Me Vs. Not Me

While reading the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s narrative “Nature” I began to ponder the meanings that people place on the word ME, because to know what the Not Me is one must know what me is.

The Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary states that the definition of me is used as the object of a verb or preposition and sometimes instead of I or the word used by a speaker or writer when referring to him/herself. (Merriam-webster) While this tells one what the literary definition of me is, it does not tell one what me means to one philosophically. Philosophically, me is the embodiment of one’s self; more specifically one’s conscience, personality, thoughts, and social identity. (Wikipedia) Generally, we as a society define the things that make up one’s self as the things that make up one’s soul. The website Wikipedia states that “Aristotle, following Plato, defined the soul as the core essence of a being, but argued against its having a separate existence.” (Wiki) What this means is that your soul is you, it is not a separate thing that is inside of you.

According to the literary and philosophical definitions, the differences between ME and Not Me is ME is the things that make up the non-tangible items of one, and the Not Me is the tangible things that make up one. If someone were to cut off a toe, they could continue living a relatively similar life that they had leaded prior to the incident. However, if one were to have damage to their thoughts or a change in personality, that person would be greatly affected in the way that they lead their lives from henceforth.

James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans"

       I.            Biography of Cooper

“James Fenimore Cooper one of eleven children of William and Elizabeth Cooper was born on September 15, 1789 in New Jersey. Cooper spent the majority of his early life in the New York frontier Community of Cooperstown near Ostego Lake. After attending school in Albany, New York, Cooper entered Yale College.  After a few short years at Yale, Cooper was expelled after a prank had gone wrong, whereupon Cooper gained distaste for New Englanders. After his expulsion, Cooper chose to enter the service of the United States Navy as a Midshipman in 1806. In 1811, Cooper married his wife, Susan Augusta De Lancey (daughter of a loyalist family during the American Revolution) and chose to settle in the countryside. Cooper Began a career as a writer after taking a challenge from his wife that he could write a better novel that the one that she was reading. Cooper answered her challenge with the book, Precaution written in 1820. Because of the way that the American public received his novel, Cooper further went on to pen such works as, “The Pioneers”, “The Leather Stocking Tales” (which include the popular novel, “The Last of the Mohicans”), and “the Deer Slayer”.  After penning many American Classic novels, Cooper died after living more than 60 years on September 14, 1851.” (Works Cited #1)

One of the first events in Cooper’s life that bear significance to Cooper himself and to “the Last of the Mohicans” is his childhood in the frontier town of Cooperstown, NY.  This experience gave him a firsthand look at the Indian/ settler interaction or lack of it. It is this that Cooper drew from when he was telling the story of the frontier families and the hardships and acceptances of the various Native American tribes in the American frontier.  Another significant event to the life of Cooper and bares weight on the text is his service to his country. This experience benefits the novel because it shows a greater understanding of the military mind and shows the discipline that is required to serve ones country. Lastly, Cooper spends extensive time in some of the more prominent European countries of his time and this influenced the way that he wrote and presented his characters. It also lends to the story because it allows him to draw from his experiences in the European mindset and allows his to more accurately portray his character.

Cooper draws many of his character sets and writes as a person who has lived many years in the frontier of America. He shows an extensive knowledge of the frontiersman and writes in words and phrases that allow the frontiersman to greatly understand and recognize their own characteristics in the story. This is greatly exemplified in the way that he writes about the plight of the militiaman and their want to leave the fort in order to see after their families when possible.

    II.            History of Cooper and “The Last of the Mohicans”

“The Last of the Mohicans” is a Story written in 1826 by James Fenimore Cooper to be included in his collection of stories called “the Leather Stocking Tales”. Cooper penned this work during the time of rebuilding after the war of 1812, during the times of great disdain toward the Native American population from White citizens, and “the proposed removal of Native Americans from their homes of hundreds of years to places like the Arkansas Territory and the Indian Territory (Oklahoma).” (Works Cited #2)

The removal of the Native Americans from their homes in the 1820 is reflected in many of the scene from “The Last of the Mohicans”, although not always from the Indian perspective. In the Book, Cooper tells the story of some of the White Settlers that flee from the established areas of the colonies to the wilderness areas so that their families would have better land and farming opportunities. It is for this reason that the United States government began the process of Indian removal in the first place. In the early 1800’s there were many citizens that were looking for a place in the wilderness of the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and other areas of the country where the only inhabitants were the native American population and to have these lands available for new states and settlement from “upstanding” White Americans was to make the current inhabitants leave, by any means necessary.

