Difference between revisions of "Week 13-14 Questions/Comments-327 09"
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Yes I agree with Katelyn. I did not mean to put Sarah Chase and other abolitionists out of context, which of course was an idea of "natural" white superiority. I think it is a common misunderstanding in history that abolitionists were trying to fight for equal rights. Complete equality was still far off in the future. -Allison Luthern | Yes I agree with Katelyn. I did not mean to put Sarah Chase and other abolitionists out of context, which of course was an idea of "natural" white superiority. I think it is a common misunderstanding in history that abolitionists were trying to fight for equal rights. Complete equality was still far off in the future. -Allison Luthern | ||
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| + | I agree with what others have said about the racist attitudes of even those whites who were trying to help the former slaves. I think that racism of varying degrees was pretty much built in to US society at that time, and the poverty and lack of education of the black community probably helped reinforce a lot of the stereotypes about blacks being less intelligent or simple, etc. I do think the prejudice that appears in these letters is a distinctly different kind of racism- it's not exactly overt, more the attitude of blacks being like children. It reminds me of my great-aunt's attitude towards african americans- "they should be pitied and given charity because they can't help being ignorant and expecting handouts". I thought the comments about the children's definitions for various words (rational, irrational, etc.) were funny and very true to life; it reminded me of the time I spent tutoring Somali-Bantu refugees in English as a Second Language- they came up with some definitions like that as well. - Melissa Patterson | ||
I really liked reading the letters that were given- I drew parallels between the experiences of Sarah and Lucy and the experiences of Sarah Jane Foster, who taught at a college for emancipated slaves in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia after the war. Sarah Jane, a Northerner, recounted how ill-treated she was by the people of the town for coming down to teach the freedmen. She was harassed for wanting to teach them- so much so that she was afaid she would not be able to stay in the town and would have to give up her board. I think her story presents another aspect or side of the story that is not commmonly thought of- how much the women who were coming down from the North, primarily, endured and went through in order to teach and educate. -Allison Godart | I really liked reading the letters that were given- I drew parallels between the experiences of Sarah and Lucy and the experiences of Sarah Jane Foster, who taught at a college for emancipated slaves in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia after the war. Sarah Jane, a Northerner, recounted how ill-treated she was by the people of the town for coming down to teach the freedmen. She was harassed for wanting to teach them- so much so that she was afaid she would not be able to stay in the town and would have to give up her board. I think her story presents another aspect or side of the story that is not commmonly thought of- how much the women who were coming down from the North, primarily, endured and went through in order to teach and educate. -Allison Godart | ||
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I think the timing of the war just as she reached her maturity made Sarah Morgan more defensive of the old ways, including traditional female gender roles. She had been trained for the role of a white, wealthy Southern woman, and saw the Civil War as a threat to the Southern way of life. -Allison Luthern | I think the timing of the war just as she reached her maturity made Sarah Morgan more defensive of the old ways, including traditional female gender roles. She had been trained for the role of a white, wealthy Southern woman, and saw the Civil War as a threat to the Southern way of life. -Allison Luthern | ||
| − | I agree with John, finding out that Sarah Morgan was a teenager seemed to make this source make a lot more sense to me. It's also really interesting to | + | I agree with John, finding out that Sarah Morgan was a teenager seemed to make this source make a lot more sense to me. It's also really interesting to hear a little bit more about her diary and what a deviation of character this is. The fact that she is a teenager forces me to read her pride in the destruction of her family's home a little differently. -erinb. |
== Cornelia Hancock, Union Nurse, 1863 == | == Cornelia Hancock, Union Nurse, 1863 == | ||
