Westward Movement: Module 7

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

After hearing the podcast posted by Professor Powell I would like to answer the question of whether or not I think that he is right in some of the points that he made in his podcast. Overall, I think that Professor Powell is right on all counts of his podcast from the overconsumption of the American people (something that we see still to this day) to the retreat of the Indians as the Anglo-Americans moved westward. I would mostly like to focus on two of the points that he made in his podcast, one being the greed of the American people with their move westward and the ideology of African-Americans and Native Americans at that time.

In Professor’s Podcast he compares the American people to the borgs from Star Trek because they were “‘insatiable’ and described as being the ‘ultimate consumer’” (Powell). An ideology that helped this portrayal of the American people was the Manifest Destiny. The Manifest Destiny was, “a phrase used by leaders and politicians in the 1840s to explain continental expansion by the United States” (Prelude to War). Everyone wanted the land that could be available to them if only they won the Mexican War. According to Zinn, “The Whig Party was presumably against the war in Mexico, but it was not against expansion” (Zinn 153). One author even stated, “In this age of annexation, why not extend the ‘area of freedom’ by the annexation of California?” (Foner 400). America wanted nothing more than to have California in the Union. To wage war on a neighboring country for the sole purpose of getting its land was what the Mexican War was all about.

Professor also comments on the different status of Africans and Indians in the American ideology. He states that Jefferson believed that Indians were only a, “Not a difference of nature but a difference of circumstances” (Powell). On the other hand Jefferson states, “The improvement of the black in body and mind when they have mixed with whites proves that their inferior is not an effect of merely their condition in life” (Powell) which is an opposite view to the Indians as stated above. The expansion was, “proof of the innate superiority of the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ race” (Foner 406). Overall, whites believed that they were above all but they felt that Indians were closer to being white than African-American. After Texas was annexed, “the entrance of free blacks into the state was prohibited altogether” (Foner 407). This shows that the American people believed that Indians could become “white” easier than an African-American.

In conclusion, the westward movement of America shows the ugliness that is America. Greed, hatred and prejudice fueled the expansion the America toward California. It is a sad truth that can be seen even to this day all over the country. Indians are still trying to assimilate into the American way of life and African-Americans still struggle to find their niche in this country.

Works Cited
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Vol. 1. New York: Norton & Company, 2006. 2 vols.

"Prelude to War". PBS. July 30, 2009 http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/prelude/md_introduction.html.


Powell, Matthew. Westward Movement. 2009.

Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc, 2003.

Image from: http://web20.mesquiteisd.org/groups/theglobalview/wiki/1d795/images/542f9.jpg

Different Slave Jobs: Module 6

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

There were many different kinds of jobs that slaves did in South before the Civil War. Slaves were not present only on the fields of the plantations but also in the household and in factories. Most of the jobs that were done, were done by the women but there were more men on most places of work because of their ability to carry much heavier loads than women. No matter what the job was, slaves were work to exhaustion from sunrise until dark fell.

One of the most infamous jobs that was done by slaves was plantation work which included the picking and planting of the crop. This work was done by both men and women and was the most backbreaking of all the jobs on the plantation. Some of their owners threatened them with horrible punishments if they did not do their jobs correctly or if they did not do it quickly enough. Others worked the slaves to death knowing that they could just buy more later.

Some of the jobs that were done by other slaves that were closer to the owner’s household were the gardener, house servant, wet nurse, and laundress. These were jobs that were done mostly by the women in the slave community. They were made to clean the house of the owner as well as care for their children and cook them all their meals. Other jobs that the men in the slave community did that were not on the field were shoemaker, overseer, carpenter, and blacksmith. Though all these services were offered at local towns, it was cheaper to have them made by skilled slaves making a plantation self sufficient.

Although there are many different jobs that could have been held by an African slave there was a common theme to all the jobs. Work hard for a long time and do not anger the owner and you will live to see the next day. While not all slave owners were brutal to their slaves, many felt that fear was the best way to rule over them. Even with such brutality, slaves did try to find ways to slow down production in small ways as a form of revolt. But in the long run, the work was always done and the slaves were always tired. A sad time in the history of the United States.

