HIST34002

REMINDER!!!! MONDAY HAPPENS ON TUESDAY

For Tuesday, February 20 The Beginnings of Slavery

READ: In Reich: Chapter 11: African Americans in the English Colonies pp. 122-135

In Kupperman, Chapter 10: Slave Life and Culture pp. 286-329

Kupperman's chapter title is worth noting. The inhumanity of slavery sometimes blocks our awareness that slaves too developed a culture, and this culture contained within it a rich blend of African, Indian, English, and Caribbean elements. Pay particular attention to the essay by Morgan and the equally stimulating one by Berlin. When you read the first hand accounts, try to be aware of three different qualifying factors as you discover the similarities or differences between them. First, each describes slavery in a different place. Second, one of the narratives is a reminiscence by a slave. Third, the two narratives by whites represent two different cultural stances themselves: one of the narrators is English the other, German.

INTERNET ASSIGNMENT:

I have two very different websites I want you to investigate. The first of these is based on the Public Broadcasting System's monumental series, Africans in America. I'm not suggesting that you download any of this, but I would urge you to allow yourself a chance to browse thoroughly through part one. The illustration to the left is from that site. It is a portrait of Oladah Equiano, part of whose autobiography you find in Kupperman.

The URL for this is http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/title.html

The other one, "to live as a slave" can be found at

http://www.history.org/other/journal/slave.htm

I think most of us have experienced Living History museums of one sort or other, and we know there is a certain pleasure in dressing up as one of our "heroic" ancestors. What must it be like to be a middle class Black American acting as a docent in a re-enactment of life in the slave quarters of a major plantation. Read this account by one of our African American contemporaries to get a sense of this.

For Wednesday, February 21 A Nation of Immigrants

READ: In Reich: Chapter 12: Immigration pp. 136-146

In Kupperman, Chapter 9

#4. An anonymous letter evokes the Swiss Settlement... 261

#5. ....Moravian Plans for .... Wachovia 261-262

ESSAY: Moravian Ideals and North Carolina Back Country 267-276

Today we'll return to a theme we mentioned earlier when glancing at the ethnically mixed colonies in the Middle Atlantic Region. This time around I want to look a bit a religious diversity and how this shaped the emerging American culture. The first great Utopian experiments took place in Colonial America, and Utopian communalism continues to crop up in America with surprising regularity.

INTERNET ASSIGNMENT:

Far less famous than the Shaker Movement, The Ephrata Cloister, founded by the visionary Johann Conrad Beissel, is illustrative of the haven the American Colonies provided for religious dissenters from many parts of Europe. Visit a concise, but thorough description of this Utopian Community at

http://www.cob-net.org/cloister.htm Download this and add it to your collection.

German Pietists contributed greatly to American cultural life through their composition and performance of music.

Ephrata was famous for its choral singing. The Moravians not only sang, but played, as well. The first symphony

orchestra in the United States was composed of members of the Moravian community.

First hand accounts of elements of daily life in the Wachovia community can be located at

http://smith2.sewanee.edu/gsmith/Courses/Religion391/DocsOldSouth/1769-Moravians.html

Above, two of the buildings at Ephrata in Pennsylvania. The architecture demonstrates the German connection. The site is open to the public and in summer interpreters in costume are available to answer questions. Click on the illustration to see a fourth grade project based on the life of a 10 year old "child of the cloister." Children in a celibate order? The Ephrata Community like many others, took orphan children into their care.

Below, a choral songbook created by J. C. Beissel. Note the Fraktur art which embellishes it, and which is typical of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Clicking on the image will bring you to an elaborate interpretation of the esoteric and mystical purposes of Music within the Ephrata Community.

For Friday, February 23 Everyday Life in America

READ: in Reich: Chapter 23: Everyday Life in Colonial America 255-264

READ: in Hawke: Everyday Life in Early America, Introduction, Chapter I. xi-15

You note a change in focus with this day's readings. We're transition from a consideration which was primarily chronological to one which is primarily topical. We're just about right on schedule. Congratulations to all of us. A change in focus marks a good opportunity for check on how we're doing... in other words....

I will pass out your first take-home exam on Friday, February 23

It is also time to begin thinking about what you might be interested in pursuing for your paper.