For the majority of the populace in America at this time the basic means of living was strictly agricultural in nature. Most families lived on large farms and were greatly self-sufficient.  They lived off of the land, only having the food that they were able to grow themselves or were able to hunt in the forests and grasslands surrounding their farms, this concept also extended into every other aspect of their lives, from the clothes that they wore to the way that they conducted business.  In terms of Textiles, “they made a lot of their own clothes, often by taking cotton fibers and making the thread in which the individual clothing components were made.” (Works Cited #3) In terms of the leisure time that the Early Americans had, often it was spent in was to provide for the house hold, they would often create various things of a craft nature or would often focus on religious studies by reading the bible and other religious texts.

Had Cooper wrote “The Last of the Mohicans” in a time other than after the War of 1812 and the beginnings of the Indian removal, I could foresee a different text altogether.  Had the text have been written just two decades later, I believe that there would not even be an Indian theme to the story, it would have taken a tone much like Harriett Beecher Stow’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, a story dominated by the plight of the slave.

 III.            Sociology of “The Last of the Mohicans”

“The Last of the Mohicans” is chocked full of peoples of different ethnic backgrounds such as English, French, and several different Native American Tribes. Because the story takes place during the French and Indian War, “There is a great deal of tensions between several of the ethnic groups, i.e. the French vs. the English and the Mohawk Indians vs. the Huron Indians.” (Works Cited #4) The Story was written to tell the tale of the way that the Mohawk Indians were dragged into the French and Indian war on the English Side and because of such the English and Mohawk view is the main one in the story.

Gender plays a key role in the story, especially when the romance between Cora and Hawkeye is explored in greater detail. Because they are in the middle of the war, in the heart of the New York wilderness, the traditional gender roles have been downplayed because a woman during these times must for her own survival, fight her enemy just as hard a man. There are also times when the traditional gender role is upheld in the text, such as when the women are in fort William Henry. While they are there they find themselves as nurses, because all of the men are required to stand on the front lines and fight the enemy.

“The Last of the Mohicans” is a story about how a boy from a frontier family and has been adopted by the Mohawk Indians has fallen in love with a daughter of an English Colonel (whom during the time of the French and Indian War would have been an aristocrat). Because of the Colonel’s rank and aristocratic status, he looks down on the Militia (who were the colonial settlers) and goes against what they have been promised by another officer. Another distinction that is present in the story between the settlers and the aristocrats is when Major Heyward lies about what the officer that promises to do for the frontiersmen. He tells the Colonel that he did not hear any type of promise being made and that the settlers will do as they (the English officers) say because they are citizens of the crown.

 IV.            Explication of “The Last of the Mohicans”

James Fenimore Cooper presented his Novel “The Last of the Mohicans”, a story that is set during the French and Indian War, in a format which would allow the frontiersman and woman as well as the sophisticated reader be able to follow the story line. He told the story in a chapter format which allowed him to present new ideas and expand on ideas previously given. Cooper also used a language and word choices that all of his time would be able to follow.  Cooper refrains from using figurative language, or at least figurative language that one would be able to recognize in today’s society.

The author presents a myriad of characters from all walks of life, from the aristocrat soldiers like Colonel Munro and Major Heyward to Native Americans such as Uncas, Hawkeye, and Magua. Many times in the story, Cooper presents the characters as an exemplar of the way that these subjects should interact, such as when Col. Munro demands that the Mohawk Indians that had guided Cora and Alice to Fort William Henry become his scouts. He also shows the history of his character in there interaction with other characters, such as when Hawkeye and the rest of the Mohawk party happen upon the frontier settlement that had been attacked. This scene provides segue into the history of Hawkeye and the way that he became a Mohawk.

The plot of romance in the time of war would not have been as successful had it not have taken place, obviously, during a war. With Cooper placing the story in the time of the French and Indian war, allows for the theme of interracial romance to better come forth because of the diverse parties that had fought in that particular war.

    V.            Connections to “The Last of the Mohicans”

In the Novel “The Last of the Mohicans”, the author James Fenimore Cooper presents the readers many themes but by far the most outstanding theme would be interracial relationships. Given the time period in which Cooper wrote this novel, interracial relationships was a taboo subject just like in the novel “Ramona” by Helen Hunt Jackson published in 1884 and the 1981 novel  “Let the Circle be Unbroken” by author Mildred D. Taylor. In each of these works, the reader is shown that there is both adversity and acceptance of an interracial relationship.

“The Last of the Mohicans” has been represented in modern media in numerous ways, with the most notable portrayal being the 1992 motion picture by the same name starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Hawkeye, Madeline Stowe as Cora, and Wes Studi as Magua. “This adaptation although based on Cooper’s novel is more in line with director George Seitz’s 1936 performance.” (Works Cited #5)

The Last of the Mohicans is a classic example of American literature and is included in the tomes of early American literature because mostly of the writer. Cooper invented what would become the literary American hero, a character who the public “pulls for”.

