Blog 8

I believe that American public schools should not have the authority to teach "American" values in schools. This is because I believe that values come from experiences that a person can connect to. Since each student comes from a different background, they can't possibly have the same experiences. Without the same experiences, values will differ as well. For example, from the two sources from indian perspective, showed that one was ripped from her home and her family. She longed to be with them, but she was forced to behave like someone she was not. The other source stated that he was forced to do things he didn't understand. They weren't able to understand the reason why they were being taken. Their experiences did not explain beyond their own lives. Therefore they were not able to express the same values as the Americans that they were taken by. Overall, American schools should not teach values in public schools because the experience of one type of people cannot be used as a representative of all people.

Blog 7

Last week we had a rather intense discussion about whether slavery is something that can be made right in our current day situation. I think that this is a very important thing to discuss but not a realistic goal currently. What has been taken away from the Africans is something that can not be replaced: their identity. When slaves were brought to America, they were brought from all over Africa. They might have been brought with their family, but once they attend a slave auction, the families get torn apart and pulled away to far corners of the country. After such a long and intense separation, it will be difficult for a family to come back together. Future generations of these slaves wont be able to trace back their roots to their origins in Africa.
Even after freedom, it is not fair to this group of people that they have disadvantages because of a prejudice that has been instilled in their stereotype. Racism continues to occur all throughout America, not just in the South. No matter how hard a group of people try to eradicate racism, it will always be there because of the terrible mistakes by the white plantation owners.
Overall, I do not think that a wrong such as slavery can be corrected because the effects that are present are not like wounds where they can be healed, but they are scars that will last forever.

Blog 6

       This week we began reading texts during the time of Romanticism. One of the texts that we went over was "The Cast of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe. In this story, a man by the name of Montressor attempts to murder a man that had been driving him crazy. His attempts were subtle yet wicked. He used the best interests of Fortunato against him. He took advantage of Fortunato's excessive passion for wine. I think that this reflects what Poe went through in his life. Throughout his life, he went through several calamities that effected him. For example, when he was young, the man that had taken him under his wing had several quarrels with Poe, so Poe tried to get as far away from his as possible. In the Cast of Amontiallado Poe portrays what the narrator tried to do in the same way that he attempted in his life. By murdering Fortunato, the narrator was able to keep him away forever.
     Overall, what a person experiences in their life will effect the way that they write. Poe is an example of exactly that.

Blog 5

This week we discussed the civil war. I think that this war is a very critical part of American history. Without this war, the lives of many different people would be significantly different than they are today. If this war had not occurred, then it probably would have resulted in a divided nation or maybe even two different nations. Both parts would have significantly different values. Also, if this war had not occurred, then slavery probably would have continued until today. This would effect economy today because the main use of labor would be slave labor. It probably would have caused for the south to be a power house of industry and money.
Another element that would be significantly different would be diversity. America is a very diverse country because of immigration. People in the south would probably be mainly black or white. Now, it has become a melting pot of culture. Overall the lives of many people would have been immensely different if the civil war had not occurred.

Blog 3

This week we watched a movie in class titled “Slavery in the Making of America”. A portion of this video was dedicated to discussing the life and trials of a young girl named Harriet Jacobs. Her story both intrigued me and made me horrified as I saw the trials that she had to endure at such a young age. Harriet was the slave a man named Norcom. Norcom had several slaves at his farm, but he chose Harriet to work as a house slave. This means that she was supposed to work in this house and look after the mistress. At a young age, Norcom began harassing Harriet because of her beauty. Although it was forbidden for slaves to learn to read and write, she was taught anyway. Harriet wrote about she had to deal with. She recalls how even beauty can be a curse in the life of a slave. Later on in her life, she was compelled to run away to save her children. She stayed in the roof of her grandmother—who was a free woman. Her children were rescued but Harriet could not speak to them. She hid away and watched her children grow up from a tiny hole she made in the roof.

                Any woman or mother should every have to go through an ordeal like this. This was an outcome of women and slaves being objectified. Even in western society today, women are obligated to look a certain way so that they are “accepted” in society, when in reality the only person that needs to accept anything is themselves.

Blog 2

I think that the John Adams video showed a part of liberty that I didn't really understand. It did not seem right that the one man should be able to represent a whole colony. The decisions they made were very quick and not thought about in depth. I also thought the congress was not entirely equal about giving the rights to people who get to be in congress. For example, there is not a single woman on the congress, so her views on politics are not addressed. “I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.” (Abigail Adams) This quote is from a letter from Abigail adams to her husband john adams addressing the fact that the congress is forgetting about the foundations that they have at home. Without women, men would not be able to complete their function. Even after addressing this, women were not given the rights to suffrage until a very long time. The misogyny was present long before Abigail Adams had addressed it. The Puritans who first came to American generally thought that men were better than women so they were given a higher status in the system. This is one of the main connections that I saw between American Studies and American Literature. The treatment of men and women were not equal then. Although women have gained many rights now, they are still given a lower pay than men even for the same job. Inequality is still alive even though it may not be addressed so prominently.

 

Blog 1

“The white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage manner; for I had never seen among such instances of brutal cruelty,” (Equiano, 75) This quote displays many of the current stereotypes in history. Everyone is usually lead to believe by these accounts that all the white people were horrible to blacks. Equiano utilizes words such as “brutal” and “savage” that will lead many people to think that the treatment of these people were absolutely horrific. Though it is true that in some cases this is truly what happen, but it is not necessary that this happened in all cases. Sometimes people will take part of a story and exaggerate it and not see what the phrase was in context. This will lead to misinterpretations of the text and result in an inaccurate translation. If Equiano’s account is looked into a little further, he says,  “I now thought my condition much mended; I had sails to lie on, and plenty of good vitals to eat; and everybody on board used me very kindly, quite contrary to what I had seen of any white people before; I there began to think that they were are not all of the same disposition.” (Equiano, 94)This quote shows that Equiano had more experiences that gave him a broader view of what white people were like. It is morally wrong to judge a race by one or two interactions. This is a moral that needs to be taken into account internationally. In order to understand a story, you have to read the full story and not a summary.

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