Response to Sam Wood--Blog 11

Immigrating to a new country must be very hard no matter what country they are coming from or going to. In this case going from Africa to the United States must be very difficult because he is going from a third world country to a highly sophisticated country. Although he tends to be torn between his two cultures, I do believe that no matter where you're from you should take some of that culture with you. After all, the United States is called the melting pot and it's because we have so many great cultures coming together to form a country yet we all represent the United States in our own unique ways. I feel as if he shouldn't have been torn, instead he should have embraced the American culture and still had his own culture. If he were to completely let go of his own culture he might forget where he came from, and that is a big part of ourselves and our history to be letting go. Everyone in the United States immigrated at one time so he shouldn't have felt like an "Outcast". I could see how it would be hard for an immigrant to assimilate to our new ways, especially because the US is much different than African culture. I also agree that it does show that he is torn between US culture and African culture because he does like the United States so much.

Blog #9- The Contemporary Connection

      While reading one of the connections I made to today's politics and the politics of 1865-1914 was the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment. The Fifteenth Amendment is the third of the Reconstruction Amendments and it prohibits the states and federal government from using a citizens race, color, or previous status as a slave as a voting qualification. In our society today African American's have become a part of our society instead of outcasts. In todays political world the African Americans have come a very long way, the most obvious is our president Barack Obama. President Barack Obama is our country's first African American president and shows the growth of equality for African Americans in politics in the United States. During the time period of 1865-1914 the people of this time would have never believed that an African American male would have ever become the president of the United States, but as a country we have grown since this time period in a very positive direction.
       Another connection that I made would be the social aspects of magazines in today's culture and in the culture of 1865-1914. Magazines grew tremendously during this time period and "readers were attracted by the colorful covers, lavish illustrations, and modest cost." The differences between today's magazines and the older magazines is that magazines today focus on gossip, celebrities, or television shows. Back then magazines published stories that focused great attention on women and their right to vote and their fight for social and political equality. "Magazines also revealed the important tole of women both as consumers and producers of culture in the United States." Today we don't focus on these kinds of topics anymore. Popular magazines in today's society would be Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and People Magazine. In these magazines a reader will never find an article on politics or a certain gender or races inability to vote. Magazines have transformed from political to gossip magazines but the similarity that they still have are the colorful covers, lavish illustrations, and modest costs; that is one thing that has not changed in today's magazines and the magazines from the older time period.

Blog 8- Response to John Brown's Last Speech & The Death of Lincoln

      A similarity that both writings have is I assume that both of these men were from the North and were against slavery. "I deny everything but what I have all along admitted, the design on my part to free the slaves."  This clearly shows that John Brown was an active abolitionist and didn't care who knew it. He led Harper's Ferry and the Pottawatomie Massacre. I believe that in John Brown's Last Speech he demonstrates the American Dream by trying to free the slaves, and by freeing them he is letting them be treated like normal human beings and not like objects. "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" is a key phrase used by Americans still today that we live by, how are the slaves supposed to have a life, have liberty, or happiness when they were treated like objects with no knowledge and had everything they loved taken away from them. They didn't even know what life really was. By freeing them he is also allowing them to maybe get the schooling they need to be able to have a normal job and succeed in the United States although they might not have been the dominant white male. Back then the African Americans were treated very poorly and their owners didn't want them to have any knowledge or freedom. Of course how is one to ever achieve the American Dream with no knowledge and when they aren't allowed to do anything outside the plantation that could ever let them achieve the goals that the individual might have or could potentially have.
      In The Death of Lincoln the last two lines really stood out to me and I think that they go along with a lot of John Brown's Last Speech and his mentality throughout his speech. "Among the noble host of those, Who perished in the cause of Right." Looking back in history we all have learned that Lincoln was a part of the abolitionist movement and wanted to free the slaves. Lincoln and John Brown are similar characters because they both believe in freeing the slaves and are abolitionists, yet they go about their beliefs in different ways. John Brown is willing to be violent with his actions and Lincoln does it in a more political manner. Also in The Death of Lincoln it says "Whose proudest monument shall be, The broken fetters of the slaves." This shows another similarity between the two readings because they both praise what they have done to try and free the slaves and give them their right to the "American Dream". The "American Dream" could not be obtained when a person is confined to an area with absurd duties and is given no direction or freedom to achieve something that they can call their own. Although the slaves did work hard back then which is a trait of achieving the American Dream they were not rewarded with anything yet had everything taken away from them and were treated like objects.
      I think that John Brown's Last Speech is more persuasive than the Death of Lincoln because of the fact that John Brown uses a reference to the Bible. Readers of this time would be very persuaded by his reference to the Bible because of the strong Christianity faith that occurred during this time. As we discussed in class although many slave owners were Christian it didn't stop them from doing what was not moral and beating their slaves, but none the less everyone was very Christian at this time.
      Lastly, Northerners would probably be more moved by the two pieces for two reasons. The first reason is because both of these men were abolitionists, Lincoln and John Brown, and majority of the North were against slavery and Lincoln was a very strong, important figure to Northerners. So the Northerners are most likely to side with the views of Lincoln and John Brown's thoughts of freeing the slaves. Second, the reference to the Bible would effect both the Southerners and Northerners. Because both readings are promoting freeing slaves and the American Dream is an underlying message, the use of the Bible as a reference would just have a stronger effect on the Northerners to really want to get the abolitionist movement going. Southerners might be very offended by these two readings because although the Biblical reference may effect them too and make them think a bit they do not believe what they are doing is wrong although they are strong Christians. Like we said in class, it seemed to be the more Christian a southern slave owner was the more brutal they were.