idea that Whitman came up with by himself in Crossing Brooklyn Ferry 6. The fact that we are all “Actors and Actresses” to hide the emotional “Evil,” Things such as guile, anger, lust, and greed are all things that all humans posses as Whitman stated in his poem. As in “The Killer Inside Me,” depicting evil in the career of the character Ford. The templates that we have for good and evil are templates that we have come up with through an American identity of right and wrong. “The Killer Inside Me illustrates Kant’s notion of the inscrutability of the ground from which we will actions of good or evil and the ultimate insufficiency of reason” (pg 5 Dorthy G. Clark). Everyone has the propensity to be either good or evil, both of these aspects are in all of us as human beings. This is because we have defined what is good and what is evil. We have defined good and evil as emotions that are used in combination such as anger, greed, and envy these emotions not being hidden from the public. These emotions when not hidden grow in intensity and continue on to action. These actions are truly evil, with the intent of the emotions behind them. Whitman's proclamation that he is as evil as anybody else is slightly different coming from an American point of view. Most Americans do not see themselves as evil because of their belief that they are special snowflake. Special snowflake meaning “ There is something unique about everybody and they should be appreciated for their uniqueness... especially me,” This belief along with American patriotism creates an attitude amongst many Americans that they themselves are good and can do little wrong. In reality human beings are not as simple as being totally good or totally bad. The admittance to Whitman's own evil and everyone's evil will is very progressive in human development for Whitman. “Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping, play'd the part that still looks back on the actor or actress,” (pg 136 Whitman.) This is the continued knowledge that people are all actors because they must hide what they are. All people have this evil inside of them, and those that are truly truthful are those that are evil because they are not trying to hide the animal inside. With the paradox being that truth is one thing that people hold in high regards, but those that are really truthful are those that society sees as evil.

Academic Search Premier. December 6 2009 .

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York: Bantam Dell,

2009-12-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

Walt Whitman’s poem “Song of myself” touches on many points that may not be obvious to all readers. One of these points is the concept of death, and surviving through a material object. Whitman describes death as the “bitter hug of mortality.” This shows how he accepts death as the end of his conscious being, and his time in the living world. David Lehman argues in his article that Whitman was actually creating a piece of work that he could live through after his death when writing “Leaves of Grass.” Lehman argues that we can see how Whitman tried to achieve this by looking at his writing style. You can see in his poems that he ends without actually having an ending, what Lehman refers to as “stopping short.” The conclusion drawn is that it will continue in another time, possibly after Whitman’s death even. This point is further proven when Whitman actually states that “I do not talk of the beginning or the end” (24).
Throughout “Song of myself” there are many references to death. In part 6 Whitman states that “to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier” (28). In this quote you can see Whitman’s understanding of death, and that he thinks of it in a different way than most. He even goes to compare being born “just as lucky as to die.” Through these quotes we can see that he does not consider death an end, but a beginning to a new period in his life cycle. Throughout “song of myself” we can see how Whitman is trying to make sense of death in a way that it is not something to be feared by people. He believes that he is there temporarily, to “come and depart” and then reappear in another form at another time (30).

Works Cited
Lehman, David "The Visionary Walt Whitman." American Poetry Review 37.1 (2008): 11-13. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Dec. 2009.

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. New York: Bantam Dell, 2004

Song of My Country (Whitman)

2009-12-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

The poems created by the American poet Walt Whitman were something truly original and progressive for his time. His ability to form abstract poetic sentences but still maintain concrete ideas created a unique style of poetry that popularized him in the middle to late 19th century. With his collection of poetry titled “Leaves of Grass”, he was able to portray his ideas that stemmed from Transcendentalism and transitioned to realism. One of his most popular works named “Song of Myself”, centers around himself as the speaker, but ultimately had an underlying theme that is meant to connect every person.

Straying away from the notion of classes and titles produced from society, his poem “Song of Myself” steers toward the self and self-realization. Originating from Transcendental ideas, he maintains that no matter what profession or class, these ideas pertain to all. The reader must realize when reading this poem that, often, Whitman’s use of the word “I” is not intended to include solely the author Walt Whitman himself, but everyone and/or anyone. In the first three lines of “Song of Myself”, he sets the tone for the whole poem, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself,/ And what I assume you shall assume,/ For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”. Using his powerful understanding and mastery of the English language he is able to convey his ideas of unity through the use of examples of science and nature. Whitman wanted the reader to step back from society and understand one’s self as the natural being you were intended to be, and to let one understand the world that they live in more fully.

Using his ability of the English language, Whitman created a collection of poems that pushed his ideas into mainstream America in a compelling and different way. As Andrew Lawson states, “Whitman famously described Leaves of Grass to Horace Traubel as ‘only a language experiment’.”.

Works Cited:

Lawson, Andrew. 'Song of Myself and the class struggle in language’. Textual Practice; Autumn2004, Vol. 18 Issue 3, p377-394, 18p. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.

Kinnell, Galway. ‘Walt Whitman and Negative Capability.’. Virginia Quarterly Review; Spring2005, Vol. 81 Issue 2, p221-227, 7p, 5 bw. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.

Natural Whitman

2009-12-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

Printer, teacher, journalist, editor, Walt Whitman is known as one of the most important American poets of the nineteenth century. He was born in Long Island on May 31^st, 1819. As an American writer he had one unique characteristic of his poetry. Whitman made the decision to use free verse in his poetry which relied on the rhythms of American speech (Allen). He published his first version of “Leaves of Grass” in 1855. As a result, multiple versions of the text were published over his lifespan (Allen). During his life time, Whitman took part in the Civil War as a nurse for the army and was also a correspondent for the New York Times. “Leaves of Grass” was not his only famous poetry he is also famous for “O Captain! My Captain!” which he wrote in 1866. Before his death in 1892, Whitman produced his final “Deathbed Edition” of “Leaves of Grass” (Allen).

Whitman’s poetry is traditionally centered on ideas of democracy, equality, and brotherhood. Whitman also created the theory of nature which explains a sense of unity between the body and soul. That “the idea that no matter how poorly you're feeling or how bad your day has been, just take a walk in the cleansing air and enjoy nature in its element. After that, you can't possibly continue to be down and depressed...the energy of nature will uplift you like a pep rally for your soul” (Kepner 179-183). Diane Kepner reveals that “Whitman thinks we cannot ignore either the body or the soul in the search for what is permanent and changeless about ourselves” (Kepner 179-183). For Whitman, spiritual communion depends on physical contact, or at least proximity. The body is the vessel that enables the soul to experience the world.

From the first couple of lines in section 6 of Songs of Myself, “A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;” (Whitman 27). The bunches of grass in the child’s hands, Kepner and Albert Gelpi share, becomes a symbol of the regeneration in nature. Gelpi considers Whitman as able to see the grass as the recapitulation of the whole cycle of life, death and rebirth. It is the symbol of the individual, of reproduction, of the new social order of American democracy, of death, and of the new form in which death transforms life (Gelpi 153-216). Both Kepner and Gelpi confirm Whitman’s statement that what is natural cannot be avoided and that we all have something to learn from nature because we belong to it. Subsequently, Whitman reveals that he is both in and of the world, that he has fully immersed himself in nature and therefore understands the world and himself because of it.

Allen, Gay Wilson. The Solitary Singer: A Critical Biography of Walt Whitman. New York: Macmillan, 1955. Reprint, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.

Gelpi, Albert. The Tenth Muse--The Psyche of the American Poet. Cambridge: Harvard, 1975.

Kepner, Diane "From Spears to Leaves: Walt Whitman's Theory of Nature in "Song of Myself." American Literature 51.2 (1979): 179. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.

Democracy Becoming Dictatorship?

2009-12-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in Long Island, New York. He was an American poet, journalist, essayist, and humanist. He was part of the changeover from transcendentalism to realism. He was often called the “Father of free verse” with his influential poems and especially the critically acclaimed “Leaves of Grass.” He worked in the Civil War as a voluntary nurse and was a teacher and journalist throughout his life. Towards the end of his life, his health began diminishing as he had a stroke and later died on March 26, 1892. He was 72 years old. His sexuality was often discussed throughout his time writing poetry. People debated either if he was a homosexual or bisexual. But disagreement overcame biographers. Whitman started getting concern with politics later in his life, like slavery and government, which is why “Leaves of Grass,” especially the chapter, “Song of Myself,” was so popular.

One of the main issues in “Song of Myself” is democracy and how democracy will fail if all individuals are not treated equally. Bo Rothstein says in his article, Creating Political Legitimacy: Electoral Democracy Versus Quality of Government, electoral democracy does not legitimize a government, even if trying to strive for an equal, people-ruled government like democracy. An electoral democracy does not give the people the right hearsay to want they want in office or laws that should be passed. Citizens feel that with the government having electoral votes, their votes do not matter (Rothstein, 311-330). This goes against the idea of what Whitman is trying to say in “Song of Myself.” Whitman thinks that if all individuals are treated equal with equal rights, then a democracy that is formed will strive to success. But that is if individuals are equal with rights. Electoral democracy is none of that. It is the total opposite. This can also be coded for the abolition of slavery, as he wants all individuals to be equal, including blacks. If this type of government keeps going forward, the citizens, feeling like minorities, will rebel against the government and then can probably result in guerrilla warfare.

Works Cited
http://www.biography.com/articles/Walt-Whitman-9530126

Rothstein, Bo "Creating Political Legitimacy: Electoral Democracy Versus Quality of Government." American Behavioral Scientist 53.3 (2009): 311-330. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 Dec. 2009.

Melville: The Conflict Between Sides

2009-11-30T16:06:00.000-08:00

American author Herman Melville, born in New York City in the year 1819, is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and Billy Budd. Melville's desire to support himself autonomously led him to getting a job as a cabin boy, thus leading to his fascination of the sea and remarkable novels of sea goers. Billy Budd was the last novel that Melville wrote before his death in 1891, the book was not published until 1924.
The story is essentially portrayed as a story of good versus evil with the two main characters Billy Budd being portrayed as good and John Claggart on the evil end. Billy is allegorically seen as Adam or Jesus while Claggart is seen as an evil, mischievous serpant or Satan; in fact he is referred to as a snake numerous times throughout the text. The aspect of evil comes out directly when Claggart accuses Billy of conducting a mutiny. Of course a mutiny is a very detremental incident on a ship and in a war. Billy's character has been innocent through the voyage and Claggart's evil plan corrupts Billy. A conflict in the story comes with the climax. Billy's innocence and good is taken away from him when he hits Claggart and in result kills him. The goal of Claggart's evil plan had been accomplished, sabotaging Billy's innocence. In the following line from te text Melville explicitly states that even though it was an angel of God who killed the devilish creature the angel must be put to rest, for an act of killing is an act of evil, "Struck dead by an angel of God! Yet the angel must hang!" (pg 70). Claggart had succeeded in destroying Billy's body, but failed to wipe out his heart. His spirit was captured in his cry, "God bless Captain Vere!" (pg 94), which were his last words before he was hung. Claggart ultimately had the last laugh because his plan was completed in corrupting the innocent angel like persona in Billy. This novel makes it clear that Melville was trying to portray not only the difference between good and evil, but evil will ultimately prevail on earth and good always has to struggle against it.

Melville, Herman. Billy Budd and Other Tales. New York: Signet Classics, 2009.

Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 3: Early Nineteenth Century - Herman Melville. "PAL: Perspectives in the American Literature" <www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap3/melville.html> 29 November 2009.

Billy Budd: The Tale of Two Sides

2009-11-30T15:57:00.001-08:00

In the fiction piece of sailors and the ocean, Billy Budd, Melville writes in a way that has two sides of everything throughout the reading. Billy Budd himself, can be one side where he is completely oblivious to everything that the other seamen are thinking and doing. Billy Budd is also seen as innocent in everything he does because of the fact that he does not know what is going on. In Joyce Sparer Alder’s writing about Billy Budd, Billy Budd And Melville’s Philosophy Of War, Alder writes about a world of the civilized and the Christian that exist within the world where war and evil is one. Billy Budd fits in this world as the good side or the civilized Christian side (267).
In Billy Budd, the story takes place on a ship. Everyone knows that there are different ranking and different authority levels on a ship. Being the captain, you have the highest authority and can say anything you want. Being Billy, you are not the captain and you cannot. Quickly, we are already given the two sides on the boat, authority and the common. Billy, like many other crewmembers, will do anything and everything that the authority says to do. Being the more civilized, Billy doesn’t backlash or fight against what he is told. Billy never does wrong, and is reminded more not to do wrong when a crewmate gets flogged. Billy thereafter vows not to bring that upon himself.
Another complete contrast Melville writes about is between Billy and the King. Alder analyzes it on page 269, “…to Billy, who cannot say “no” to any authority, a fondling child who wants to be liked by everybody…. To the King… whose war they will serve without question.” Billy would serve the King in a war that Billy himself most likely would not want to fight. Just in nature, Billy Budd cannot say no.

Billy Budd and Melville's Philosophy of War
Joyce Sparer Adler PMLA, Vol. 91, No. 2 (Mar., 1976), pp. 266-278 Published by: Modern Language Association

Melville, Herman. Billy Budd and Other Tales. New York: Signet Classics, 2009.

Billy Budd: Two Concepts of Society and Nature

2009-11-30T15:56:00.000-08:00

Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819, as the third child of Allan and Maria Gansevoort Melville. Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet who are often classified as part of dark romanticism. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and Billy Budd, which were published posthumously.

