American History And Identity

1) The Diary of Susan Magoffin             

Susan Magoffin was born in Danville, Kentucky in the year 1827, on July 30^th to a wealthy family. She was then married by a trader from Santa Fe, Samuel Magoffin in 1845 and they left Missouri in June 1846 on a trip down Santa Fe and into Mexico, soon after the US had declared war against Mexico following the disputes over the border of Texas. During her journey, she made detailed records of the people she interacted with, the distance they covered, the wildlife as well as the Landscape in her journal. Her journal was written between the year 1846 to 1847 and it gave a detailed description of the trade on the Santa Fe trail and the Mexican-American War. 

Her status impacted the diary and her observation as she had the best comfort one could have at the time while traveling.  She had several wagons, slaves, and protection from soldiers as they also traveled on the established trail which was different from the pioneer travelers.  She was also the granddaughter of Isaac Shelby who was the first governor of Kentucky. She was properly raised growing up with servants and she was also able to receive a proper education. This enabled her to give detailed information in her journal which has been very essential in providing the history of the Santa Fe trade, her earlier interactions with Mexicans, and the Mexican-American War. 

Magoffin changed on her journey from an energetic young lady who is excited by the idea of recording her journey in her diary to a hopelessly sick and sad woman at the end of the diary. At the beginning of the diary, she says her journey tells a story tonight which is distinct from her earlier experiences (Magoffin, 2003). She further says that from New York to the Plains of Mexico is a stride that she herself can scarcely realize showing her use of heroic words and how high-spirited she was at the beginning of the journey. Despite the comfort, the journey was very intense both mentally and physically.  She suffered a miscarriage at Bent’s Fort in Colorado and treated it lightly in her diary. This shows a shift in her character. She also contracted yellow fever in Matamoros and her second child died after birth while she was ill. 

Magoffin’s view of the Hispanic and Indian people at the time, at first was stereotypical but she later changed her view after interacting with them on a personal level. When Magoffin arrived in Mora, New Mexico, on August 25, 1846, her first impression was based on a common stereotype as she described the houses she saw as genteel pigsty in the States (Magoffin, 2003). She then further states that within the misery of the houses they lived, there dwells a “peace of Mind” and contentment that royalties have always longed for never to find. Magoffin thought that the Mexicans did not have any culture or judgment but she changes her view when one of them called her a pretty girl. She states that they are certainly very good and intelligent people. She was also greatly impressed when they reached El Paso del Norte with the civilized manner as well as the learning of her Mexican hosts. A little girl greatly impressed her as she described her to be carrying the dignity of an American eighteen-year-old while she was only six. Historians learn a lot from such diaries as they depict the actual events of person as they occurred in that time written to details. They can thus interpret and learn from such events. 

2.a) Slavery and Southern life in the early to the mid-19^th Century 

The practice of slavery often denied the victims of their native cultural identity. Other than being denied their cultural identity, the enslaved people were expected to bury their traditions and adopt the enslavers' culture. Nevertheless, research studies have shown that the cultural aspects of the enslaved and the enslavers differed in many ways. Some studies interpret the slave culture as a way of resisting oppression, while others interpret it as how the natives survived in the new slave society (Ben-Ur, 2018). However, to survive the misery and harshness in the slave society, slave traditions, culture, and religion played a significant role. 

How did slavery help create a distinctive culture and unity? 

Slavery hugely impacted the nature of the African American culture. Although the impact resulted from different mediums, religion and tradition were the most profound. Each factor went concurrently in creating a distinctive culture from that of the white Americans. 

Religion was a significant factor in slavery lives. When the enslaved people were forced into America by the enslavers, they lost everything, including families, dignity, and possessions. The only thing left with them was their religious willpower. Enslaved people used religion to perform functions such as communion, which served as a way to create a culture. They believed that enduring pain and suffering through believing would, in the future, save them from oppression. In addition, they believed enslavement was a result of witchcraft, so religious beliefs and practices were the only way to cope with it (Henderson et al., 2021). Thereby the enslaved people praised and worshiped in churches and fields to connect with their God. Until today their religious faith Is still strong as societies and churches continue praising and thanking God for his doings. They also pray to God when in need of something.             

Tradition is another major factor in creating a distinctive culture and unity in southern life. Enslaved people were not allowed to gain knowledge such as reading or writing. Keeping them illiterate was a way to control them and to keep them from the idea of freedom and independence. Moreover, they were forbidden from practicing their native culture and heritage, but they persisted in retaining their tradition. One way of keeping the tradition was through folk tales which they used to record and cope with the experiences in the slave society. These stories were retold secretly while maintaining the hope that they would someday attain freedom. The art of oral storytelling also helped the 19^th-century generation understand their ancestors' history (Jenifer dos Reis dos Santos, 2018). 

