American history: key events and themes

American History

New Orleans

The most important reason for my choice of New Orleans from this particular selection is that I have absolutely loved the city since I first visited it. It seems filled with magic, warmth and good times. This appears to be historically substantiated to some degree by Thomas N. Ingersoll's writing. Indeed, he notes that, even since its beginnings, Bourbon Street has seen many a drunken patron. In addition to the fascinating history of its beginnings, as well as Dubreuil's energetic contributions to this, I also find the end of the piece both shocking and revealing. Despite his wealth and entrepreneurial spirit, Dubreuil was a slave to the system of the time, much as society is today. Perhaps this says something about human nature, or perhaps it is a challenge: maybe we can be free if we choose freedom.

Week 7: A Midwife's Tale-Chapter 1 find the story of Martha Ballard extremely inspirational. Not only did she fulfill the role of midwife, traditionally that of a woman, but she took on many other duties as well, including those of doctor, pharmacist and wife. What makes her story unusual is not as much her workload as the fact that she so clearly and factually documented everything from illness to birth to death. The lack of emotional connection, particularly with the deaths of children and babies, makes her records all the more poignant and realistic. The beginning of this chapter struck me as unusual, as it is a direct extract from Martha's diary. With this, the author demonstrates very clearly the points made about Martha and her writing, as well as the tone she uses when keeping her records. Martha Ballard is inspirational on a number of levels: she takes on many professional and personal duties; appearing almost superhuman in dealing with a workload that would kill a lesser person. Secondly, the fact that her records survived among a body of writing that was mainly produced by men during the time shows that she was special.

Week 8: 1773

The Boston Tea Party is possibly one of the most humorous and interesting events in American history. Reading this piece is particularly interesting, as it is a direct account of the events during that day in 1773. The article describes very clearly the images that could be seen during the "tea party" and its after effects. It is particularly funny to read about things like people trying to take some of the tea for themselves, and then being very "roughly handled." In terms of today's general newspaper articles, the tone of the piece is also interesting. It appears to be both humorous and factual about the event, describing the events surrounding the tea party, as well as the "party" itself. It describes the tea staining the water so clearly that the reader can almost see the remains of the tea and chests, as well as the color of the water for miles around the coast. I really enjoyed reading this, because of the direct descriptions of the events, and as a result of the tone used in the article.

Week 9: Olaudah Equiano on Slavery