Works Cited
Foner, Eric . Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. 2 vols. 352-53.

"The Many Jobs of a Slave". n.d. 25 July 2009 http://www.historypoint.org/education/teaching/history_backyard/many_jobs_slave.asp.

Slavery. n.d. 25 July 2009 http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/slavery.htm.

The History of Slavery In America. YouTube, 2009. 25 July 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc1RbUxQv4E

Image from: http://www.scott.k12.va.us/mvermillion/images/slaves.gif

Louisiana Purchase Explorations: Module 5

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!

In May of 1804, one of the most historically famous adventures started. It was the expedition of the Louisiana Purchase by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. It was an exploration that was commissioned by the president of the time, Thomas Jefferson. This expedition was held to find out what was in the newly purchased land. Meriwether Lewis was the official leader of the expedition at the age of 28 being the man that was originally selected by Jefferson and later those William Clark, who was 32, as his co-leader. The team that they started (which consisted of about fifty men) was later called the Corps of Discovery. They started at the Mississippi River and ended in what is now present-day Oregon (which was not part of the Louisiana Purchase.) They experienced many hardships and discovered many surprising things throughout their cross-country journey.

One of the main purposes of the expedition was to try and find a direct route to the Pacific Ocean using rivers and other water channels. Most of the explorations were done on rivers to try and achieve this feet. Of course, the explorers found that a direct water route to the Pacific Ocean did not exist stamping out all hope for a direct passage to Asia via water. They met the challenge to such a hope at the Rocky Mountains. At this point of their journey they had to cross the mountains by land proving there was no way to Asia across the continent.

Though it the exploration of Lewis and Clark is masked in glory, they did encounter great difficulties. Because they were trying to find a water route to Asia they came across many places of stagnant water (e.g. swamps), a favored breeding ground for mosquitoes. With so many mosquitoes around there was a great chance of death related to mosquito transmitted diseases, though I could not find any sources that could back up such a claim. Also, they encountered many occurrences of hunger because they did not know the land well enough to do well in hunting. Many of the problems that they faced were alleviated when they came across a French-Canadian fur trader by the name of Toussaint Charbonneau who was married to an Indian woman named Sacagawea. Sacagawea proved to be a very influential part to the success of the expedition by being an interpreter, peacemaker, and negotiator.

Even though Lewis and Clark never accomplished the trade route via water mission they did not come back to Jefferson empty-handed. With the help of Sacagawea they were able to find the uses of many of the local plants and herb, see the potential for hunting, and establish peaceful contact with the native inhabitants. Of course, after the famed expedition there were copious amounts of propaganda to try and get people to move out west to have people own their own land and make a profit of the fertile lands to the west. This would never have been possible without Lewis and Clark.

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. 2 vols. 263-64.

"Lewis and Clark expedition." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008.
Encyclopedia.com. 19 Jul. 2009 .

Weiser, Kathy. "Corps of Discovery - The Lewis and Clark Expedition." Legands of America, 2007. 19 July 2009 .

image from: http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/32/8332-004-4760F6B9.jpg

