Welcome back from Spring Break. I hope nothing broke except the winter doldrums. As you're all aware, this is retrospective, rather than prospective. But I'm almost caught up. As soon as I mark a note of where we've been, I'll proceed to a note of where we're going.
Monday, March 26
I returned your papers to you and commented upon them. Nice job, most of you. Congratulations.
Wednesday, March 28
READ: in Hawke,
Chapter 9: "Red, White and Black" pp. 115 - 130
Chapter 10: "War " pp. 131 - 142
We spent most of the class period talking about a document I distributed which presented phrase translations for the colonial setter to use in conversation with the Native Americans in the vicinity. The point I made was that the content of the phrases was a potent indicator of the attitudes of colonial Whites. We talked a bit about ethnocentrism and noted that a phrase book constructed by a Native American would no doubt be based on ethnocentric cultural assumptions as well.
Didn't talk much about war and such matters. Had there been time, I would have drawn your attention to two things: First, that from the very beginning there was a distinction between professional soldiers and citizen soldiers. The colonies frequently hired at least a few professionals to lead whatever military ventures proved necessary. The second thing I would have wanted to point out was that in times of tranquility military musters were less "training" in the rigorous sense and more times of community socializing and even a bit of "fooling around".
Rank, such as existed, followed the local hierarchy, even when officers were elected. Probably the most important result of militia mustering was an increased sense of community.
WEB MATERIALS:
For an example of a student project at another university, see
The principal point I developed was how insular the lives of the local colonists were. I distributed another document, this time the account of a 30 mile trip which took a week to complete, which helps explain why the horizon of Colonial settlers was of necessity limited. Persons with first hand experience of other colonies were few and far between. I didn't have time to talk about port towns, though I may continue to discuss them a bit on Monday. The important thing to recognize about them is that most of the people who lived in them had wider experiences not because they themselves traveled, but because they came in contact with persons and goods coming to these shores.
WEB MATERIALS:
For an account of a journey from England to Philadelphia, see Ben Franklin's Diary
For images created by travellers, see The Illustrating Traveller, an exhibit at the Beinecke Library, Yale University
Note that the last of these includes materials from the early 19th century, as well, and keep an eye on dates as you browse..