Melville travelled to New York and secured his place as cabin boy on a ship bound for Liverpool, England. Upon return to New York he held various unsatisfying jobs until he next set sail on the whaling ship Acushnet in 1841. In search of adventures, Melville shipped out in 1839 as a cabin boy on the whaler Acushnet. He joined later the US Navy, and started to have long voyages on ships, sailing both the Atlantic and the South Seas. As a result of his remarkable experience in many ships, most of Melville’s books and works are all related to his journey in the sea. For Melville, there are two types of society and nature.

In a sense, the various ships in the novel represent different types of societies. The first society is the Rights-of-Man which symbolizes a place where individuals maintain their individuality. For example, in choosing to obey law over conscience, Captain Vere commits himself to society at the expense of own individuality. The second type of society is the Bellipotent which represents a military world in which, under the threat of violence. Furthermore, in the article, “Bringing out the beast Melville’s Billy Budd: The Dialogue of Darwinian and “Holy” Lexicons on board the Bellipotent” Eric Goldman argues that nearly every person in the Bellipotent “is likened to a specific animal” (Goldman). In fact, he implies the characteristics of most of these animals are wild, violence and will do anything just to survive. He interpreted that Billy is like an animal that accepts his impressments into military service as an unchangeable fact of his environment while Claggart is like an animal that lives in an irresistible environment (Goldman). Therefore, in the presence of evil and violence, the rules of society impinge upon the individual rights of men.

In his essay, John Noone argues that in Billy Budd’s world there are two concepts of nature. The two types of nature are the good and bad nature. Most importantly, he states that in good nature, people are noble savage, while in bad nature, people are evil. He also says that men are “naturally good” and they are surrounded by peace and happiness (249). In addition, he says that one of the quantities of good nature is when people are working together, which “each character radically sharing the rarer qualities of one nature” (260). In the other hand, bad nature is the place where people are only thinking about themselves and have the mind of war (252). Moreover, Claggart is one the characters who lives in bad nature (state of war) because he was corrupted with a lot of lies, keep his secrets from other people and wants to be better than Billy. As a result of his jealousy from Billy, he has the mind of “war of all against all”. Lastly, all humans are living in a good and bad nature which both controls and justifies what they do.

We can conclude that in our world there are two types of society and nature. Nevertheless, in the book Billy Budd by Melville, Right of Man is the place where people maintain their own identity while Bellipotent is a ship and type of society where people are in military mode and like animals that will do violence in order to survive. Moreover, by allowing ourselves to live in a good nature, it will give us the sense of happiness because of unity. However, if we live in a bad nature, our mind will be corrupted with lies and jealousy, which force us to commit a crime.

Work Cited

Goldman, Eric "BRINGING OUT THE BEAST IN MELVILLE'S BILLY BUDD: THE DIALOGUE OF DARWINIAN AND "HOLY" LEXICONS ON BOARD THE BELLIPOTENT." Studies in the Novel 37.4 (2005): 430-442. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2009.

"Herman Melville." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

30 Nov. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/374228/Herman-Melville>.

Noone Jr., John B. "BILLY BUDD: Two Concepts of Nature." American Literature 29.3 (1957): 249. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2009

Law: The Anti-Nature

2009-11-30T14:54:00.000-08:00

Herman Melville was born in New York, 1819. His family went bankrupt and his father died when he was 12 years old. Then, after leaving school, Melville went to work many jobs including one in Liverpool as a cabin boy. Melville also spent 18 months on a whaling ship, but was jailed for mutiny, then was able to escaped to the Marquesas Islands; he spent time with cannibals until his rescue. He lived in Tahiti and returned home to his mother in 1844. Melville's stories are influenced greatly by his adventures at sea; his most famous was Moby Dick. In 1855, Melville stopped writing for 20 years. In Melville’s last novel Billy Budd, Billy represents good in a case against the evil Claggart, but the judgment lies in Captain Vere to carry out justice. “Necessarily crude and imperfect, the law cannot adequately assess a pure nature such as Billy's--or a purely evil one, such as Claggart's. Hence the tragic dilemma of Billy Budd: the law, though indispensable, may in the rare case destroy a representative of the very "Spirit" it was instituted to protect” (Shaw). The law cannot fully bring justice to everyone and in fact violates nature itself.

The character Captain Vere must rely on the law to bring justice to the case of Billy Budd and Claggart. “How can we adjudge to summary and shameful death a fellow creature innocent before God, and whom we feel to be so?—Does that state it aright?” (Melville 79). Vere put Billy to death by the Articles of War despite his feelings. In law, there is no justice for everyone because law is not natural. For Melville and transcendentalism, Billy is the essence of nature itself, but in the end, Vere must confine in the law and sentence Billy to death. By application of the law, humans are going against nature.

In the end the law controls and justifies what humans do. “…in receiving our commissions, we in the most important regards ceased to be natural free agents” (Melville 79). Vere as a human and sailor is a part of nature but at the same time must confine in something so unnatural as the law. Law takes away free will to make our own decisions. This can also criticize the act of war according to Melville because in war the law says humans fight then they fight regardless of the violent outcome. They fight regardless of their own feelings on the matter. In sum, when law is involved, human free will is of no effect.

While law claims to bring justice, it actually always brings violence to those it initially intended to protect. The laws of nature no longer hold when law is applied.

"Herman Melville." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 30 Nov. 2009 .

Melville, Herman. Billy Budd and Other Tales. New York: Signet Classics, 2009.

Shaw, Peter "The fate of a story." American Scholar 62.4 (1993): 591. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2009.

The Evils of Mutiny

2009-11-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

Mutiny is found throughout the novel Billy Budd; from the explanation of the Mutiny at Nore, to the fear of mutiny within Vere. Eugene Goodheart makes a claim that Melville disapproves of Revolution, which is evident within Captain Vere. Vere has a split between his head and his heart—his admiration toward Billy Budd made him want to acquit him of his actions, yet he knows rules must be followed to maintain order. Keeping a mutiny from arising was his utmost concern.

“Melville's mistrust of the Revolution, inspired by the Enlightenment belief that the world can and should banish evil from the world, shows in his conception of Claggart, a creature of evil according to nature” (86). An obviously evil person and an evil mutiny that may have ensued were both disposed of in the end. Claggart, an untrustworthy person and one who was naturally evil, died due to controversy within the ship. Billy Budd’s death was a way for Melville to express that good people are willing to die to maintain peace and order. If Billy had not been executed a mutiny may have occurred, thus his death was a necessary incidence.

Revolution is what founded the United States. Knowing that the people can rebel if the government is oppressive is something close to Americans. The fact that Melville creates a sense that rebellion is the actions of corrupt and untrustworthy people seems contradictory to American culture. Goodheart’s idea of banishing evil from the world is a theme that Americans would like to achieve. From abolitionists fighting to end the evil institution of slavery, to feminists fighting to end the evils of unequal gender rights; Americans have always been attempting to put a stop to the evils in society.

Goodheart, Eugene "BILLY BUDD AND THE WORLD'S IMPERFECTION." Sewanee Review 114.1 (2006): 81-92. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2009.

Thorough(Thoreau) Controversy?

2009-11-25T21:55:00.001-08:00

Thomas Paine once stated in order to prove something as “flawed” or “controversial,” one must meet his contenders on “their own ground, and oppose them with their own weapon” (Paine 93). Thought Paine used this principle to disprove the bible, the same strategy can be used in arguing against the theories that Henry David Thoreau presents his reader with in Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Though Thoreau acts as if his theoretically enhancing lifestyle is the ideal way to live, Leo Stoller opposes him by examining the actual way in which Thoreau approached his life.
Thoreau obviously opposes the idea of living an industrialized lifestyle in which a person sustains a style of living that is supported by working means. Thoreau states that he witnesses his fellow townsmen “whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle and farming tools…men labor under a mistake. The better part of the man is soon ploughed into the compost” (Thoreau 2). Though Thoreau opposes the idea of being “industrial,” Stoller points out that Thoreau himself had to resort to a business in raising beans in order to sustain his living conditions.
Another flaw that may be analyzed in Thoreau’s legitimacy in preaching an ideal lifestyle involving a strong community base, can be assessed using another one of Stoller’s claims. Stoller states that though Thoreau wanted to observe nature, a means by which Thoreau believes someone can find themselves, Thoreau wanted to “combine an opportunity for observing nature with a means of earning money” (Stoller). Though Thoreau has a supposedly strong belief in nature playing an influential part in the construction of one’s character, his own claims contradict each other. Thoreau claims that he “thought that Walden Pond would be a great place for business” (Thoreau 13). Through examining Thoreau’s claims on business and Stoller’s ideas regarding Thoreau, one can easily say that Thoreau was not as community oriented as he seems.
Thoreau’s contradiction of himself can make anyone doubt their own perceptions and beliefs in Thoreau. A person might even go to the extent of asking if his Thoreau wrote his ideas in order to enhance a person’s way of thinking, or basically to make people buy a book that they would believe would help their lifestyle.
Paine, Thomas. The Age of Reason. Mineola: Dover, 2004. Print.

Stoller, Leo. "After Walden." Academic Search Premiere. Stanford University Press. Web. 24 Nov. 2009. .

Thoreau, Henry. Walden; or, Life in the Woods. New York: Dover, 1995. Print.

"Buying" into Thoreau's ideas

2009-11-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

In his novel, Walden, Henry David Thoreau details his expedition and life at Walden Pond. Ira Booker, in her essay entitled “Giving the Game Away: Thoreau’s Intellectual Imperialism and the Marketing of Walden Pond”, interprets Thoreau’s life in the woods as a conquest of nature, and that Thoreau has turned it into a philosophy of how to live that persists in today’s modern day marketing scheme “get away from it all.” Booker provides a description of a car advertisement to show her argument in her article, but we can view this similar commercial to understand what she is saying.

The American idea of “untouched paradise”, persistent to this day is what Booker would equate to the very act building of a cabin on a remote lake. The author argues that Americans today equate Walden Pond to “untouched paradise”, and therefore we will go out of their way to buy things that lead us to this elusive place.

Thoreau’s excursion into the woods has created the modern American mindset of getting away and blazing your own trail. He says, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” (209) Thoreau does not want us to follow the “beaten path”, but rather take control and strive for our dreams, which are ironically spoon fed to us by our consumer culture.

Works Cited:

Brooker, Ira. “Giving the Game Away: Thoreau’s Intellectual Imperialism and the Marketing of Walden Pond.” Midwest Quarterly, Vol 45 issue 2. Academic Search Premier. Accessed: November 23, 2009.

Thoreau, Henry. Walden; or, Life in the Woods. New York: Dover Publications, 1995.

Billy Budd's Tragic Flaw

2009-11-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

Herman Melville’s final work before his death, Billy Budd, is the tale of a young sailor who gets picked up for mandatory military service on a Navy vessel called the Indomitable. Billy is generally well liked among the crew, but police captain John Claggart is less than taken with him. This comes as a shock to Billy, whose youthful, innocent view of his surroundings is shattered when Dansker, another member of the crew, reveals to him that Claggart has it out for him. He is particularly confused because Claggart treats him well, and has been known to refer to him as “the sweet and pleasant young fellow” (36).

This contradiction with Claggart’s external and internal motives sets the stage for Billy’s main dilemma, which looks extremely mild in comparison to the world issues that are taking place in the time period in which the novel takes place in. In a world where war is rampant and crews are on the verge of mutinying all throughout the Navy, Billy’s issues with the mysterious judgment of his superior seem to pale in comparison, yet that is what troubles him most so far in the novel. This goes to further illustrate Billy’s naiveté when it comes to the unfortunate realities of the world, especially during times of conflict. This, coupled with his occasional, crippling stutter, seems to be the only major character flaw that Billy has, making him fit the profile of a tragic character whose flaw will be his undoing in the end.

VARGISH, THOMAS "The Authority of Crises." War, Literature & the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities 20.1/2 (2008): 121-137. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Nov. 2009

Fear and Morality

2009-11-23T14:28:00.001-08:00

Herman Melville, born in New York City in 1819, left his family’s failing business in an attempt to revive the family fortune. After much relocation and many failed attempts, Melville’s only chance to gain financial success was taking part in a whaling voyage in 1941. After Melville’s many travels he decided to write books about his adventures. Melville is famous for many of his works but his most recently published novel, appearing in 1924 thirty years after his death, was Billy Budd. Billy Budd’s accurate accounts of sea travel and slave culture gained the attention of many scholars. They’ve used his narrative to better understand our countries history.
In chapter 9 of Melville’s final novel, Billy Budd witnesses a life changing event. Billy is placed in the foretop, a platform at the top of the ships foremast, where he has a full view of all the activity taking place on the deck. While sitting at his post on his second day aboard the Bellipotent he witnesses slave violence for the first time. A novice forgets to show up on time to his assigned post and is whipped until he bleeds. This incident makes a significant impression on Billy and he states “never through remissness would he make himself liable to such a visitation or do or omit aught that might merit even verbal reproof.” Billy Budd decides to make sure that he will always perform his duties efficiently and on time so that he will never be the subject of the master’s beatings.
This passage exemplifies the fear that masters evoked on their slaves to keep them under control. They made examples out of misbehaving slaves, many times punishing them more severely than they normally would, to scare the other slaves into always following orders. This same kind of fearful relationship between mater and slave is shown in Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass and in Kristen McKenzie’s article about slavery and transportation. She talks about the strict rules and schedules placed upon the slaves by the master of the ship in order for the voyage to run without any chance of disobedience or sabotage by the abused slaves. Her article also discusses the morality of the “whites” and “blacks” during the time period and the duties of each party. The whites feel as though they need to prove superiority to their slaves in order to keep them under control so that they will do their job without any complaints. The blacks see this to be cruel and inhumane.
In addition, it provides support for the limited amount of slave revolts. Even though we know the slaves were miserable with their oppressed lifestyle and inhumane living arrangements, we don’t have much evidence of organized revolt. This could be due to the fear the slaves had of their masters. Being the subject of such violence and cruelty and seeing the lack of compassion the “white man” had, gave slaves the impression that there was no hope and that any attempt to better their situation would end in greater hardship.