When enslaved people were brought into America, they were illiterate and only had stories and traditions to tell. Moreover, these folktales were used to explain phenomena, such as the origin of the world, recite events and teach ethics and morals. These diverse forms were also crucial in preserving cultural heritage. Singing traditional songs while working in the fields served as entertainment. Overall, these oral traditions gave the slaves peace and strength to cope and hope for another day. However, these stories and practices have emphasized the art of the spoken word. To summarize, religion and oral traditions worked together to produce a diverse culture and unity among the southern enslaved people. This has persisted through the slavery culture until today; enslaved people survived oppression and maintained unity by trusting in religion and upholding moral values in communities through folk tales. 

3) Identify and explain the significance of five of the following: Harriet Jacobs             

Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in Edenton, in the year 1813 North Carolina. She is credited for having written the most important slave narrative by an African-American titled the "Life of A Slave Girl” in the year 1861. Her story after being published helped to create awareness of racial oppression and condition, sexual oppression as well as aided in building Northern sentiments for emancipation during the Civil War. She is also important because of having volunteered as a relief worker among Black Civil War refugees in Georgia, Virginia as well as Alexandria (Yellin,2013). She helped in nursing black troops, contrabands, and teaching while she lived in Washington, D.C.  Her work was supported by New Bedford Women abolitionists who sent her supplies as well as teaching material.   

The Cotton Engine or Cotton Gin             

The cotton gin revolutionized cotton production as it greatly and efficiently speeds up the process of separating seeds from cotton fibers.  It was invented by Eli Whitney after he visited Catherine Greene on her plantation and discovered the difficulty cotton farmers faced while working with cotton. The machine had a wooden drum having a series of hooks that caught cotton fiber and pulled them through a mesh while preventing the seeds from going through. The machine was capable of removing up to fifty pounds of cotton in a day. Whitney patented the cotton Gin in 1794, and after getting a contract from the U.S government, he promoted the idea of interchangeable parts which hastened the assembly and repair of the machine (NCC,2020). Although the invention of the machine helped farmers earn more profit, it also led to the institution of slavery. 

Horace Greeley             

Having been born in New Hampshire in the year 1811, Horace Greeley was raised in rural New England and served as a newspaper apprenticeship in Vermont then he moved to New York City where he lived the rest of his life. He expressed his strong connection to the policies and ideas of the Whig Party when he started publishing the New Yorker in 1834 (Snay,2011). He published two short Whig Partisan Newspapers during the elections of 1840 and in the year 1841, he established the York Tribune which later turned out to be the leading newspaper across the country. He was an important figure in the Republican Party’s formation and peace negotiations during the civil war and opposed slavery. 

Indian Removal Act of 1830             

On May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. The Act gave the president authority to relocate the Indians from their original land in Mississippi to other lands within the state. Many of the native tribes did not comply as only a few tribes went peacefully. The United States government in the fall and winter of 1838 forcefully forced the Cherokee to move west leading to the death of approximately 4,000 natives. This forceful match and the death that resulted from it was later called the “Trail of Tears” (Drexler, 2019). 

Monroe Doctrine             

The Monroe Doctrine was a U.S policy that warned the European powers from getting involved in Western Hemisphere affairs as it was the United States’ sphere of interest. The doctrine was contained in the annual message to Congress by President James Monroe in the year 1823(National Archive, 2022). The doctrine was meant to solve the current major issues but it later became a major Unite States policy in the Western Hemisphere. In 1865 the U.S government enacted the Monroe doctrine by exerting both military and diplomatic pressure in Mexico enabling Benito Juarez to become president after a successful revolt against the French government puppet, Emperor Maximilian. 

References

Ben-Ur, A. (2018). Bound together? Journal of Global Slavery, 3(3), 195-210. https://doi.org/10.1163/2405836x-00303001 

Drexler, K. (2019). Indian Removal Act: Primary documents in American history (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress). Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/rr/program//bib/ourdocs/indian.html 

Henderson, Z. R., Stephens, T. N., Ortega-Williams, A., & Walton, Q. L. (2021). Conceptualizing healing through the African American experience of historical trauma. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91(6). https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000578 

Jennifer dos Reis dos Santos. (2018, October 8). How African American folklore saved the cultural memory and history of enslaved people. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-african-american-folklore- 

Magoffin, S. S. (2003). Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico: The diary of Susan Shelby      Magoffin 1846. 

National Archives. (2022, January 28). Monroe doctrine (1823). https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/monroe-doctrine 

NCC. (2020, March 14). The cotton gin: A game-changing social and economic invention - National Constitution Center. National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-cotton-gin-a-game-     changing-social-and-economic-invention 

Snay, M. (2011). Horace Greeley and the politics of reform in nineteenth-century America. Rowman & Littlefield. 

Yellin, J. F. (2013). Jacobs, Harriet. African American Studies Center. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.34481