12 Years A Slave Blog #2

Genders within slaves shapes their experiences in many ways. Men who are slaves typically do most of the hard work and are in harsh conditions. On the other hand, women who were slaves served more like maids of the owners' house because they can clean and do house work more capably than men. Therefore, sometimes women slaves would end up being either raped or becoming a wife due to the fact that many slave owners took those actions. In the movie 12 Years a Slave, men as well as Solomon were working out in the fields in harsh conditions and had high expectations among Master Epps. While they worked, a women slave got the most cotton out of anyone in the group, This made Epps like here more and later on in the film, he basically has sex with her and she ends up having a baby. The gender norm back in the was: men do the hard work, women do the cleaning work.

Pastey, a slave woman

12 Years A Slave Blog #1

Changes in ownership of slaves affects slaves with both their living and working conditions in several ways. There are instances where a group of slaves have a nice owner as opposed to a mean owner and vice versa. Nice owners usually give more opportunities to their slaves and treat them better while mean owners just treat their slaves horribly. In the movie 12 Years A Slave, Solomon Northup is a slave for Master Ford who is a great and caring owner. His living and working conditions are fair and he supports him. Later, after having a fight with Tibits, Master Ford can no longer keep Solomon and transfers him to Master Epps. This master is a mean slave owner and treats his slaves as well as Solomon very poorly, up to the point where you'll get beaten. Solomon having Epps as a Master totally changed the way he did things. He had to pick more cotton every day and the working conditions were harsh. 

Solomon's mean owner: Master Epps

Slave Narrative

Kentucky Narrative, Volume VII

Summary

This slave narrative is about an interview with an ex slave named Dan Bogie. He has a mother and a father named Abe & Lucinda Wheeler. His father was born near Spoonsville and his mother was born in Garrard County. Dan had one sister who was born in 1860 and is now dead. Dan then talks about how he lived in a one room, one bed cabin. Abe was a slave of Talton Embry and his farm joined the Wheeler's farm. Dan also says that he does not remember his grandmother and that he didn't have to work slave days because his parents did most of the work. Food was cooked in an oven in his yard and it would be served around 4 o'clock. Water would be collected in troughs by maple trees. In the winter Dan wore linen clothes, there were 4 slaves, and on Saturdays he would go fishing. 

Reflection

Based on what I've read from this slave narrative, I can conclude a couple of things. The main idea of this interview with Dan Bogie is about his life basically. Back then people were slaves and had to work very hard to live. Dan only had one room for a house and that was what it was like for him back in the day. There was barely any freedom for the blacks and kids didn't have electronics to play with like we do today. Life of slavery was very harsh especially for the blacks.

Kentucky Slave Narrative- Dan Bogie

Tecumseh Speech Paragraph

                           Tecumseh, a Shawnee Leader, gave a speech to the Osages in the Winter of 1811 and presents two themes such as survival and unity. In the speech, he says, "They cannot run fast, and are good marks to shoot at: they are only men; our fathers have killed many of them; we are not squaws, and we will stain the earth with red blood." Tecumseh says this because his men will not fear the white people and do whatever it takes to survive. Also in his speech, Tecumseh says, "We must be united; we must smoke the same pipe; we must fight each other's battles; and more than all, we must love the Great Spirit: he is for us; he will destroy our enemies, and make all his red children happy. He says this because they will take a stand and fight beside each other as one, so that their Great Spirit can make them happy. Throughout Tecumseh's speech, he presents themes of survival and unity to describe his feelings towards the white people and that his men will take a stand against them.

Tecumseh

Timeline of Slavery in America

-Slavery began in the 17th century and slaves were moved out of Africa.

-In 1619, the first 20 slaves were shipped to Jamestown.

-By the late 18th century, slaves would pick cotton from plantations.

-During 1793, a cottongin was created to boost production.

-In 1847, Fredrick Douglas saw a newspaper called, "The North Star".

The Supreme Court had a case called the Dred Scott case in 1857.

-Abraham Lincoln was elected as 16th President in 1860.

-March of 1861, 7 states had succeeded the Union.

-In 1862, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation to abolish slavery.

Slaves Being Shipped Into Boats

Slaves  Picking Cotton On A Plantation

Abraham Lincoln as 16th President

Election Day

                                Election Day is on this Tuesday November 4th of 2014. This day is held every 4 years for people to vote for their next President. Election day was determined in the 1800's to be on the first Tuesday of November because farmers/travelers where able to vote at that time. The states that have Election Day as a civic holiday are Delaware, Montana, Ohio, Kentucky, Hawaii, New Jersey, West Virginia, New York, and Puerto Rico.


United States House of Representatives:


Name: Nikki Tsongas

Political Party: Democratic


United State Senators


Name:Edward Markey

Political Party: Democratic


Name: Elizabeth Warren

Political Party: Democratic

Massachusetts 3rd District

Massachusetts House of Representatives

Name: David Nangle

Political Party: Democratic


Massachusetts Senate


Name:Elieen Donoghue

Political Party: Democratic

3 Branches of Government

Charlie Baker

Massachusetts State Flag

"Do They Miss Me At Home?"

                                               Dear Family,

                                                             I am writing to you today to tell you about what I'm going through. At this moment, I'm currently located west of the 13 colonies on the Oregon Trail. The reason why I left was because I wanted to move to the Oregon that has free land, large forests, and is free from diseases. Although I'm going somewhere that will give me great opportunities, the journey so far has been rough and harsh. Here's what I've been through.

             I was with a group of farmers that had a small wagon that we put our stuff into. I knew the trip was going to to be long since the whole trail is 2000 miles. I packed whatever I could bring to have with me; flour, bread, coffee, rice, beans, sugar, salt, tools, clothing, etc. The trail began in Missouri and I found myself and my group along with 200,000 others travelers. All of us were desperate so my group started right away once our wagon was ready. It was suggested to bring cash since there were forts along the way to buy food. I only had 10 dollars.

           Along the trail my group went, I noticed a couple of things that stood out to me. One thing that happened was that some people would die from hunger or diseases. Other people such as women would be pregnant and have to give birth off road. It's a horrible sight out here and I'm struggling every minute. I've visited unique places such as the Cumberland Gap. About a couple of days ago, I heard about the tragic tale of the Donnor Party. What happened was that their wagon broke down in the Truckey Pass and lived out in the cold. With little to no food, they eventually turned into cannibalists and died. There were only a couple of survivors to tell the tale.

           So this is the end of my letter. I know you miss me so much and I do too. I hope that everyone back at home are doing well. I don't think that we'll ever meet again so acknowledge that this is the last farewell. My future plans is to basically finish the trail and to end up in Oregon.Thanks for reading this letter.

                                                       

                                                                                        Sincerely,
 
                                                                                                  Jim

The Cumberland Gap

Wooden Wagon

The Oregon Trail