McKenzie, Kirsten, 1970-. "Discourses of Scandal: Bourgeois Respectability and the End of Slavery and Transportation at the Cape and New South Wales." Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History 4.3 (2003) Project MUSE.

Mythology of Thoreau

2009-11-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

Henry D. Thoreau, born in 1817, grew up close to his older brother, John, who taught school to help pay Henry’s school tuition at Harvard. While at Harvard, Henry reads a book by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, never in a sense, finished exploring its idea but exploring everything. In 1842, John died in Henry’s arm from lockjaw when he cut himself while shaving. At the age of 28, wanting to write his first book, he went to Walden Pond and built his cabin on land owned by Emerson. While there, he spent an incredible time reading and writing, yet he spent much of his time “sauntering” in nature (Woodlief Ann). After spending two years, he returned to Concord, completing his experiment with nature. Thoreau (44) died of tuberculosis in 1862, with his last word of “Moose” and “Indian” (Woodlief Ann).
In the “Sound” chapter, Thoreau talks about the pond and about the railroad, or the iron horse. He feels like mankind is using Nature for their own good, “when I hear the iron horse make the hills echo with his snort like thunder… and man made the elements their servants fro noble ends!” (Thoreau, pg 76). Gustafsson Henrik focuses on Thoreau talking about the new Mythology; he sees it as “homonym, with tangible as well as abstract connotation” (pg180). Thoreau sees the iron horse as a dangerously flawed philosophy. People where moving with mechanical time, not by nature, and because they are on the train, they do not see nature, there for not experiencing the fullness of finding yourself.

Work cited:
Gustafsson, Henrik "Thoreau's WALDEN." Explicator 59.4 (2001): 180. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 23 Nov. 2009.
Thoreau, Henry. Walden; or, Life in the Woods. New York: Dover Publications, inc, 1995.
Woodlief, Ann “Henry David Thoreau.” American Transcendentalism Web. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.

A Violent Experience

2009-11-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

Herman Melville, the author of Billy Budd, had a roving disposition and a desire to support himself idependently as a young man. Much like the main character in his novella, he often took jobs on ships and wrote most of his great works from his experiences on these voyages. He eventually settled down with his wife, Elizabeth Shaw, on a farm in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Later in life, however, his books did not do so well with scathing reviews and proclamations by reviewers that Melville had become insane. He soon went into debt and managed to get a job as a customs inspector. His final novella, Billy Budd, was unfinished at the time of his death on September 28, 1981. It was finally published in 1924.
In Melville's final novella, Billy Budd, the main character, is what the handsome sailor should be: young, good looking, and very good at what he does. Later, he is impressed from the Rights-of-Man on to the navy ship the H.M.S Bellipotent. He is an innocent young man, incapable of violence and is about to be thrust into a world of war. Joyce Addler refers to Billy Budd as "White Jacket's sailor," and that he is "from the first the symbol of the good and beauty out of keeping and doomed in the world of war. (Addler, 266)" When he meets Claggart and sees the whipping of a fellow sailor, he does his best to avoid making mistakes that might give him the same fate. However, Claggart is at the same time looking for Billy to make a mistake so that he can show how imperfect Billy actually is. Addler notes that Billy stands for the light and Claggart for evil and that, "for what is evil for man is war's good; what is good for mankind is what war has no place for. (Addler, 267)" Billy Budd has a sort of innocence that makes him vunerable to the war-like qualities of Claggart. Claggart is envious of Billy's innocence, something he can never regain, so he plans on taking away his innocence. Being so unused to this world of violence and constantly watching out for himself and his mistakes.
Billy Budd is taken from his freedom on the Rights-of-Man, a ship where he could maintain his right to freedom, and forced into the violent bowels of the Bellipotent, a ship where he is constantly in danger of becoming a victim of violence. Joyce Addler calls this "Melville's Philosophy of War," where the innocence of a young handsome man is taken away from him by others who wish to do him harm.

Works Cited:
Addler, Joyce Sparer. "Billy Budd and Melville's Philosophy of War." Modern Language Association 91.2 (1976): 266-76. Web. JSTOR. 22 Nov 2009.

Similarities of Eastern and Western Philosophies

2009-11-22T23:48:00.000-08:00

In Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau expresses that life was a costly matter and that one should live life “deliberately (Thoreau 59).” To live life deliberately is to live life with a purpose and not have materials run one’s life but have the one run his or her life without the materials that control society. In Alan Fox’s article “Guarding what is Essential: Critiques of Material Culture in Thoreau and Yang Zhu,” Fox compares Thoreau’s philosophy with Yang Zhu’s philosophy in the East which is comparably similar to that of Thoreau’s philosophy.

In Fox’s article he compares Thoreau’s “goodness” with that of Yang Zhu. Both believe that it is better to be good rather than act good. Their philosophies on goodness is such that people do not simply give to charity because it is what everyone else is doing but to do it because he or she feels that it is good. Thoreau states that “[p]hilanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated by mankind. Nay, it is greatly overrated, and it is our selfishness which overrates it (quoted in Fox 368).” Thoreau’s statement expresses that people give to philanthropy because it is good and what is expected of society, but it is not good because everyone else is giving to it. People who give merely because others are doing it are not doing good but are doing because others believe it is good. It does not show that s/he, him/herself is good. (368-9)

The argument of Fox was such that Thoreau’s and Yang Zhu’s philosophies were the same in that the moral goodness of people was that one was to be good rather than act good because it is due to societal actions that one believes it is a good deed and their philosophies on how to life live were similar in which they only needed to live life with what was needed and to have purpose in their life.

Works Cited:
Fox, Alan. "Guarding what is Essential: Critiques of Material Culture in Thoreau and Yang Zhu." Philosophy East & West 58.3 (2008): 358-371. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 21 Nov. 2009.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden; or, Life in the Woods. New York: Dover, 1995.

The Loss of Innocence

2009-11-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

The New England puritans firmly believed that all human beings are born condemned sinners and through hard work and devotion people may redeem their soul to enter the gates of heaven. Contrary to this Christian belief, the concept of tabula rasa by John Locke states that the mind is born as a blank slate and knowledge comes from experience and awareness. Since the mind is initially innate, life experiences then stain the blank slate with colours. The choices people make are influenced by these colours of virtue or vice, and can lead to a path of sin. One would have to preserve the innocence and be aware of the corrupt to avoid this path. This is demonstrated in Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, where Billy’s character succumbs to his own downfall because his innocence clouds his awareness of the forces conspiring against him.
Melville’s last and unfinished novella, Billy Budd, tells the story of a young and handsome sailor Billy Budd who is appointed to be in service of British Naval forces during the French Revolution. Billy is the epitome of natural beauty and purity, described to be loved by all and shown to have very little experience and knowledge about life. However, his innocence is at risk when the master-at-arms of the ship, John Claggart, enters as an antagonist in his life. Claggart despises Billy for unapparent reasons. Scholar James E. Miller suggests that “Billy’s ignorance of evil [and] Billy’s innocence is compounded of his lack of knowledge of good and evil…and not of a profound insight into the nature of the world and man” (Miller, 1958). Billy’s naivety prevents him from understanding Claggart’s hostility even when Dansker warns him about Claggart’s malicious intentions. His gullibility is evident again when Claggart remarks “Handsome is as handsome did it too” (Melville, 37) because Billy does not recognize the sarcasm and malice in Claggart’s voice. This enmity that Claggart feels for Billy would have been evident to anyone, but Billy is only aware of the goodness in others and never comes to doubt their dislikes or distrust in him. This ignorance shuts down his protective instincts and eventually leads to his downfall.

Works Cited:
Miller, James E. "Billy Budd: The Catastrophe of Innocence." Modern Language Notes 73 (1958): 168-76.
The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

A Step Down of a Hero

2009-11-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

Billy Budd, Sailor; (An Inside Narrative) has a very unique publication history. Unfinished at the death of the author Herman Melville, the book had once fallen victim to misinterpretation and wasn’t until much later that the book was “corrected” to the proper names and storyline. In our current version of Billy Budd, Melville is notorious for his use of great character description which is used to portray ambiguities between people (Watson 219). In reading the book and being introduced to so many different characters, it is easy to stray from looking over Melville’s attempt to illustrate the polar opposites of human nature.

One main comparison of human nature is illustrated in the actions and descriptions of Vere and Nelson. Williet describes in his article that it is one popular view to see Vere as almost an inferior version of Nelson (370). Melville, himself born into a family of war heroes, can be seen glorifying the image of a perfect Nelson who not only defeats the French but is able to instill patriotism into the hearts of those planning mutiny (Merriman). While Nelson is therefore portrayed in an Uncle Sam reference, Vere falls short of this description. Zoning out into thought and very indulgent in knowledge, Williet argues that this training actually creates Vere’s ignorance for human nature (371). Later in the article, it is also discussed that Melville had actually came back to edit the novel and change Vere’s descriptions to be a little less harder to be evaluated superficially, but through the boosting of Nelson’s heroic stature, Melville seemed to continue the feeling of superiority of Nelson’s character.

Although only given a glance at Vere’s actions in the beginning of the book for this part of the blog, it is his actions throughout the rest of the novel that really define his character (Williet 371). The reader is then able to see the shaping of Melville’s thoughts by the increase in harshness and praise to two different characters.

Merriman, C. D. "Herman Melville." The Literature Network. Jalic Inc., 2007. Web. .

Watson, E. L. Grant. "Melville's Testament of Acceptance ." New England Quarterly 6.2 (1933): 319-25. Web. JSTOR. 21 Nov 2009.

Willet, Ralph W. "Nelson and Vere: Hero and Victim in Billy Budd, Sailor." Modern Language Association 82.5 (1967): 370-75. Web. JSTOR. 21 Nov 2009.

Small House of Uncle Thomas

2009-11-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

There have been many different adaptations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This version is a mostly true to the original story. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the origin of one of the stereotypes of black people, Uncle Tom, though other stereotypes exist in the book and script.
This character was based on a real person who appeared harmless and religious. The reality that Stowe did not know when writing her story was that he was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. The Uncle Tom character in literature has come to represent an older slave who can do no harm, is trustworthy and is Christian. This is the counterpart to the Mamie character who loves her master, does all the cooking, and is typically a large unattractive woman. The Mamie character is in the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin as Chloe.
Another classic stereotype of slave and later African Americans is Pickannie. This is the slave child who is always misbehaving. Topsy is this character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Pickannie can be a boy or a girl but in this case she Topsy is a girl.
Other than these three characters the stereotypes that existed in misteral shows and in literature do not exist in this book or script. These characters do continue to be part of American culture in books, theatre, and movies. Some of the most well known examples are: Mamie in Gone With the Wind, Uncle Remus in Song of the South, and the named characters in Show Boat.

Lecture by Ethel Walker in TA 127.

A Women’s Passage

2009-11-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

The middle passage refers to the slave ships in the nineteenth century. Servants during the middle passage endured many different emotions such as pain, suffering and confusion. Many did not know what was going on, why they were there, and what was going to happen to them? Through out time many have questioned slave women, since they have not endured the same complications as slave man, many discredit their work towards abolishment. In Robin Miskolcze article, “The Middle Passages of Nancy Prince and Harriet Jacobs”, she argues that though men did have it rough during the slave trade, women also had a “passage" of their own. Women have had it just as worse if not more worse, and no one should be allowed to discredit anyone based on sex. Though these women did not take part in the actual passage, I agree, and I believe that their pain, suffering and confusion counts just as much as any other slave man.

Most women who were slaves usually did not do the manual labor and did house work. Though that may be true they’re experience as slaves are not necessarily weaker. In Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she explains her hardships growing up. Though she doesn’t learn about the cold truth of slavery until she turns six, the passion of making slavery diminish is always in her heart throughout the entire story. The thought of being owned lingers though her mind constantly, and the pain is only worsened when she has no choice but to give into her master and have sex with him. She is a strong women and sticks up for herself, but ultimately she cannot fight back. She hates her master Flint, so she chooses to have sex and have children with their fellow neighbor Mr. Sands. Though her love to the man is questionable; her love to her two children isn’t. Her torment has just begun and her “passage” continues with her life spent in an attic.

Jacobs now has a life changing decision to make. To every passage there is a realization to a given dilemma. Jacobs had to choose from either running away or staying forbidden as a slave. She chooses to stay but not as a slave. She is determined to be free, but she is not in favor of leaving her children. She stays in an attic, stuck for years in till Dr. Flint sells her children. When he does Jacobs finally gets the courage to let lose into the north even though she knows Flint is out there looking for her. As women she endured different situations as a slave. She has her own individual needs that she realizes on her own. Slavery was something she could and would not tolerate. Domesticity on the other hand was not as clear. To be free she had to pay close attention to her needs, but she was also paying close attention to her children’s needs as well. The close nit family she once dreamed of never forms. The “middle passage” does exist in Jacobs, and it guided her to realize her own individual freedoms and needs. A woman's passage none the less helped the abolishment of slavery.

work cited:
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl. Dover Publications, 2001.

