Western Letter

One letter that I found written by Mark Twain to his Mom from Carson City in the Nevada Territory. He is answering her request for him to tell her about the country, saying that he is only going to use facts and no "nonsense". He talks about a place called "Gold Hill", that is named for its abundant gold bearing and because it is the best Gold producing place in the area. He lists the various resources and types of people that are abundant there, such as marble, granite, slate, thieves, murderers, and lawyers. He mentions that it never rains and there is no green anywhere. He describes the types of plants that grow there and then describes the landscape. He talks about the town and where it is built. He then mentions a place called King's Canon, making sure to put the proper pronunciation (can-yon) in the letter, where all of the ranches and farms are because things actually grow there. He describes the houses as "framed" and "paper-covered" by flour sacks. Depending on the brand of flour sack it would show your wealth. He says there are also stone houses. After describing the city, he moves on to the other questions his mom asked. He doesn't go to church regularly, and in Carson they only have not-in-business Catholic church and a Protestant service every Sabbath in the school house. He says there are many ladies, and then calls them handsome. He says the people are generally moral and religious. Lastly, he tells her that if people ask, he is enjoying his life in Nevada. He says it's really dusty, but that he likes dust. The days are hot and the nights are cold. It doesn't rain, but he like it because he dislikes mud. There are scorpion and spiders, but he doesn't mind because he doesn't like spiders. Overall, this letter has a really descriptive narrative of Carson City, Nevada and it is really useful for finding out what the West was like back then.

Letter Writing in America

The article "Letter Writing in America" talks about the changes in letter writing throughout history. The article starts out by talking about the letters from people exploring the new world. The explorers were being paid, and sent updates back to their bosses. The article says that because of this, the letters that were being sent from the new world frequently described "Eden-like surroundings", a plethora of available food and resources, and cordial and cooperative natives who came across as though they wanted to convert to Christianity. (Letter Writing in America) From here, postal services were created such as the British Colonial Post. The downside to this was that postage was expensive and many people were illiterate. Most letters being sent were either from wealthy upperclass citizens or were secret letters sent by the government or military. Newspapers then started publishing letters. After this, Westward Expansion made it popular for letters to be send back to family from the West, either as updates or often news of death. The railroads made letters faster to send and receive. During the civil war, letters were often sent between soldiers and their families, and there were often letters from former slaves. Letters of a particular time tend to show the issues that were present during that time period, such as letters from immigrants to their families and letters about feminism. Throughout the World Wars and the Great Depression, more letters are sent between soldiers and their families; letters also show up in newspapers regarding personal inquiries. In the modern times, letter writing has decreased significantly because of technology such as telegraphs, E-mail, and phones. Letters are still written mainly to petition the government, for business transactions, and as an art form. As for the future of letter writing, the article states that it is unknown.

Newspaper Research

I read a weekly paper from Prescott, Arizona called The Weekly Arizona Miner. The political issues that were being discussed were mainly about the rules of the area. Since Arizona was not yet a state, the people were trying to figure out a way to govern and make rules for themselves. There were also lots of stories of crime and scandal. There were mentions of murder, rape, assault and battery, fraud, and others. What particularly grabbed my attention in this paper was how murderers often got less sentence than people who committed other smaller crimes. Another thing that caught my attention was some of the laws that were being passed and removed at a quick pace. There were laws to regulate the herding of sheep, prevent gambling with minors, prevent the destruction of fish, and amend lawful fences and animal trespassing. These laws make me want to know what happened to cause them to be put into place. This newspaper is useful to learn about the area because it provides insight into the political decisions that were being made as to how the area was to be governed. It also provides insight into the legal system and what kinds of crimes were being committed and how they were being handled.

"12 Years a Slave" Essay

While watching the film 12 Years a Slave, I spent a good deal of time wondering how accurate the film was to the real historical events that took place. Turns out, they were very accurate, and some parts were taken directly from Solomon Northup’s own words. After watching this movie and learning about the history behind it, I came to the conclusion that history can be learned from film if the time and effort is put into making sure the tools used to make the movie engaging do not compromise the accuracy of the story.

Soloman Northup and Epps in "12 Years a Slave"

The movie “12 Years a Slave” is a moving film about Solomon Northup’s story. However, it is also a film about the overall treatment of slaves. The New York Times has a review of the movie that references this idea, writing about how the story becomes more deep and then proceeds to become more compact once on Epp’s plantation. Epp’s plantation is also where the truth about being a slave for hours, decades, and generations is shown, sometimes through scenes of the slaves that are Epp’s property being whipped, one example being Epp’s “brutalized favorite”, Patsey, who is played by Lupita Nyong’o. (NY Times Movie Review) The New York Times considers this film accurate to the history, but so do the people that were a part of the making of it. In an interview for Vanity Fair, Lupita Nyong’o said, “Because it’s not about getting it right, it’s about getting it true.” (Vanity Fair Interview) Nyong’o says that while filming the movie the main focus was the accuracy of the history, not the accuracy of the acting. The director wanted the movie to be more true to the history instead of being a perfect Hollywood production that lost all of the realness to the story.