Works Cited

1.      http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/cooper/cooperbiography.html

2.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_removal#Calhoun.27s_plan

3.      http://www.campsilos.org/mod2/students/life4.shtml

4.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_War

5.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_the_Mohicans_(1992_film)

What Impact did Frederick Douglass have on America?

While reading the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, I couldn’t help but wonder what his impact upon America was. While researching this question, I have come to find that because Douglass was an African American who was able to read and write, he was one of the minorities among slaves. While reading was common place among the slave population of America, writing was disallowed because white America found that writing was a “Status Mark” and was not needed for slaves. (Wikipedia) Because Douglass could write, he was able to put into words the way that he was treated while a slave, prompting the masses to have a greater understanding of the plight of the slave community.  America also was able to understand what was being said about the treatment of slaves better, because the tales were coming from a person whom had lived the life first hand, not just someone who had just merely seen it.

Writing was not the only way that Douglass became a champion of the Slave; He was also a grand orator and was able to sway the opinions of the masses through speeches about the treatment of his brethren.  The plight of the slaves is not the only thing that Douglass was a champion of however; Douglass was one of the first African Americans to take up the cause of women’s suffrage. He was the only African American to attend the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls. (Wikipedia)

Throughout his life, Frederick Douglass was a man of the down trodden and abused. He was a champion of the underdog and his greatest impact upon America was a greater recognition of those who before were ignored, beaten, and forgotten.

Why did Thomas Jefferson own Slaves, yet called for anti-slavery legislation?

While reading the autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, I was awestruck at the fact that he attempted to introduce many anti-slavery legislations into the House of Burgesses. I find the fact that he proposed the legislations rather hypocritical, given the fact that he employed slaves on his estate called Monticello. It is believed by many historians that Jefferson had a sexual relation Sally Hemings with a slave who was in his employ. It is even believed that Hemings had a total of seven children, “who were noted for their resemblance to Jefferson.” (Wikipedia) Jefferson became an advocate for the slave population out of necessity, to defend the rights of his newly acquired family.



Early in Jefferson’s Career as a lawyer, he had the occasion to represent many of the people living in the Colony of Virginia, both white and colored with mixed success. “In 1770, he defended a young mulatto male slave in a freedom suit, on the grounds that his mother was white and freeborn. By the colony's adoption of partus sequitur ventrum, that the child took the status of the mother, the man should never have been enslaved. He lost the suit. In a case in 1772, Jefferson represented George Manly, the son of a free woman of color, suing to secure his freedom after having been held as an indentured servant three years past the expiration of his term. Once freed, Manly worked for Jefferson at Monticello for wages.” (Wikipedia) This shows that Jefferson was a man of the law, no matter what color the client may be.

Jefferson’s greatest influential dealings with people of color and interracial families came after the death of his Father-in-Law, John Wayles. “In the will of Wayles, Jefferson and his wife had inherited a great sum of land and also 135 Slaves which included Wayles’ mistress Betty Hemings, mother of Sally Hemings.” (Wiki) Because of the Wayles property, Thomas Jefferson became one of the biggest slaveholders in the Colony of Virginia. It also made Jefferson more aware of the struggles that slave families must deal with every day.

All of these events explain the reason that Jefferson remained a staunch advocate for slave rights. It also shows me that he wasn’t being hypocritical. He finally realized the immorality of slavery, and knew that in order to change the laws of slavery he had to go against his own beliefs and own slaves.

What exactly was Thomas Paine's Role in the Revolutionary War.

While reading Thomas Paine’s publication the Crisis, I began to wonder what exactly his role in the Revolutionary War was. Many times in the publication he speaks as to the maneuvers that the army made against the British and Hessian soldiers during the New Jersey campaign of 1776, but he never specifically speaks of his own role in the Army.  In the pamphlet, Paine tells the readers that “he was with the troops in Fort Lee” (The Crisis); unlike today, where it is common for media persons to be imbedded with combat units, the commanders of the Armies of the revolutionary times would not allow someone who was not a soldier to be around soldiers and the battle plans that could be compromised. The revolutionary war was an atmosphere where neighbor was fighting against neighbor and many times throughout the war, many persons changed sides in the blink of the eye as was the case with Benedict Arnold (a prominent American General, who turned against the American cause and sided with the British).