Miskolcze, Robin "The Middle Passages of Nancy Prince and Harriet Jacobs." Nineteenth-Century Contexts 29.2/3 (2007): 283-293. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.

Harriet Jacobs quest for citizenship

2009-11-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

In “Incidents in the life of a slave girl,” Harriet Jacobs presents many social issues to the reader. One of the main issues was that of equal rights and citizenship for African Americans. Throughout Jacobs’ story we follow her many trials to gain freedom from her master Mr. Flint. Her parents died at a young age and she was given to Mr. Flint’s daughter.

During this time slaves were not given rights to education, citizenship, property, or marriage unless they received their master’s consent. Rifkin states in his article that the argument for citizenship in Jacobs story is not one of the widely recognized pieces of her story. According to the article Jacobs is constantly hunting for rights and citizenship by attempting to gain a domestic home life. Throughout her story we see the constant struggle for a way to avoid her masters oppressive and obsessive rule, and one of the ways she attempts to gain her freedom is by having children with another man.

Rifkin also argues that the life Jacobs and other female slaves were forced to live manipulated their own sense of belonging. Their views were changed because the tasks expected from slaves varied with their gender, and caused a daily interruption of their natural desires and wills. When Jacobs was sent to be a house slave with her baby son she was forced to continue her work while her child cried for her outside the house. This shows that being a slave requires complete submission to your masters will, and to always put the tasks assigned to you first.

In his article Rifkin points out an important argument that is often overlooked. The slaves of the south are the natural born citizens of America, that they “replenish the country by their sweat and blood.” Their contribution to the land and the way of lives that many southern families had inevitably led to Jacobs desiring a right to be able to keep the earnings of her work, and be able to raise her family herself. Freedom was not only viewed as freedom from her master, but freedom to work and provide for, and raise her family in her own way, and get away from slaves “complex and uneven position in society.”

Works Cited

Rifkin, Mark "A Home Made Sacred by Protecting Laws": Black Activist Homemaking and Geographies of Citizenship in 'Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl." Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 18.2 (2007): 72-102. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCO. Web. 30 Oct. 2009.

Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Dover Publications, 2001.

Harriet’s Intellectual Advantage

2009-11-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in North Carolina. Her parents died at a young age resulting in her forming a strong bond with her grandmother, who had been freed from slavery. Harriet was owned by a young girl, whose father continually sexually harassed her. Jacobs escaped and was in hiding for many years, eventually ending up in New York (Encyclopædia Britannica). Because she was literate, she published a book on her life; Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Harriet learned how to read at a young age and was one of few slaves that knew how to write. Being able to write as a slave was extremely rare. “As a slave, she owns—because of her ability to write—a weapon used by the slave culture to maintain oppression” (Wardrop, 210). Keeping slaves intellectually inferior was a form of social control slave owners used to keep their dominance over slaves. Slave owners dehumanized their slaves, viewing them as nothing more than chattel. Having a slave that was literate is intimidating to a slave owner because it makes the slave more human.

The fact that Harriet obtains this “weapon” aids to her success. Wardrop adds that “Linda makes use of writing as an instrument of agency and power toward liberation.” She was able to write letters to Dr. Flint, throwing him off as to where she was hiding. Someone who cannot read or write is isolated in the fact that the only way to communicate to others is through talking.

Reading and writing also keeps Harriet in touch with her family. She is able to hear from her brother, William, who advises her not to come to see him in prison (Jacobs, 86). Without this letter, she could have impulsively come out of hiding to see her family, and been caught. Being able to read saved her life.

Throughout the story of her life, Harriet shares of her resistance towards Dr. Flint’s abuse, hiding for years, and becoming free. Harriet’s ability to write was rare for a female slave; and she gives the U.S. an account on slavery from a female perspective. The incidents of Harriet’s life are still beneficial today, as a reminder of the United States cruel and abusive past. If she had not learned to write, her story would be silenced and unknown today.

"Harriet A. Jacobs." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 01 Nov. 2009 .

Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Dover Publications, 2001.

Wardrop, Daneen. “ ‘I Stuck the Gimlet in and Waited for Evening’: Writing and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Texas Studies in Literature & Language; Fall2007, Vol. 49 Issue 3, p209-229, 21 Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose, CA. 1 Nov. 2009 < http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=5&hid=3&sid=ad2f3edb-db32-4c59-9ba3-154cd2b11f03%40sessionmgr11>

Slavery: A Generator of Labor, Adultery, and Danger.

2009-10-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

In Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents In the Life Of A Slave Girl, Jacobs illustrates how her life swings around from extremes while in slavery. At first Jacobs even states that she does not even know she was born a slave until she was six years old (8). Her father’s expertise in carpentry and her mother’s exceptional work to her mistress, earned the comfort of feeling free for Jacobs herself. This feeling of “freedom while enslaved” was taken away when her parents pass away with only Jacobs’ grandmother to care for her, and is soon replaced with violence, pain, and fright.

Under the care of her grandmother and many masters and mistresses, Jacobs came to a point in her life where she is to serve a Dr. Flint and his family. As stated in the text, Jacobs’ was now fifteen and she saw this as a “sad epoch in the life of a slave girl.” Being of age, Jacobs not only had to deal with being a slave, but also had to fight with the thoughts of abuse she received from her new master. Dr. Flint used his powers to remind Jacobs that she was his property and that he could do anything he pleased to her.

Jacobs’ story is a perfect example of how life as a slave girl was treacherous and dangerous. Geneva Moore writes in A Freudian Reading Of Harriet Jacobs’ “Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl, that in slavery, most enslaved girls who soon turn to ladies, become sexed bodies (4). This of course would happen to Jacobs’, and soon would be the most common destiny for female slaves.

Females slaves not only had to be scared every minute of their lives from their perverted thought- minded masters, but also from their mistresses. Stated by many seminars and even by Jacobs herself, the mistress would most likely become jealous and begin to hate the female slaves the masters take a liking to. Many female slaves had no one to confide in for help and Jacobs was no different.

The dangers of being a slave were always outweighed by death, but according to Jacobs’ she would rather have her children exhaust their lives on a plantation field then be a live in slave (28).

A Freudian Reading of Harriet Jacobs' "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" Geneva Cobb Moore The Southern Literary Journal, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Fall, 2005), pp. 3-20 Published by: University of North Carolina Press

Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl. Dover Publications, 2001.

It's difficult to be a Slave, and a Woman

2009-10-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

In her essay, Jennifer Larson argues that Jacob's writing examines the social structures that oppressed women, black and white, and kept them divided, unable to achieve a true “sisterhood.”She interprets the exploration of active and passive actions by both black and white women as a critique of the power of the “Cult of Domesticity (True Womanhood)” which was discussed in lecture and how black and white women were in unequal situations to be applied. The tenets of the cult and the slave institution presents a quandry for the women of the time, with pressures coming from two social institutions to comply to contradictory rules.

Larson urges us to examine the responses of Mrs. Flint in relation to the lustful actions of Mr. Flint towards his slaves. Because Mrs. Flint follows the passiveness (Submissiveness) principle, she refrains from direct confrontation with her husband and therefore passively allows the abuses to continue. By following a principle of the cult, the white woman allows the black woman to be disrespected and unable to follow those same principles which she is judged by. Mrs Flint's purity is also affected by her inaction because the sanctity of her own marriage and household are affected.

The story continues with Linda, failing intervention of her husband, turning her attention to Linda. She interrogates her, watches over her at night, and torments her in her sleep. The situation has turned one woman into the abuser of another with Jacobs noting, “What an unpleasant situation it must produce to wake up in the dead of the night and find a jealous woman bending over you.” The slave institution has brought out the power from a previously docile woman, and turned her into a monster with power. We see this throughout the history of Slavery, with many documentations of Mistresses being the most oppressive to their female slaves.

We can conclude that in the slave household of the Flints (and representative of many others in the time) following one aspect of the Cult causes a contradiction in the other. By upholding passiveness, Mrs Flint destroyed her purity, and the same for Linda had she given in. Instead of following the tenets, Linda chooses neither and in the end takes control of her own situation. Jacobs writes later in the book that a slave woman should not be judged by the same standards as others; The “Cult of True Womanhood” cannot be followed in a slave woman's situation. .

Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in The Life of a Slave Girl. Dover Publications, 2001.

Larson, Jennifer “Converting Passive Womanhood to Active Sisterhood: Agency, Power, and Subversion in Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.”
Women's Studies; Dec2006, Vol. 35 Issue 8, p739-756, 18p
Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Accessed: 28 Oct. 2009.

Ideologically deformed; American slavery

2009-10-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

Frederick Douglass was an extremely articulate orator, and writer. It is no wonder why he was a great influence of Abraham Lincoln during the civil war. His words blended a perfect harmony between heart and head. He carefully constructed his arguments with perfect logic, and then completed them with emotional accounts of the dire structure within the slavery establishment. Perhaps no argument rings truer throughout the slavery era then his account of the distortion of religion. With this argument the modern reader can most realistically articulate the distortion of values that lead to the acceptance of such a vulgar practice to begin with.

Religion is still a primary driving force during the period in which Douglass attempts to make sense of the society that surrounds him. Religion created a starting point from which the society as a whole could most easily relate. Many metaphors or argumentative comparison are most effectively communicated through the use of a common background. It is with this background that Douglass uses religion to show how accepting a societal role makes an individual rationalize, and justify actions that may be morally questionable, on the grounds of social acceptance.

Douglass uses the analogy of true and false Christianity in regards to the treatment of the salve population. He argues that the reasoning behind religious justification is the same disease that has corrupted his current social system of equality. The true Christians accept the fruitful teachings throughout the bible of kindness and equality. Were as the false Christians take the same scripture to interpret, and manipulate the words into justification that Douglass coins “the Religion of the South”

The primary conclusion to be drawn from such an analogy is the complete alteration of the social structure that affects both the whites and blacks. When an institution is established on a false social structure, societal advancement as a whole is impossible. In fact the institution of slavery only encourages the deprivation of society as a whole. With mistrust, miss-feelings and guilt issues that have plagued American society to this day. Just as twisting Christianity changed its meaning, and destroyed its purpose; slavery not only hurt the American social structure, but fundamentally destroyed the American ideology. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all men is still a definition that American culture is struggling to achieve due to the structural warp produced by the darkest days of American freedom.

works cited:

Hollis, Melinda. "A Change of Persona or a Change of Heart: Frederick Douglass's "Brothers"." Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, Spring 2009. Web. 26 Oct. 2009. .

Literacy: The Key to Freedom

2009-10-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

Frederick Douglass, born in a slave in Talbot County, Maryland around 1818, owes his ability to gain freedom to his transfer from plantation to Baltimore discussed in chapter five. In Baltimore, Frederick was given the key to his independence, literacy.

In Baltimore Frederick’s new mistress Ms. Auld begins to tech Douglas the alphabet and small words. Mr. Auld, disapproves, reminding his wife of the Laws against slave literacy that were in place to protect them from slave revolt and violence. Overhearing Mr. Auld disapproving of slave literacy Douglass realizes the importance of education and begins to teach himself all that he can. On page 55 Douglass talks about his desire to hear anything about slavery and the abolitionists and discusses his journey to learn the meaning of the word abolition. Upon figuring out its definition, Douglass is opened to a whole world of possibilities. Ignited by his new knowledge and the meaning of the Abolitionist Movement, Douglass begins his battle against slavery.

Without the outside knowledge and the ideas that come from newspapers and conventions the slaves would know nothing about the Abolitionist movement. The ability to read gives slaves power making them equal to their masters. With this new found power and new knowledge the slaves are able to unite and to put up a fight for their freedom.

Lisa A. Sisco from the University of New Hampshire wrote an article the backs up the notion of literacy being a key part in Douglass obtaining his freedom. She talks about Douglass’ use of literacy to promote his writings and speak to many audiences. He is able to learn different ways of speech and to learn which audiences to use them in front of. Douglass’ ability to read and write allow for him to Print and Edit his own Newspaper, The North Star, which enabled him to give his interpretation of the constitution and make it apparent that slaves had a right to be heard.

The ability to read allowed for Frederick Douglass to obtain the knowledge necessary to fight against his masters, and to obtain his freedom. Upon obtaining his freedom his use of literature allowed for him to take part in the Abolitionist movement and give a voice to the unheard slaves.

"Frederick Douglass -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 26 Oct. 2009. .

Sisco, Lisa. "Writing in the Spaces Left":Literacy as a Process of Becoming in the Narratives of Frederick Douglass. Oct. 26 2009 Academic Search Primer Sept. 1995 Vol.9, Issue 3.

Slave Education and Freedom

2009-10-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Douglass talks about his life as a slave and how masters wished to keep their slaves ignorant (Douglass 19), to a point where they did not even know how old they were. Douglass also talks about how religion in the South is used as a covering for the barbarity how the masters towards the slaves; “religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others”(Douglass 87). He also talks about how as a slave he learned about to abolitionist movement. “Instead of spending the Sabbath in wrestling, boxing and drinking whiskey, we were tying to learn how to read” (Douglass 74). Even though he was a slave and work tremendous hours in the fields, he managed to teach himself how to read and write. He realized that his only way to freedom was through knowledge. Douglass thought about escaping for a while before he actually ended up doing it. He thought of leaving as painful because he did not want to leave his friends (111). Around the age of twenty, Douglass escaped, and became a southern expatriate. He describes the escape as escaping a den of hungry lions (112). At the age of thirty-four, Douglass lived in Massachusetts and New York as an abolitionist, and also as a freedmen’s speaker. He then moved to Washington, DC, because he was so committed to the South’s reconstruction. Douglass had a great concern for the abolition of slavery as well as racial equality. In his fight against slavery, Douglass got to speak to a lot of abolitionist organizations.
In his narration, Frederick Douglass reveals that knowledge was the only way to freedom, and that they had to find time to teach themselves how to read and write. He finally escaped after many years as a slave, and as he saw people getting hurt by their masters because of the smallest mistakes they could have made. Douglass used his education to try and abolish slavery, and become a speaker for freedom and equality.