Dutch Settlement: Module 3

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others! In the reading, we were introduced to many different colonies that were trying to start in the New World around the same time. One that stood out to me was the colony (or more closely the merchant settlement) that was created by the Dutch. The Dutch settled in New York Harbor, specifically Manhattan Island. Instead of simply taking over the land like many other nations before them the Dutch actually paid the natives, "according to legend, a sum equivalent to twenty-four dollars" (Foner 74). Even though it was a very small sum, it was a much more peaceful way of getting land from the natives. They later called this newly acquired piece of land New Netherlands.
New Netherlands was a primarily fur trading post. They saw the potential for profits that could be made by employing the Indians in the area to help in the fur trade. Because of this realization, the Dutch had no interest in conquering the natives for their land. Also, by keeping in mind how the Spanish had treated the Indians and the eventual uprisings that occurred because of such treatment; the Dutch decided that a more human approach to Indian contact was in order. Furthermore, because the Dutch had to gain their independence from the Spanish, "many Dutch identified with American Indians as fellow victims of Spanish oppression" (Foner 75). Even with such great ideals for the treatment of the local Indians, there was still some conflict of the settlers and Indians. Though in comparison to the English settlements, the Dutch settlements' conflicts were not as brutal, bloody, or devastating.
What made New Netherlands stand out to the rest of the colonies was its population diversity. A large portion of the population was in fact, not Dutch. Many of the immigrants came from Germany, Sweden and Finland. Also, New Netherland gave people the opportunity to practice religious freedom something that was never heard of before in Europe or the new colonial settlements. With such a great opportunity to religious freedom New Netherland became a place of refuge for those who were persecuted for their religion. Another striking difference in New Netherland was how they treated slaves. Though they still had the ugly practice of slavery in the colony, New Netherland gave slaves some rights, as compared to none in the other colonies.
In many cases, New Netherland was far from a perfect colony but had many advances in the issue of human rights than most of their surrounding colonies. New Netherland was later taken from the Dutch by the British. It is interesting to think of how the United States would have developed if the Dutch had kept their hold on their settlement.

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. 2 vols. 74-75.

Jordan, Louis. "A Brief Outline of the History of New Netherland". Notre Dome: The Coins of Colonial and Early America, n.d. University of Notre Dome. 7 July 2009 .

Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Seal_of_new_netherland.jpg

Indian Civilizations: Module 2

After reading the assigned reading for this module, it gave me a lot of perspective about Indian Civilizations that existed at that time. Though both Foner and Zinn focuses on the genocide and enslavement of Indians, I would like to take a closer look at the Indian Civilizations themselves. To further specify, I will be looking in the Indian Civilizations that were within the United States borders and how they lived their lives before European settlers destroyed them and their way of life.

The Indian Civilizations of North America were either hunter/gathering or settled agricultural groups. This means that some Indian tribes were nomadic and would roam a certain area of land following their food sources like buffalo and vegetation as the seasons changed. Other tribes were people with shelters that were built and they stayed in one area farming for their vegetation needs and hunting game that was close to their settlements. Indians that were settled close to large rivers or the ocean would do a lot of fishing and would harvest plenty of other food sources of the water.

Another fascinating aspect of the Indians was how they handled marriage, gender roles, and social norms. At this time in Europe, men were the head of the household and the wife and children answered to him. Women had no property rights or legal identity. In comparison, Indians had matrilineal lines and women were influential deciders in many important decisions of their tribe. It was considered indecent for a woman of that time to be working unless they were poor in Europe. Because of this, a man was considered a man by how much authority he had over his wife and children (an ideal that still plagues some societies today). In North America, an Indian man proved his machismo by being extremely successful at hunting and providing meat for his family or even his whole tribe. Marriage was not as structured in Indian cultures as it was in Europe. If two people wanted to wed it was approved by parents and the ceremony was performed. If the woman or the man wanted a divorce, it was done. Premarital relationships were also accepted in some Indian cultures at the time. Also, nakedness was not looked down upon but considered a norm of everyday life.

It is sad that such rich cultures have been lost because of violent conquest and time. I feel that we could have learned a lot from the Indian cultures that could have helped the Americas become a better place.

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Vol. 1. New York: Norton & Company, 2006. 2 vols. 19-24.

"Native Americans of North America," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2009 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United Staes: 1492-Present. New York: Peremmial Classics, 2003. 3-5.

My Intro: Module 1

My name is Christine Day and I am a regular student at San Diego State University. If you are thinking of transferring there, you should. Big school with small classes and the teachers give you a lot of one on one time. And if you like to party, you get that too. I am currently majoring in Environmental Sciences (no I am not a tree hugger) and I want to become a caterer. I know it is strange, but catering is a risky business. Environmental Sciences is there to make sure I have a job some time in the future. A nice cushion of sorts. This is my first summer enrolled at DVC and I am lost. I feel like I am a freshman all over again. But that is ok, I will figure it all out soon enough.