The movie is based off of Solomon Northup's personal narrative of his time as a slave. Having never read his narrative, I spent the entirety of the movie wondering if some of the scenes were based off of real life situations or if they were added to make the film more interesting to watch. I was very happy to find out that important parts of the film were completely real and accurate. Solomon writes in his narrative that Patsey’s back was covered in nearly a thousand scars from a whip. These were not because she was not working diligently or because she was careless and defiant; they were because she had an amoral master and an envious mistress. She was small in the “lustful eye” of her master, and at risk of death at the hands of her mistress, and she was “accursed” between the bother of them. There were loud arguments in the great house for days at time where she was the reason without having done anything. The mistress was happiest when she was suffering. On more than one occasion, Patsey attempted to bribe Solomon to kill her in secret and bury her body in a secluded area of the swamp when Epps denied his wife’s wishes to sell Patsey. (Solomon Northup’s Narrative) Not only was Patsey’s situation in the film accurate to her real life experience, but it provides insight into how other slaves were treated similarly. Harriet Jacobs, another slave, spoke about how a mistress would mistreat slaves whom their husbands were treating their slaves in a similar way Patsey was treated. Harriet said, “The mistress, who ought to protect the helpless victim, has no other feelings towards her but those of jealously and rage.” (Harriet Jacobs' Narrative) The film provides the viewer with an accurate representation of how Patsey was treated, and also of how other slaves were treated who weren’t parts of Solomon's story.

Time and effort was certainly put into the creation of “12 Year a Slave” to make it a film that was both engaging for the viewer, but also true to history. The scenes in the movie can be fact checked by looking through Solomon Northup’s narrative, and they are portrayed accurately based on his descriptions. Some of the scenes and lines are taken directly verbatim from Solomon’s book. After watching this movie and doing the research on slave narratives, I think that history can most definitely be learned through film. It is certainly easy to alter the story to make it more interesting, but that is not always the case. I believe that as long as the movie is made accurately and stays completely true to the history, then film is a fantastic way for people to learn about past events.

Citations:

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/enslavement/text6/masterslavesexualabuse.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/movies/12-years-a-slave-holds-nothing-back-in-show-of-suffering.html

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/01/lupita-nyongo-12-years-a-slave-interview

Slave Narratives

I read the list of Slave Narratives regarding slave holder's sexual abuse on slaves. Everything that I learned while reading this is awful. I'm surprised that some of the women were willing to talk about their experiences and speak up, although they did seem to have a harder time discussing the topic than the men did. It's so incredibly sad that these women had to go through the hardships that they did because if they refused they were punished in a worse way or sometimes killed. Not only did they have to deal with the men, but their wives made it worse. One of the excerpts talks about how the mistress would beat or throw objects the woman that her husband was forcing to submit to him. It's an issue that no person should have to deal with, especially not in fear of their life or further punishment. When giving yourself up to these kind of actions is the better option of being beaten or death, it can't be imagined what these women went through unless you are placed in the situation yourself.

A few of the questions I have.
1. Why do the slave owners get married if they have intentions like these?
2. Why do women marry the men knowing that they are more than likely not going to be loyal to them, and then why don't they leave them?
3. Were there any instances where someone stood up for themselves and fought back or where others fought back for them or with them?

Self Assessment

Throughout this first part of the year I think I've learned a lot. I learned how to write good thesis statements for history and how to properly paraphrase and quote authors. I think these are really important skills to have developed before we start working on more research projects. I'm also really into psychology so I loved doing the Choices work. I'm looking forward to the police things that we talked about at the end of class today. I'm interested in learning about it and how police actions affected history and how their past decisions effect how people feel about police today.

Reflection of Paraphrase Practice

Reflection

I learned a lot today. I was nervous paraphrasing would be something I couldn't do very well, but I actually enjoyed doing it and I think I did a fairly good job at it. It's helpful to know when to use a quote and when to just reword what the author was saying because I don't think I fully understood when to use each before. I used to just use a quote to help an argument but now I realize that I can paraphrase the quote and still help the argument which makes an actual quotation more powerful because it adds more meaning. I also know to always cite the author no matter if it is a paraphrase or a quotation. Hyperlinking is also really cool and super easy to do. I feel really good about doing all of this and I think this activity was really helpful.



This What I learned Today

• Only use a direct quote when it adds power and style to my writing.
• Always make it clear, from context, that I understand the full meaning of the quote.
• Whether I quote or paraphrase, I must always be transparent about the source and how I'm using it.
• If I use another author's exact words or phrases, to any extent, I have to use quotation marks and give credit.
• If I use another author's presentation of facts or ideas, but put their ideas in my own words, (paraphrase) I better have a good reason for doing so, and I MUST give credit.
• Hyperlinking is so easy, there is no excuse for not being transparent about my sources.

I understand how to do all of these things and I feel confident that I can do them well.