Ramsey, William M. "Frederick Douglass, Southerner." Southern Literary Journal 40.1 (2007): 19-38. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.

Bailey, Tyshawn, and Calil Yarbrough "Frederick Douglass: A Light in Darkness." Black History Bulletin 69.2 (2006): 4-7. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.

Prioleau, Rachelle C. "Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist and Humanist." Howard Journal of Communications 14.3 (2003): 177. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.

Douglass, Frederick. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave. Signet Classics, 2005. Print.

Superiority and Inferiority: defined

2009-10-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Slavery during the colonial era in the United States is usually viewed as a volatile and unjust treatment to members of the African American race during the time. Though a lot of changes have occurred that have allowed for some type of equality for African Americans in society, the brutality that they have endured throughout history proves to be a rough path for anyone to go through. An examination of Frederick Douglas’ life experiences reveals that the unjust treatment of slaves was not only a way of disciplining the slaves, but also a way for slave owners to let the slaves know that their owners are a superior being in comparison to them.

Vince Brewton, an author from the University of Alabama, claims that the whipping of Douglas’ “Aunt Hester introduced Douglas to a consciousness of his slave status, a social fact of which he was previously unaware.” In a sense, slave owners wanted the slaves to know that they are in fact superior to the slaves. Throughout Frederick Douglass’ slave narrative, there are several acts in which the slave owners would take advantage of their slaves to show their “superior” status. There are two instances in Douglass’ narrative which shows white slave owners and their intention of making African American slaves feel inferior.

Douglass discusses his experience with one of his slave owners, Mr. Hopkins. Douglass claims that his master whipped the slaves for the small mistakes, so that they would not commit big mistakes (Douglass 87). This statement by Douglass ties in very well with Brewton’s argument because it shows that Hopkins used intimidation tactics to show his slaves that he was “superior.” By whipping slaves constantly, Hopkins was trying to show the slaves that they are inferior and had no right to equality.

Douglass also writes about a situation where he realized that he had the right to keeping the money that he earned, but always gave it to his master simply because he was expected to. Douglas states that he gave his earnings to his owner because his owner “solely because he had the right to compel [Douglass] to give it up” (Douglass 105). Douglass’ opinion shows that though slaves kept submitting to their masters, they knew they were treated in an unfair manner. Douglass was completely aware of the unjust treatment, but continued to submit to it because his owners made him feel that slaves were obligated to give everything to their masters.

By reading Frederick Douglass’ slave narrative and comparing it to Vince Brewton’s idea of a slave owner’s superiority, one may conclude that both sources reveal the intention of white slave owners of making the slaves feel inferior. Though Douglass was giving up money to his owner, he knew it was unjust. Also, slaves realized that they could not get away with anything because they witness the whipping of other slaves. Not only did slaves get treated unjustly because they were expected to obey all of their master’s orders, they also received unjust treatment because the slave owners wanted to boast their superiority and make that they are inferior.

Douglass, Frederick. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass An American Slave. Signet Classics, 2005. Print.

Brewton, Vince. "Bold Defiance Took its place." Academic Search Premier. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Fall 2005. Web. 23 Oct. 2009. .

The Abolishment of Slavery does not Cause Equality

2009-10-26T05:05:00.000-07:00

In the nineteenth century, slavery in the North was not as prevalent in the society as it was in the South. The South had a large number of slaves on the plantations while in the North it was not as prevalent as in the South. In particular, in New York, more than 80% of the masters owned five or fewer slaves (78). The notion of the abolishment of slavery was dominant in the North. Abolitionists tried to push the motion forward and to free slaves. The emancipation of slaves started in the Northern states during the last few decades of the eighteenth century, with gradual emancipation (78). In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass shares his story of his life as a slave. While he was a slave, he learned of an abolition movement. Although living in the South, the abolition movement from the North travelled south and was heard by all. The abolition movement in the North had succeeded, but although slaves were free, they were not treated as equals in society.

Although slavery had ended in the North, the free slaves were not treated as equals in the society in which they were free. Tocqueville observes that “race prejudice seems stronger in those states that have abolished slavery than in those where it still exists, and nowhere is it more intolerant than in those states where slavery was never known” (78-9). The quote depicts that the places in which slavery ceased to exist; the treatment of each other is tensioned. Having the tension between races can have one conclude that because everyone is free, it does not mean that everyone must be treated with the same respect. And without the free blacks working under a master, they do not feel the need to treat them with respect because they do not belong to them and do not need to be taken care of.

Shortell, Timothy. "The Rhetoric of Black Abolitionism." Social Science History 28.1 (2004): 75-109. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.

Fuller Action

2009-10-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

Author, journalist, editor, Transcendentalist, and women’s rights advocate are all words that can describe Margaret Fuller. Margaret Fuller was born to Timothy Fuller on May 23rd, 1810. She is considered one of the main leaders of the beginning of feminism. She helped women by leading and creating "conversations" which had the women read, think, and discuss common issues. As a result, these "conversations" educated the women. The discussions were known to be discussed with the most intelligent women in the Boston area during the early 1940s. Fuller achieved a lot throughout her life. She was the first American to write a book about equality for women, the first editor of The Dial, the foremost Transcendentalist journal, and she was the first woman to enter Harvard Library to pursue research. In addition, Fuller was involved with the revolution in Italy and allied herself with Giuseppe Mazzini therefore becoming the first woman foreign correspondent and war correspondent to serve under combat conditions. Her most notable works was Woman in the Nineteenth Century, which was published in 1845. In May 1850, Fuller and her family embarked on a ship for New York. Unfortunately, the ship was wrecked off Fire Island: Fuller, her husband, and son all drowned on July 19, 1850.
Robinson points out that, "'Woman in the Nineteenth century' focuses on the central intellectual commitment of the transcendental movement, the belief in the possibility of ‘self-culture’ or the continual spiritual growth of the soul, to diagnose, and prescribe a remedy for, the condition of women" (Robinson 84). Initially, Fuller disagrees with the means in which most transcendentalists use to acquire their ends by action. However, Robinson points out that Fuller's idea of the commitment to self-culture, shows that her belief in "self-culture as an end requires social reform as a means and that the fulfillment of women required the action of women" (Robinson 95). This shows that despite disagreeing with the initial means to accomplish a certain goal Fuller had to persuade women to take action. In the end, Fuller reveals that women are required to act in order to make a difference and followed the cause of transcendentalism to help fight for women's rights.

Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, INC., 1999. Print.
Robinson, David. Margaret Fuller and the Transcendental Ethos: Woman in the Nineteenth Century. PMLA, Vol. 97. 1982. pp. 83-98. http://www.jstor.org/stable/462242

Home Economics: 19th Century's GE Course

2009-10-21T12:08:00.001-07:00

Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli was born on May 23, 1810 and passed away on July 19, 1850. She was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts to her father, Tim Fuller, who was upset at the time because he wanted a boy. But that didn’t stop him from teaching Margaret and having her going to school at 14. In 1847, Margaret met Giovanni Angelo, the Marchese d’Ossoli in Italy. They fell in love with one another, had a son, and married a year later. Both had to move to Florence in 1849 to escape the Roman Revolution of 1848. A year later, they sailed for the United States, but the ship ran aground in a storm off Fire Island, New York and their bodies were never found. Margaret Fuller was a journalist, critic, and women’s rights activist associated with the American transcendental movement. She was the first full-time female book reviewer in journalism and her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work in the United States.

Elaine Fortin writes in her paper, “Early Nineteenth Century Attitudes Toward Women and Their Roles,” that women should be given some kind of education, but not academic subject. Women should be going to school to learn how to manage a house and be able to find a husband to take care of. This relates to the argument Margaret Fuller made in her book, Woman in the Nineteenth Century that, “So much is said of women being better educated, that they may become better companions and mothers to men” (50-51). Fortin continues on that men did not want woman to be educated in academic studies because that will keep them away from the house and “home life would suffer.” If a woman was academically trained, they will not keep up and manage the house and marriages will be in trouble. With this notion, we are given the stereotype of the stay-at-home wife and mother who very well knows home economics, but not much academics in the late 19th Century to the mid 20th Century.

http://www.biography.com/articles/Margaret-Fuller-9303889#

Fortin, Elaine. "Early Nineteenth Century Attitudes Toward Women and Their Roles." Teach US History. Old Sturbridge Inc. , Web. 21 Oct 2009. .

Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Mineola, NY: Dover Pulbications, INC., 1999. Print.

Common Human Nature

2009-10-21T04:13:00.000-07:00

Born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, on May 23, 1810, [Sarah] Margaret Fuller was well educated Greek and Latin by he father, Timothy Fuller, from a very young age. She even when to couple schools to continue her studies in German and Italian. However, after her father’s death, the family faced financial problems and Fuller was to teach her younger siblings. For two years, she taught school, but it limited the time for her to write. In 1839, she became close friends with most of the intellectual of Boston and Concord, especially Emerson, who she visited his home and taught him German. During 1840 to 1842, she worked with Emerson “as editor of The Dial a literary and philosophical journal for which she wrote many articles and reviews on art and literature” (Transcendentalism). After reading Fuller’s 1844 Web Site Summer on the Lakes, Horace Greeley asked if she wanted to join his newspaper as a book review editor in the New York Tribune. She became pretty successful and in 1845, she published, what became the classic of feminist thought, Woman in the Nineteenth Century.

In Jamie S. Crouse “’If They Have a Moral Power’: Margaret Fuller, Transcendentalism, and the Question of Women’s Moral Nature”, Crouse explain how Fuller was different in the way Fuller looked at women’s moral nature. The way Fuller argued was “as simply the development of human potential” (Crouse, 260). Doing so, Fuller shows women and men are essential related and share a common human nature. Crouse says that Fuller didn’t base her argument on “the popular belief of women’s moral power” (Crouse, 272). Taking the fight against slavery and women’s rights, Fuller says they are similar, however, they fight should be their own and not together (cited from a different version of Woman in the Nineteenth Century) “’There is a reason why the foes of American Slavery seek more freedom for women’ (167)” (Crouse). The women’s the nineteenth century thought that having having moral power was the way that would aid their cause. However, Fuller tells them that women should use whatever they had to get justice. Fuller tried to unit that “all human beings as souls in need of freedom to develop as souls” (Crouse, 277).

Work Cited
Crouse, Jamie S. “’It They Have a Moral Power’: Margaret Fuller, Transcendentalism, and the Question of Women’s Moral Nature”

Fuller, Margaret. Woman in the Nineteenth Century. New York: Dover, 1999. Print

[Sarah] Margaret Fuller 1810-1850. American Transcendentalism Web. Web. October 20, 2009

Women's Rights to Equality

2009-10-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

Margaret Fuller, America's first true feminist, was born on May 23, 1810. Her education was unusual for women of her time, her father, a Harvard graduated lawyer, teaching her Latin at the age of six and Greek at the age of 10. Because her father worried that she was too blunt and truthful on subjects that others would normally avoid, she was sent to a school that would teach her social skills. Later in life, she became the first woman to earn a living at full-time journalism, writing for the New York Daily Tribune. Her life ended tragically when her ship, carrying her son, her love Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, and herself, shipwrecked off the Fire Island, NY, on May 17, 1850. However, her feministic beliefs did not die with her.
Crouse discusses how Fuller fought for woman's right to vote as equals among men, but, "she develops an argument that comes close to the modem understanding of socially constructed gender roles. (p. 260)" She doesn't want to fall into the fatal arguement that women deserve the right to vote because they have a superior moral nature. This arguement often led to the belief that women belonged in the household, promoting social and religious virtue, and not in the political sphere. However, it also allowed for women to become better educated so that, "they could be better wives and mothers, more suitably equipped to be moral guides for their children. (If They, p.262)" If the wife and mother of the household was better educated, then the children of the household would receive a better education in their early years, since it is up to the mother to educate them on moral and social qualities as well as basic academics. Emerson argued that, "women are strong by sentiment; that the same mental height which their husbands attain by toil, they attain by sympathy with their husbands. (If They, p.265)" Fuller wanted women to attain the same rights as man, whether through political or educational ways, and that they just as capable and qualified for these rights as their male counterparts.

Sarah Margaret Fuller (1810- 1850), Perspectives in American Literature, http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap4/fuller.html (accessed Sun 18 Oct. 2009)

Crouse, Jamie S."If They Have a Moral Power": Margaret Fuller, Transcendentalism, and the Question of Women's Moral Nature. ATQ 19.4 (2005): pp. 259- 279. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.

Women Equality

2009-10-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

American journalist and women advocate Margaret Fuller. Bright young woman, Fuller composed and lectured the inequalities of her time. She is sighted as foremost feminist in American history, a time where transcendentalism, through reason gains knowledge. Her book Women in the Nineteenth Century, she expresses how women and men are parallel.
Carol explains what Fuller really wanted and advocated but wouldn’t be done due to the culture of that time. “She demonstrates that social harmony must derive from a balance relationship between the sexes, that her own society was grossly imbalanced from the overvaluation of that considered male and comparable undervalued of that considered female.” (p3) Fuller eve writes in her book that men and women are the same. “…then and only then, will mankind be ripe for this, when inward and outward freedom for women as much for man shall be acknowledged as a right…” (p16). Her encouragement for female equality was in an era of difficulty, because it went against cultural role of being subservient. What Fuller argued the most and what was between the lines was that human are all equal. Basic foundation of this nation and she reason with mythology and intelligence.

