Author: KARLA CHUAN

Chapter 4 “Reflation and Relief” speaks about when President F.D. Roosevelt took office. Ruchway speaks about what came to pass throughout the precedence of F.D Roosevelt. For example, Ruchway spoke about the great depression which was already existent when Roosevelt took office. The great depression, as Ruchways categorizes it, was “every moving part in the machinery of the American economy had evidently broken. Banks, farms, factories, and trade had all failed.” (page 1.) The great depression started in  1929 and ended in 1939. When  Roosevelt took office he offered the “New Deal” which were programs and projects to restore prosperity in America. Richway refers to the “New Deal” as something that people didn’t really know how it functioned but that it was something that worked so it stuck. Ruchways spoke about the way that Roosevelt started to deal with the great depression and the first step was by trying to fix the problems with the bank. The banking act of 1933 was passed which separated commercial banking from investment banking. The Federal Emergency relief act was also passed which gave a grant of $500 instead of it being a loan to the people.

The change over time that Ruchway was describing in the reading was the before and after effect of the F.D. Roosevelt office. Ruchway Is describing how the Roosevelt office was able to end the great depression and the measures taken to end and ensure that there wouldn’t be another great depression. Ruchway explained that the changes took place through the New Deal which included the Banking act and the Relief grants as well as the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.) These changes happened gradually. It affected many if not all of the American citizens  during that time, because it  was changing not only the lifestyles of many but also provided Jobs for men between 18-35 years old.

The question that I had as I read this chapter was, why was it that the men who could qualify for CCC had to be single? There were so many other men outside the ages 18-35 who didn’t have jobs, didn’t have a way to provide for their families. Yes I understand that there was a grant offered  to many of $500 but that’s nothing for a large family where both mother and father are unemployed. I would have liked for the author to have also  focused on the family aspect of the great depression, for Ruchway to have spoken with numbers and relief examples of such families who were struggling. Not Just the economic effect of the great depression. 

The reading which I found to be the most interesting was Joshua Brown, “Reconstructing Representation, 1866–1877,” from Beyond the Lines. I did some research about who John Brown was and found out he was an American abolitionist leader.Brown had the mindset that there needed to be violoience in order to end slavery because there had been years and years of peaceful efforts to end slavery but there was no outcome from them. However Dred Scott was not like brown and had a different mindset.. J.Brown led a raid on the Harpers Ferry federal armory and since he wasn’t successful John Brown was executed. Fredrick Douglas helps us understand how Brown’s plan with this raid would be unsuccessful. McPherson explained in detail why Brown’s plan didn’t work and the point that he didn’t think about.Brown explains in 2 short paragraphs and an illustration of what a family could go through in these times. Brown touches upon the struggle some families faced of not knowing where the next meal would come from.

Brown proceeds to explain what was happening with the mine strikes and Brown explains how others were  blaming the strikers for the way they were living. Brown talks about a family which had received a bread and were putting it in the oven as illustrated in the image provided in the reading. Brown allows us to see how some people much like today didn’t know where their next meal was coming from or if their families would have anything to eat the next day. I found this extremely touching because it’s something that is still happening today and something that I have experienced first hand with friends I have. It’s sad to see history repeating itself because of the lack of education. My question is if they were struggling so much why did they continue to have children? Why not keep the family small knowing they couldn’t provide for themselves?

 

 

Gordon Wood begins by responding to the 1619 project, in which he rectifies the project for making a false allegation against the colonist. Gordon Wood acknowledges the objectives of the 1619 project, however he does not agree with the statement that the colonists declared independence because they did not want to lose their slaves. Gordon Wood, on the other hand, acknowledged that slavery played an important role in our history.

Gordon Woods claims that he had never heard anyone argue that the colonists wanted independence so that they might keep their slaves. Gordon then explains that the reason why the colonies declared independence was because of the stamp act of 1765. The Stamp Act, which required colonists to pay taxes on imported goods, was passed by the British parliament on March 22, 1765.One of the reasons the colonies decided to seek independence was the frustration with being taxed without representation. Gordon Wood further explained  there wasn’t any evidence that Britain would remove the slaves and  in Virginia they were even thinking about stopping the slave trade on their own.  They understood that they had more than enough slaves already  and didn’t need anymore. Woods latter explains that why would Virginia even argue about stopping the slave trade if John Adams didn’t believe in slavery and didn’t have any slaves.Therefore making the statement made by the 1619 project false. 

 

The question I had was where did the assumption that the colonies decided to declare independence on the British parliament due to them not wanting to lose the slaves come from? If this was something that wasn’t even spoken about if there was no proof of their even been a plan or conversation made by the British then why did they assume that this was the reason? It was very clear the reasons why the colonies wanted to separate themselves from the British parliament but it didn’t have anything to do with the slaves.

The history of slavery has been taught in schools as the spinors taking over and capturing all these slaves that were forced to work for them. We often hear about how they were taken from their homelands and put on slave ship brooks from head to toe.  We hear about the beating, the massive killing of black people, we hear about how they weren’t free. But sadly, we were never taught how through their hard times and inhumane lifestyle; they were able to form a life. We weren’t taught how there were not a lot of opportunities for black men to start a family because of the lack of females. I used to believe that if they were stuck in this situation at least they had each other at least they had the opportunity to form a family. I guess that It wasn’t until this point when I realized how truly depressing the situation was. Imagine being taken from your home, treated like an animal, forced to live in a place with people you never seen before or understand, forced to adapt to a new culture, and having to work your entire life if you even had the chance to live a long life to die without anyone. “With their numbers weighted heavily toward men, the first arrivals struggled to form families and reconstruct the institutions that had guided life in their former homeland.”(page 107) Not a lot of them wanted to procreate any way but for those who did and didn’t have the opportunity it was horrible to die alone; especially because of the way that they were living.

 

A question that arose as I read ‘Berlin Slave Societies Many Thousands Gone’ was how was it possible that the Spaniards believed in God and treated the African slaves the way they did. The author didn’t really go into detail about the believes of the Spaniards, but we know that they justified slavery with the Bible. Now these people who called themselves catholic and believed in God weren’t following the laws he had set. Like for example loving your neighbor as you love yourself. And clearly, we don’t see that love being shown.  “In a world where laboring men and women were commonly driven like beasts, and the words to “work like a slave” took on a profound and chilling meaning for all working people.” (page 106)They were people, some even with a higher intellectual value than other white people. I would have liked for the author to go into more detail about the beliefs of the slave owners.

 

As I read through the text, I came across a section that said that some of them lost their native language. I wondered why and how they lost the ability to speak creol. “ In some parts of mainland North America, Africans replaced Atlantic creoles, and the charter generations sank swiftly into historical oblivion.”(page 108) I wonder why the few that were able to form a family didn’t speak to their children about the culture or teach them. Well maybe some of them wanted to secure their children’s future and make sure they adapted to this new culture. I just think that teaching the children about their culture would have allowed them to understand their roots and who they truly are. However, I guess I understand the perspective that some of them had of just wanting to keep their children safe.