After researching Thomas Paine, I found that ”he was made an Aide-de-Camp to General Nathan Greene” (http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/patriots/thomas-paine.htm) and it was during his service to General Greene that he wrote the pamphlet “The American Crisis.” An Aide-de Camp is a soldier who is like “the right hand man” to a General officer; however the encyclopedia Britannica tells us that “the official role of the Aide-de-Camp is that of General’s secretary.”(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/10405/aide-de-camp) Aides-de-Camp also served as the “eyes and ears” for the commanders, often serving as a liaison between the senior commanders and the junior commanders or the commanders who were actually dealing with the maneuvers of the troops. Given the fact that Thomas Paine was the Aide-de-Camp to one of the most senior of the American Generals, probably the most senior of the American Generals besides George Washington in the middle colonies, he was able to use his writing prowess to uplift and inspire the men under Greene’s command. When Paine wrote “The Crisis,” he did not write it to be a historical document or even as  a literary document, he wrote it to allow the troops to know the purpose of their service to America, and it was this fact that General George Washington wanted “The Crisis” to be read to his soldiers at Valley Forge.

What was life like for Puritan Women?

As I was reading some of Anne Bradstreet’s poems and letters, I began to wonder what it was like to be a Puritan woman. All too often we are shown puritan women as sub servants to their husbands, but how did they really lead their lives? To understand the role of women in Puritan society, we must first understand what a Puritan is.  The Hall of Church History website, tells us that the Puritans were “were English Reformers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They were frustrated by the slow progress of the Reformation in the Anglican Church. They left a legacy of theological writing that is unsurpassed in church history. Their doctrine tended to be Calvinistic and Presbyterian, and their finest writings were both polemic and devotional treatments of theology.” http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/puritans.htm  Given this information we can see that the Puritans were the radicals of their time, much like the occupy movements of our day. They chose to fight the system for what they believed in, even leaving their homes in order to have religious freedoms. Because of this radicalism, we can conclude that the people who choose to undertake this religious awakening had to be very strong willed men and women.  

I believe that the women that chose to undertake the ordeal of familial uprooting, had to be much stronger than their husband and the male leaders of the community, because they had to move to a new land and keep the family unit intact. During the 16^th century, the woman was the leader of the home; she would make sure that the home was tidy, safe, spiritually safe, and presentable to the community.  

Women were also in charge of all of the responsibilities of the children. Women had to make sure that their children were clean, safe, and educated in the basics of reading, writing, morals, and religious studies.  In the home, the puritan woman enjoyed a key role in the family as a vital and respected figure.

The role that women had in the Puritan home differs greatly from the role that the woman played in the community which was a wholly male dominated society. The website U.S. History tells us that “church attendance was mandatory.”(http://www.ushistory.org/us/3d.asp) While this may be fun for some of us in the community, the Puritan church was conducted in a manner that is very different from the way we celebrate god today. In modern times, women play a pivotal role in church society; they can hold priest ships, serve on committees, and most importantly can actually speak on matters in the church building; this is a sharp contrast to the way that the puritan women were made to act in church, which was silent and separate from the men.  

At all times the Puritan woman was sub servant to all men, but none more so than her husband.  As the website Patches from the past tells us, “A woman was expected to be subservient to her father until she married and then to her husband. Ministers often reminded their flock that women were inferior to men and more inclined to sin and error.”(http://www.historyofquilts.com/earlylife.html)

As one can see, Puritan women held key parts of society such as wife, mother, and homemaker, but because of they were thought to be inferior to men, they were held to sub servant roles in society as whole.

What caused the many clashes between the Powhatan Confederacy and the Settlers of Jamestown?

The answer to this question can be summed by the want of profit by the colony council. Instead of putting all of their agricultural resources into the growth of plants for survival, they instead chose to plant and harvest tobacco.

http://www.historyisfun.org/gardens.htm

The main reason that the colony of Jamestown was established was to exploit for profit, the resources that the New World had to offer. (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/300134/Jamestown-Colony/247837/First-years-1607-09?anchor=ref849028) Because the settlers had little success in finding precious metals such as gold and silver as was their original intent, they had to find other profitable means in order to fund the continued expedition into the wilderness of America. In 1613, John Rolfe provided the answer to the question of profits. Rolfe imported from the West Indies the seeds that were to become the first crop of tobacco in Virginia. (http://www.ushistory.org/us/2d.asp)

John Rolfe

Because tobacco was so profitable (selling for at least four shillings per pound) to those in England, even against the opposition of King James I, the settlers of Jamestown chose to plant and harvest tobacco in large fields. Tobacco can only be planted in one field for about three seasons because the crop kills the land by sapping all of the nutrients that the soil has. After the fields have been used after this three year cycle, the settlers had to seek other land plots to plant more tobacco. The only place to get the land needed for the next growing cycle was from the Indians who inhabited the areas surrounding the boundaries of Jamestown Colony. This need for more planting space began what was to be a long “war” with the Powhatan Confederacy.  (http://www.ushistory.org/us/2d.asp)