Kessler, Carol Farley. "My Heart Is a Large Kingdom": Selected Letters of Margaret Fuller/Transfiguring America: Myth, Ideology, and Mourning in Margaret Fuller's Writing (Book). NWSA Journal; Summer2003, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p171, 5p

Fuller, Margaret. Women in the Nineteenth Century. Dove Publication

Women self dependence

2009-10-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

Margaret Fuller, born May23, 1810 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. She was educated by her father, Timothy Fuller, a prominent lawyer and later a Congressman, at a young age. He taught her Greek and Latin at age 6. Margaret Fuller went to different schools and educated herself in German and Italian. Fuller expanded her previous work of Dial essay and published Woman in the Nineteenth Century in 1845, which became a classic of feminist thought. In 1846, she traveled to Europe, and in 1847, she arrived in Italy and fell in love with Marchese Giovanni Angelo d'Ossoli. They had a son a year later. On July 19, 1850, the ship going to America was caught in a storm near Fire Island, New York, taking Fuller and her family’s life.
Chevigny, Bell Gale argues about how Fuller’s life reveals self-actualization that nineteenth century New England pose as one of the most generously recognized women (pg 68). Fuller had an ill-defined instinct of considering herself as “womanly” and her hunger to know and achieve like men do. Her father had a great impact on Fuller at a young age, “His influence on me was great, … and self-forgetfulness” (pg 69-70). Her work, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, gave woman’s dignity and cultural history through the years, 130 years later her death; it caused the women right movement. In the book, she called for “greater autonomy for women and character free of sexual determination.” Fuller urges women to seek power, “What women needs in not as women to act or rule, … to unfold such powers as were given her when we left our common home” (Margaret Fuller, pg 16). Fuller hoped women would get equal treatment as men and women are capable of holed power too.

Work cited:

[Sarah] Margaret Fuller 1810-1850 Biography, American Transcendentalism Web http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/fuller/ (accessed Sat 17 Oct. 2009)

Chevigny, Bell Gale "Growing out of New England: The emergence of Margaret Fuller's radicalism." Women's Studies 5.1 (1977): 65. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Sat. 17 Oct. 2009.

Not Quite Deist

2009-10-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

Throughout “The Age of Reason”, Thomas Paine criticizes the Bible, calling it "a history of the grossest vices"(Paine 38). Paine suggests that the Bible is unnecessary in proving the existence of God. However, the comparison between the design of Paine’s beliefs of the existence of God and Christianity’s design are much closer than he is willing to admit. Paine claims to be a Deist, although Robert Falk suggests that that he may be more of a mix between deist and Quaker, which may explain he unique view of Christianity. While Paine criticizes the books of the bible and those who blindly cling to them, saying that they are not true revelations but “the works or writings that man has made”(51), he fails to hide his own desire for concrete evidence to the existence of God: “BUT some perhaps will say--Are we to have no word of God --no revelation? I answer yes. There is a Word of God; there is a revelation”( 45). Paine denounces the need for the books of the Bible, saying to “search not the book called the scripture, which any human hand might make, but the scripture called the Creation”(46). Yet Paine has a conflicting definition for his idea of scripture, which is defined as: “It is only in the CREATION that all our ideas and conceptions of a word of God can unite…. It is an ever existing original, which every man can read. It cannot be forged; it cannot be counterfeited; it cannot be lost; it cannot be altered; it cannot be suppressed. It does not depend upon the will of man whether it shall be published or not; it publishes itself from one end of the earth to the other” (46).
While Paine may be right that his idea of a revelation and scripture are different from those of the Bible, he is wrong in assuming the purposes of these two things are different. In fact, only his lack of insisting the truth of his ideas of revelations and scriptures differ from those of the Bible. He suggests that scripture called creation shall be spread throughout the world, without the will of man to publish it. But this conflicts with his belief that a true revelation cannot be spread, but instead is only a revelation to the one who had it. In this is where Paine’s and Christianity’s idea of God can be compared, with the result being that Paine’s idea does not require written evidence for the existence of God.

Falk,Robert P. "The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography", Vol. 62, No. 1 (Jan., 1938), pp. 52-63
Paine, Thomas. "The Age of Reason."

Paine To Franklin

2009-10-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

Thomas Paine, born in England in 1737, was a major figure that inspired and witnessed the revolutions that developed the United States as well as abolish the French monarchy. Famous for writing some pamphlets such as Common Sense, Rights of Men, Thoughts on Government, and his most enduring work, The Age of Reason, made him a global figure that anticipated modern ideas on human rights, rationalism, and atheism.

The Age of Reason was written intentionally to undermine the organized religion and the structures associated with it. Paine was against everything related to organized religion by writing “All national institutions of churches whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.” Even though this sounds like Paine is declaring himself as an atheist, he clarifies that God does exists as a hand of the creation of the universe. The Age of Reason was Paine’s deism to push God and established religion apart from each other. Benjamin Franklin declared his beliefs about the bible and subjected a few of the passages to a test of reason and logic where he showed that the claims made in the bible did not stand to reason. Thomas Paine followed Benjamin Franklin’s example, but he applied the test on a much larger scale. Paine scrutinized the entire bible justifying his belief that passages are not the word of God, but rather a human invention. The difference between Paine and Franklin is that Paine disagreed with the entire bible; whereas Franklin only disagreed with specific sections. Even though Franklin and Paine shared similar beliefs about the merits of the bible, Franklin had a much less radical disposition than Paine did; therefore, he is remembered as a noble patriot in contrast to Paine who is remembered as an atheist. David Nash stated that Paine still encouraged the belief in God because he wanted religion to not be part of society to improve society. Unfortunately, most Christians did not see Paine's point and concluded that he was an atheist with no cause.

Conway, Moncure D "The Life of Thomas Paine." Web. 7 Oct July 2009.

Nash, David "THE GAIN FROM PAINE." History Today 59.6 (2009): 12-18. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Oct. 2009

"Thomas Paine." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 13 Oct. 2009. Web.

The Aftermath of The Age of Reason (Paine)

2009-10-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

For its time, The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine was a controversial piece of writing. Its use of deistic ideas that were presented to the masses created stir among even the most pronounced Christian believers. The use of language and scientific reasoning presented his ideas in a way that made this piece of work a large success.
Though the pamphlet was intended to show Thomas Paine’s views upon religion, many Christians became angry at this piece of work for insulting their religion. One of whom was a Bishop by the name of Richard Watson who wrote a response to The Age of Reason called An Apology for the Bible. In this he attacks Paine by saying that “you have attempted to lessen the authority of the Bible by ridicule, more than by reason”. With replies of disgust but also many of praise to his writing, it is a wonder what these mixed reviews did to the man that wrote The Age of Reason.
By the time Thomas Paine returned to the United States in 1802, he was, for the most part, not seen in a good light. His so-called ‘attack’ on Christianity outraged the nation and, as Jay E. Smith puts it, “his name grew synonymous with treachery and infidelity”. He was socially ostracized, in poor health, denied the right to vote, and even an attempt on his life was made. By the time he passed away in 1809 at the age of 72, he was alienated from mainstream America with only six people attending his funeral. It is sad that a man of such intelligence and influence can die forgotten and ostracized because of writing about his beliefs.

Works Cited:

Smith, Jay E. "THOMAS PAINE AND THE AGE OF REASON'S ATTACK ON THE BIBLE." Historian 58.4 (1996): 745. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.

"Thomas Paine." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 13 Oct. 2009. Web. .

Under Paine's Microscope

2009-10-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

Thomas Paine was born in England in 1737. His pamphlet Common Sense pushed Americans to become independent. After returning to England, he wrote The Rights of Man, his opinion on the French Revolution. Paine was imprisoned for treason, and during that time, he wrote The Age of Reason.

Paine’s The Age of Reason, expresses his views of Christianity and the Bible. Through reason, he points out the flaws of the Old and New Testaments. Although he believes in a God, Paine criticizes that the Bible is not the “Word of God”. Paine defines a revelation as a direct communication between God and man (Paine 23). However, the three Abrahamic religions have no such connection because anything passed on is no longer a revelation therefore people have the right to disbelieve them. “Arguing that Christianity failed to conform to the dictates of reason, he compared it to Greek mythology and suggested that it was nothing more than a collection of fables” (Smith). By rejecting the ideas of mythologist, churches, and the Bible, people can move forward in science.

Paine disbelieves the myths contained in the Bible and is only concerned with the beginning. “… I know, by positive conclusion resulting from this search, that there is a power superior to all things, and that power is God” (Paine 49). That the idea of God is necessary to explain existence, but that is all reason can conclude and nothing else. Deism is critical for science because it allows the studies to continue without religious persecution. “…that held it to be irreligious to study and contemplate the structure of the universe that God had made” (Paine 61).

Rationally, the stories the Bible do not hold according to Paine, and he attempts to separate the God from Bible. From a deist point of view the practices of organized religions is not beneficial to society. There is no point of having a thinking mind if people are restricted to what a Church believes. “...nothing was made in vain; for in vain would be this power of vision if it taught man nothing” (Paine 55).

Smith, Jay E. "THOMAS PAINE AND THE AGE OF REASON'S ATTACK ON THE BIBLE." Historian 58.4 (1996): 745. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2009.

"Thomas Paine." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Oct. 2009 .

Religion, Bad or Good?

2009-10-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

For many years Thomas Paine was the epitome of American histories greatest drawback. On January 29, 1737, Thomas Paine was born in Thetford, England. Thomas Paine was an author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary , and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Thomas Paine became very important because he published Common Sense, a strong defense of American Independence from England. By 1793, he was imprisoned in France for not endorsing the execution of Louis XVI. During his imprisonment, he wrote and distributed the first part of what was to become his most famous work at the time, the anti-church text, The Age of Reason (1794-96). Moreover, Paine discovered that his contributions to the American Revolution had been all but eradicated due to his religious views. He also had a grand vision for society; he was staunchly anti-slavery, and he was one of the first to advocate a world peace organization and social security for the poor and elderly.

Some people had a radical view on religion either bad or good. In the article “My Problem with Christianism”, the author offers his views as a believer on the use of Christianity in U.S. politics. He feels misrepresented by the religious right in America especially when its discourse about faith was dominated by political fundamentalists and social conservatives. He also states that many devout Christians were socially liberal on issues like contraception, gay rights, and women's equality. In the article “My Problem with Christianism”, it states that there are evangelical Protestants who believe strongly that Christianity should not get too close to the corrupting allure of government power” because Christianity could influence the government to use religion as a basis extermination and over use their power to govern the people. According to Andrew Sullivan, “it is the belief that religion dictates politics and that politics should dictate the laws for everyone, Christian and non-Christian alike.” The idea was significant and true because government was not only for one party, but it was also made for all the people because all of us were the one who created and formed the government. Thus, government should distribute the services to everyone equally.

It was very surprising to think about that in this world some people hated Christianity and Religion. In some cases there were some negative effects that Christianity brought to our civilization. Some people said that because of religion, more human beings have been murdered, tortured, maimed, denigrated, discriminated against, humiliated, hated and scorned than for any other reason in the totality of the history of man. In addition, because of the teaching of the belief in unseen God, whereas people up to now were relying on themselves and their works as their source of life, while Christianity were teaching people to trust the Bible and God and not to work as dictated by the government, that is why there were certain rules that were being observed by our government to make it fair with religions that they needed to make church and state be divided. Lastly, we could not blame Paine if why he did not believe and trust the Bible because we did not have the proof to show him that all those words in the Bible were “the words of God” and the path to have a better life and stop slavery.

"Thomas Paine." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 06 Oct. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/438489/Thomas-Paine>.

Sullivan, Andrew "My Problem with Christianism." 74. Time Inc., 2006. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2009. .

Paine's Religious Inconsistency

2009-10-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

After the phenomenal pamphlet Common Sense, revolutionary thinker Thomas Paine used his careful reasoning to examine religion rather than politics in the book The Age of Reason. He believed that a revolution in the system of religion was soon to follow the previous revolution in the system of government that he had written about in Common Sense (22), which explains why he decided to write The Age of Reason. Although Paine was very clear in the introduction to his book that he didn’t want to tread on anyone’s beliefs and was merely stating his own, The Age of Reason was seen as a major threat to organized religion because of its criticism and ridicule of Christianity. By advocating deism and pointing out the absurdity (as he called it) of the mythology behind Christian religion, Paine became the target for the theological community’s wrath. The irony of this, however, is that Paine had previously used The Bible as part of his argument in Common Sense, and was now attacking every word of it.

Regarding the British rule in the colonies, Paine wrote “That the Almighty hath here entered his protest against monarchical government is true, or the scripture is false”, implying that he believed the word of the Bible to be the truth. Two conclusions come to mind regarding this contradiction. Either Paine’s religious views changed dramatically from the time he wrote Common Sense to the era of The Age of Reason, or he had previously used the Bible to garner support for his writing, because he knew that his target audience was predominantly religious. In other words, he used the Bible as a marketing tool to help promote his ideas through the publication of Common Sense. His true feelings about religion shine through in The Age of Reason, and for this he was ostracized to the point where only six people were in attendance at his funeral.

Conway, Moncure D. "The Life of Thomas Paine." Volume 2, pages 417-418. Web. 7 Oct July 2009.

Smith, Jay E. "THOMAS PAINE AND THE AGE OF REASON'S ATTACK ON THE BIBLE." Historian 58.4 (1996): 745. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2009

The Passion of Science

2009-10-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

“Newton saw an apple fall, and announced the law of gravitation. Paine watched a spider spin its web, and designed the first cast iron bridge,” (Roper 1944). It is through this quote that one can respect not just the philosophical views of Paine but his overlooked scientific genius. From bridges without pillars to smokeless candles to steamboats to a planing machine, it is easy to see Paine’s broad range of expertise and makes it easier for one to focus on his scientific background. As in the case of Benjamin Franklin, Paine believed in different types of deistic values that contributed to his beliefs in the importance of science and the nature of the world (Roper 1944). It is a result of his scientific mindset and criticisms of institutional religion that many denounced his beliefs in God and labeled him atheist, but it must be seen that it was his beliefs in science that actually furthered his love for nature and God.

As a young boy hitting his teens, after failing at a couple jobs, he found work as an officer of the excise to catch smugglers of liquor and tobacco. Though he barely made any money, he used most of his earnings to buy books and science apparatuses (“Thomas Paine”). It can be seen that his love of science started at a young age. Roper explains in his article that, “The scientific activities of Paine cannot be considered separately from his religious opinions…To him, the study of science was the study of God,” (1944). Prochaska also explained in his article that “it was quite likely that Paine’s love of the formal and abstract purity of mathematics led him to extrapolate its objectivity to the natural world,” (1972). It is through these two quotes that we can see not only his love of science but his corporation of science into the love of God.

As he went on later in life, he noticed a conflict between deistic values and that of institutional religion. He denied the ambiguity of the mysteries and “magical” revelations that brought about Christianity and instead developed a love for mathematical clarity and creation’s simplicity. Even in doing so, people denied his non-atheistic ideas claiming him a “filthy little atheist” as in the words of Theodore Roosevelt. One of the most ironic parts of The Age of Reason is that it was used as “proof” to condemn him as an atheist when the real motive of the book was to prevent the French from becoming atheists (Smith). Basing his ideas and beliefs off of logic and clear facts, I actually find it hard not to agree with Paine in his arguments.

Prochaska, Franklyn. "Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason Revisited." Journal of the History of Ideas 33. (1972): 561-576. Web. 7 Oct 2009.

Roper, Ralph. "Thomas Paine: Scientist-Religionist." Scientific Monthly 58.2 (1944): 101-111. Web. 7 Oct 2009.

Smith, Jay. " THOMAS PAINE AND THE AGE OF REASON'S ATTACK ON THE BIBLE." Academic Search Premier 58.4. Web. 7 Oct 2009.

"Thomas Paine." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 05 Oct. 2009. Web.

The Views on Religious Freedom and Equality

2009-10-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

By far one of the most intellectual people in early American politics, Thomas Jefferson was one of the most influential of the Founding Fathers. Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Virginia. He was the third of eight children in his family. In 1757 his father died and Thomas Jefferson inherited many acres of land and dozens of slaves. There he would build his home known as Monticello. Jefferson graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1762 with highest honors. On July 4, 1776 Thomas Jefferson along with his other colleagues approved the Declaration of Independence. That document became Jefferson’s claim to fame. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the third President of the United States and he was in office until 1809. On July 4, 1826 Jefferson died. The day he died was the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

As a big political leader in the formation of our country Jefferson was strongly for equality and the freedom of religion. In the Declaration of Independence he states that “all men are created equal”. Thus people have equal rights. The right to choose a religion was a very controversial topic in Jefferson’s time. The talk of an established religion has thus come about. Jefferson was strongly opposed to this and he was even accused of being an atheist when the Federalists and Republicans were having conflict, "I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another." (Thomas Jefferson, 1799). If there is no separation between church and state an established religion tends to make the clergy indifferent to their own community, and leads to corruption within the religion itself. Thus, separation of the church and state is necessary in a free nation. "The constitutional freedom of religion [is] the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights." (Thomas Jefferson, 1819). Thomas Jefferson believed that the freedom of religion was also the freedom of mind and thought making a free man which is what America was all about. He also believed that one should not be prejudice of another who is in a different church because it is their civil right to practice what they will. Thomas Jefferson was one of the most intellectual persons of his time. He was also a beloved President for his stance for equal rights.

Bowman, Rebecca. "Jefferson’s Religious Beliefs" Monticello, Home of Thomas Jefferson. August 1997. Thomas Jefferson, Foundation Research Department, Inc. (visited October 2, 2009)

“Freedom of Religion: Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government”
(visited October 3, 2009)
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm

Rebels Laws.

2009-10-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, is one of the earliest attempts to define an American. This term only going into existence during Jefferson's time. The Articles of Confederation coining the term in Jefferson's lifetime. Going over the physical and fiscal policies of Virginia at the time. The Virginian Constitution was one of the many sources that Thomas Jefferson used to assist in the drafting of the declaration of independence. Is Justice the same to everybody and is punishment just?

Jefferson was a man who put an emphasis on Administration of justice and punishment. There are specific results of may crimes listed in the “Notes on the State of Virginia” Crimes separated into three categories. Punishment extends to live, Punishment goes to limb, and Punishable by Labor. These were the punishments that were given out in the past for specific crimes such as murder, treason, and theft. And still in American Society and most other societies Death and Labor are still viable punishments. Thomas Jefferson, one of the geniuses of his time, a person that helped draft the Declaration of Independence a piece of paper essentially declaring war would focus heavily on the law and the punishment of murder. The Punishment for High treason is death, and yet going to war with Britain is seen as a land mark achievement. The one that is victorious in the situation of war is the one that is just because they are the victor. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia raise several questions about the law. And can you really have a complete and Just government if it is founded on rebellion.

Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia .

(I Honestly couldn't find a Scholarly Journal on Academic search Premier on this subject.)

The Great American Hypocrisy

2009-10-04T01:27:00.000-07:00

The United States of America today has been shaped by the hard work and accomplishments of many leading figures from the past. One of these figures is Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826), who was a prominent character that helped form the destiny of the country in the early days. Born in what is now Albemarle County, Virginia, Jefferson had a good upbringing and chose a career as a lawyer. He later joined the Virginia colonial legislature and in 1801, received the title of the third President of United States. As a multifaceted man, Jefferson had great influence on American history as one of the Founding Fathers of America and as the primary author of Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson firmly believed in a disestablished society, where people were allowed to follow their own religion and live in equality. This forward thinking was demonstrated in the Declaration of Independence where Jefferson states that “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Jefferson Grolier, 2009). In spite of this belief, he owned slaves. Jefferson’s position as a slave owner greatly contradicted his belief in freedom and equality for all human beings. His hypocrisy is further demonstrated through his relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and with his decisions to free some slaves and keep others. Jefferson had a twenty-five year old relationship with Hemings and had many children together. Bruce Fehn from the OAH Magazine of History states “Jefferson probably had an intimate relationship with one of his slaves, while, at the same time, he expressed disgust with such relationships” (Fehn, 2000). He did treat Hemings and other slaves with care, but Hemings had no freedom of choice when it came to their relationship because she could not refuse her owner. Although Jefferson did show compassion towards his slaves, they were still considered as slaves, who worked “toward the profitable management of his plantation” (Fehn, 2000). His decisions to free some slaves and keep others were based on economics, which doesn’t justify his actions because he still treated the slaves as labour and not as human beings.

Thomas Jefferson is considered to be one of the greatest presidents of Unites States and has significantly contributed to the success of today’s American society. He was an intellectual man and sought beauty in all race and religion. However, his thoughts on equality, and actions as a slave owner clashed and proved to be a conflicting paradox. Although, he treated his slaves with genuine care, in the end he was still a slave owner and had the control over other human beings rights and freedom. His relationship with Sally Hemings also took away his credibility as a man who believes in freedom. Jefferson created a foundation for freedom and entrusted his vision towards others for a better future, but unfortunately failed to recognize his own misdeeds and hypocrisy.

Works Cited:

Fehn, Bruce. "Thomas Jefferson and Slaves." OAH Magazine Of History 2000: 24-28.

Organization of American Historians. Oct, 2, 2009. .

"Jefferson, Thomas." America the Beautiful. 2009. Grolier Online. Oct, 3, 2009.

http://atb.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?templatename=topics.html&a
ssetid=atb050b06&assettype=b

The Pary of No Virtues

2009-09-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin is an American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer. Born in Boston, he is the only American of the colonial period to earn a European reputation as a natural philosopher; he is best remembered in the United States as a patriot and diplomat. He held five offices during his lifetime. He was the 6th President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, 23rd Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, 1st United States Minister to France, 1st United States Minister to Sweden, and 1st United States Postmaster General.

Benjamin Franklin tried to create a political party in1731 but failed due to the ideas and structure of it. He would have called it the Party of Virtue, which included his 13 virtues and the essential principles of every major religion in America. All men who were in this party had to follow Franklin’s thirteen virtues and believed the basic ideas of the existence of God. These men had to be virtuous, good, and wise to the point they cannot displease God. The reason why this party failed is because everyone is not perfect. No one cannot follow the thirteen virtues and believe in the existence of God and have the knowledge of how powerful God is. The party’s ideas disregards the basic psychological idea that people are complex, people are different, and people react to situations differently. Especially with the situations that were going on in the mid 1700’s, it was almost impossible to follow the structure of the Party of Virtue. Men would have to spend all of their time thinking about the thirteen virtues and coming up with a plan to help others with those virtues. This is why the party of Virtue was abandoned. No men could handle following the ideas of it and living their own lives.

Citation: “Benjamin Franklin.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008 The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press; Ketchan, Ralph Louis, . The Political Thought of Benjamin Franklin. reprint. Hackett Publishing, 2003. Print; Franklin, Benjamin, . The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, INC., 1996. Print.

Inventing Benjamin Franklin

2009-09-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

On January 17th of the year 1706 Benjamin Franklin was born. He was incredibly ambitious and optimistic as he grew up. His idealism as a youth and his good-natured cynicism as an older man led to the discovery of electricity in lightning, the invention of the fire brigade, the work as Postmaster General, the funding of a hospital, the organization of a street-sweeping force, and many others. He became an American legend responsible for many improvements in American life and for many things that we presently take for granted (Encyclopedia). Although starting the autobiography with the original purpose as guidance it becomes obvious that Franklin continues to write in order to create an image of himself as a great public figure rather than as a great father.

Franklin wanted us to think for ourselves. While following his own advise, he invents a machine that we now know as the cast iron stove. Despite inventing the stove Franklin refuses to patent it because he believed "that as we enjoy great Advantages from the Inventions of others, we should be glad of an Opportunity to serve others by any Invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously (Stealing)." As expected someone else patents Franklin's invention. Ramsey points out that, "for Franklin, ideas were a common treasury to be shared by all." In addition, this allows further understanding about Franklin. He was inventive and was not greedy.

His decisions to promote self-thinking, invent things, and not patent his invention all help reveal Franklin's ideals as well as aids in Franklin's goal of becoming great public figure, forever.

"Benjamin Franklin." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 22 Sep. 2009 .Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mineola: Dover Publicatons, Inc., 1996. PrintRamsey, Colin T. "Stealing Benjamin Franklin's Stove: A New Identification for the "Ironmonger in London." ANQ 20.2 (Spring2007 2007): 25-30. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 23 Sep. 2009

2009-09-22T12:25:00.001-07:00

Benjamin Franklin and Small Pox
In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin it is stated that he lost one of his sons to small pox in 1736. Franklin had three children, one illegitimate son named William, one daughter Sarah, and Francis Folger (Wikipedia).
At that point in history inoculations for small pox were possible but they did have their down sides. Inoculations meant that a person was exposed to a small amount of small pox through inhaling ground up scabs from an infected person. This did decrease the outbreaks of small pox by 90%, but it also caused 2% of the people who did get the inoculations to die (Brannnon). Franklin states that he did not get Francis inoculated. He also states that parents should get their children inoculated for small pox. (Franklin 79)
Even today there are arguments about vaccines and if they do more harm than good. It seem that although the risk was higher in the 1700’s it was understood that getting inoculated was better than waiting to see if you got small pox. Franklin thought he made a mistake by not having Francis inoculated and regretted that after Francis died from small pox at four years of age.
Brannon, MD, Heather. “The History of Smallpox.” About.com: Dermatology. September 25, 2004. September 22, 2009.
“Benjamin Franklin.” Wikipedia. September 22, 2009.
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Dover, 1996

Benjamin Franklin: A Name to be Reckoned With

2009-09-22T04:28:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s most prestigious founding fathers, left a long legacy of innovations, business triumphs, and philosophical mantras on how to live. A large part of his contributions lies in the modern day public institutions of America, which are ubiquitous in our everyday lives. From his autobiography, we can attribute the development of modern police, fire, military forces, libraries, liberal arts universities, and public hospitals to Franklin’s work.

What is interesting to note is a shift from actual involvement in his early projects to the mere mention of his name ensuring a project succeeds at later points in the chapter. Many of Franklin’s initial achievements followed a pattern: A plan he conjures as a business venture, proposes to the Junto, disseminates to others by means of his press, and expands with his active involvement.

In his later ventures, we see a shift in practice, which him lending his name to projects and petitioning for their success via governmental influence. Jennifer Jordan Baker, in her article argues that:
“Franklin's service entails the public endorsement of projects, and his visible connection to such projects supposedly ensures their success […] Franklin's name has become precious currency.”

We see an example this with Dr. Thomas Bond’s proposal of a public hospital to which Franklin lends his support. Initially, the doctor had attempted to find support on his own, with many asking “Have you consulted Franklin upon this Business? And what does he think of it?” Franklin’s support gets the project approved, and he even obtains private as well as public funding. Accordingly, the plan is executed and the hospital is built quickly. This can be akin to modern political phenomenon of ‘name recognition’ which politicians seek to win office.

We can parallel Franklin’s efforts to today’s politics, where grassroots campaigns evolve into special interest groups and possibly large organizations. What begins as a neighborhood creek cleanup can turn into an environmental lobbying group with sway over politicians elected to office. For a man whose name is almost a rubber stamp of approval, Franklin still exudes a modest persona hoped his writing would “afford hints which at some time or another may be useful to a city I love…”

Works Cited:

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mineola: Dover Publicatons, 1996.

Baker, Jennifer J. “BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND THE CREDIBILITY OF PERSONALITY.” Early American Literature; Dec2000, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p274, 20p Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Milpitas Community Library. Sep 23, 2009

Influential Man in America

2009-09-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

In the early and late eighteen century Benjamin Franklin was a key figure in America. His achievements in science, politics and society were influential. His own principles were epressed when interacting with the colonist and having a profound effect in American culture.
He was self educated and skilled in printing. Understood the power of words and could express him self accordingly. His traits allowed him to influence colonist or at least informed them of larger issue such as abolishing slavery and joining together as one nation. This echoed onto our modern culture. for example "a penny saved is a penny earned' drawn from Franklin "poor Richard's Almanack" years later his publication and letters, that people would keep, show how influential he was to America. He embodied the values of hard work, education, social collaboration int his work. The star one might argue of secularization of Puritan values and becoming engraved as American values.
Over two hundred years Franklin words have influence our culture. What he spoke for was the greater good, In doing so America braces democracy where a large collection of different people can gather and further enhance American culture.

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc. 1996. Print.

Morgan, Edmuns S. Benjamin Franklin.
Yale University Press. 2002

The Era of Benjamin Franklin

2009-09-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

Can some man arrive at moral perfection in this life, or is it impossible? Benjamin Franklin was born on Milk Street, in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. In his early age, he became more focus in reading and writing. As the years went by, it was clearly seen that writing was a tool through which he could express his ideas and argue points, and helped him to become a successful person later on in life. In 1753, Franklin rise to the top of the mail delivery world, becoming Postmaster General of the United States. Afterwards, Franklin started to turn his attention more and more to "public affairs" and the betterment of society. He was also called one of the founding fathers of the United States of America because he improved the quality of American’s life by doing a lot of public services and inventing the stove. In June, 1776, he became a member of the Committee of Five that drafts the Declaration of Independence. Franklin was also elected to the Second Continental Congress and proposed the first Articles of Confederation. In October 18, 1785 Franklin was elected as the sixth President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, replacing John Dickinson. Franklin died on April 17, 1790, at age 84.

After I red the book The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, this question came up to my mind, "Why are we still reading Benjamin Franklin’s life?" The answer was because the book established in literary form the first example of the fulfillment of the American Dream. For example, Franklin demonstrated the possibilities of life in the New World through his own rise from the lower middle class as a youth to one of the most admired men in the world as an adult. Furthermore, he asserted that he achieved his success through a solid work ethic which was one of the aspects of American Dream.

In the article “The Virtue of Reasonableness”, it implies that Franklin tried to lead his life by following the thirteen virtues (temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility). It also discusses that he followed these virtues because it helped him to indentify what was right and wrong. In addition, this virtues were also thought to be own by puritan’s tradition. He also chose to put the thirteen virtues in his book because he wanted to illustrate the “perfect character” and moral perfection to American.

Work Cited

"Benjamin Franklin." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Sep. 2009 http://www.encyclopedia.com/.

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mineola: Dover Publicatons, Inc., 1996. Print

Forbe, Steven. "The Virtue of Resonableness." Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and the Education of America . The American Political Science Review, Vol. 86, No. 2 (Jun., 1992), pp. 357-368 . American Political Science Association . September 16, 2009 .

Benjamin Franklin’s Virtues

2009-09-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin’s Virtues

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked as a writer, printer, and statesman. As a printer he is famous for the Poor Richards's Almanac which was published 1732-57. In science he experimented with electricity, in addition he invented bifocal glasses, the Franklin Stove, and the lightning rod. His most important work was as a diplomat to in Europe. His ideals make him one of the most important figures in U.S. history.

An important point in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is Franklin’s views on religion. Glazener says in her article, "Franklin searches for a religious lowest common denominator, weighted toward the needs of civil society". Although Franklin does not disrespect or oppose Christian beliefs, he makes clear that religion does not help society. He also believes that Churches pushes people to become believers rather than good people. In Franklin’s autobiography, he prepares a list of moral virtues to try and obtain moral perfection. The list consists of ways to be good Samaritans; he merely uses some key points from Christianity such as frugality, sincerity, and chastity. This can be seen as a small attempt to secularize.

This leads to the idea of secularization, which possibly could have drastically changed modern American culture. Puritans have made clear that religion is to be incorporated to everyday life, but according to Franklin it segregates us. “…as I have found them more or less mix’d with other articles, which, without any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, serv’d principally to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another” (62). This idea is significant because it is against Mary Rowlandson’s narrative, William Bradford’s story, and Puritan beliefs. In history religion is a dividing factor, like the Forth Crusade in 1240 or the existence of the numerous branches of Christianity. If America were to have drawn away from religion it may be possible that America may not be pluralistic today; resulting in different values that Americans believe in today.

"Benjamin Franklin." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 14 Sep. 2009 .

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mineola: Dover Publicatons, Inc., 1996. Print.

Glazener, Nancy. "Benjamin Franklin and the Limits of Secular Civil Society." 203-231. Duke University Press, 2008. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. King Library, San Jose, CA. 16 Sep. 2009 .

The "Autobiography" of Benjamin Franklin

2009-09-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Benjamin Franklin was a printer and publisher, an influential politician, and an extremely successful scientist and inventor. He helped write and sign The Declaration of Independence, and was a delegate at the Constitutional Convention. He was born in 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts, as the youngest son of 17 children. After being taken out of school at only ten years old, Franklin’s love for literature aided in his knowledge. Franklin was able to become successful by hard work and perseverance.
Many scholars argue that this autobiography is not the full story that Benjamin Franklin wanted to convey. “No version of the Autobiography that we now read was published until the 1840s”(Shur, 435). He continues to state that while publishing the book only portions of Franklin’s original manuscript are found in what we read today. Whether this book is a true autobiography or if it is someone else recalling Franklin’s life, the themes remain beneficial. Another thing that is brought into question is why the title would contain the word “Autobiography.” According to William Shur, “‘Autobiography’ is a word that Franklin never used and probably never even heard. Its first documented use in English is in 1797, seven years after Franklin’s death.” If the book was truly Franklin’s work, why would there be a word in the title that was unknown in his lifetime? The way the book goes into details about his family and job opportunities when he was young, suggests that the content of the book is from Franklin; however, there is the possibility that someone else could have taken Franklin’s manuscripts of his life and created this “autobiography.”
The book introduces a theme that is found within the heart of America. Franklin shows how from a young age he was a person who believed in hard work, and was determined to succeed in life. In the beginning he states that he “emerged from poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred” (Franklin, 1). Benjamin Franklin’s life is a prime example of the American Dream; he became successful and achieved greatness by his strong work ethic and never-ending quest for knowledge.

"Benjamin Franklin." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 16 Sep. 2009 .

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Mineola: Dover Publicatons, Inc., 1996. Print.

Shurr, William H. "`Now, gods, stand up for bastards': Reinterpreting Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography." American Literature 64.3 (Sep. 1992): 435. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, San Jose, CA. 16 Sep. 2009 .

Fabrication or Not, The Story of Olaudah Equiano.

2009-09-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Gustasvus Vassa, more commonly known as Olaudah Equiano, was born in 1745 in a region known as "Assaka" located near the river Niger. At the age of 11, he and his sister were kidnapped by kinsmen and sold to local slaveholders. Eventually, Equiano was sold to white European slave traders who transported him across Atlantic Ocean to the English the colony in Virginia. After being traded by a few slave owners, Olaudah was bought by Robert King, a Quaker, who educated him and allowed him to engage in independent trading, which allowed him to later buy his freedom. As a freeman he spent the rest of his life sailing, exploring, and trading goods with the Atlantic colonies.

One of the biggest controversies surrounding Equiano's life is the legitimacy of his acclaimed birth place. In the first few chapters of "The Life of Olaudah Equiano" the reader is introduced to Equiano's lifestyle and culture. Also, he writes about how he was kidnapped with his sister, separated, and transported across the Atlantic. While Equiano claims that he was born in Assaka, there are individuals such at Vincent Carretta who believe that he was originally born in South Carolina. Regardless of his true origins, Equiano's true worth lies in the fact that he was able to purchase his freedom and go on to achieve major accomplishments, such as sailing around the world and writing a novel. Equino was not only able to free himself, but he was also able to educate himself during a time when literacy was scarce in all aspect, especially for slaves.

Cathy N. Davidson the author of "Olaudah Equiano, Written by Himself" said that even if Equiano fabricated the early part of his life, the meaning of the book is not destroyed. The earlier part of his life could of been based on real stories not necessarily depicting Equiano's life, but other African Americans who passed on the story of the "Middle Passage". Then again the main point is what he achieves while living in the Colonies.

Davidson, Cathy N. "Olaudah Equiano, Written by Himself." 18-51. Duke University Press, 2006. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library, San Jose, CA. 9 Sep. 2009 .

Boyce, Nell. "Out of Africa?." U.S. News & World Report 134.4 (10 Feb. 2003): 54-56. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library, San Jose, CA. 9 Sep. 2009

Capture & Abolished: Olaudah Equino

2009-09-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

Olaudah Equiano’s biography, Olaudah Equiano: The life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African, is about Olaudah’s Journey from royalty and freedom, to Captivity and slavery, then back to freedom and religion. Born in Nigeria, Olaudah describes many accounts he has seen of Europeans trading slaves with his people and also kidnapping of his people to become slaves. All of this is told by his point of view up until he is kidnapped and made into a slave, too.
In Stephen Fender’s writing, Journal Of American Studies, he gives notice to the fact that Olaudah includes “spiritual conversion” to illustrate the conversion theme. Many African slaves converted to Catholicism as Olaudah did as safe haven or something to believe in. What makes Olaudah’s biography so useful is that he uses his experiences as a young free boy and his experiences as a captive slave to show us how his transition from no religion at all turns into his conversion to Catholicism from his master.
Olaudah’s writing is significant to American Culture today because it was one of the major components into abolishing the slave trade. His experiences were spread all over Britain and the British lawmakers were swayed into ending the slave trade almost 10 years after Olaudah’s death.

"Olaudah Equiano." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Sep. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/190722/Olaudah-Equiano>.

Stephen Fender. Journal of American Studies, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Dec., 2003), pp. 478-479Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Association for American Studies

"success" the only option

2009-09-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Imagine a group of men bum rushing into your home, desecrating everything around you, and taking nothing but your physical freedom. Olaudah Equiano experiences just that and many other life changing events described in his narrative “the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.” During his captivity in 1700’s the harsh reality of slavery is unveiled. Morals are no where to be fond, and humans are treated as if they were nothing less than animals. Olaudah, once a happy family boy has now been stripped of everything and is traded around as if he were an item.

Although Olaudah was a slave, he manages to learn the English language when he is finally traded away from Virginia of the new lands to Michael Henry Pascal. Pascal then traded Olaudah to a Quaker merchant named Robert King. King, who was highly religious, was not in favor of slavery but owned slaves none the less. Through out Olaudah life his owners all have had a positive out look on slavery, but finally an owner has a change of heart. King was not the brutal type, and he even allowed slaves to have time of their own. Olaudah starts making money by a little trading business he cooks up and soon enough he earns the money to buy himself from king. With a greater education and an open minded master, Olaudah is ready to set forth on his dreams. Reading and writing helps the slave to be free. By getting educated and paying attention to his surrounding, he accumulates all the knowledge to escape the chains of slavery.

Slavery was a huge obstacle that Olaudah had to get through, but even though he was free, he still needed to find himself. By looking at the positives in his life, he comes up with the values that he admires. A religious man has allowed him to be free, thus religion is now something endowed in Olaudah’s mind. He looks to the bible and is now spiritually connected to god, and has a new set of knowledge and beliefs. With all that is happened in his life, change is what Olaudah strives for. Change for a new world, a world for humanity, a world that does not involve the imprisonment of human beings. Olaudah has found his goal and he attempts to find happiness by fulfilling his goal of abolishing slavery. Speaking publicly about the immorality of slavery and writing a narrative are all steps Olaudah takes to answer his personal calling.

In the article “Olaudah Equiano and the Eighteenth-Century Debate on Africa”, Olaudah’s identity is questioned due to his dramatically changing life from a slave to a Christian. His race still chains him down from being a high political power. In this article they argue that race shouldn’t be a factor. I agree with his statement. I believe it doesn’t matter where one comes from. He is putting in work for what he believes in, so no one should be able to tell him what he can and cannot do. After all that Olaudah has gone through, he should be able to strive to what ever he sets his mind to.

Work cited:

Equiano, Olaudah , "The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gutavus Vassa, the African", Mineola, New York, 1999 Dover Plublication

boulukos, Geoge E., "Olaudah Equiano and the Eighteenth-Century Debate on Africa", 2007 by The American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies