Week 5

Letters, pg. 159

I cant believe that Jefferson talked about colored people so negitivily- never knew he felt that way, "however, if they are guarded against the cannibals of the terrible republic, they ought not to object to being eaten by a more cilvilized enemy". He def had it coming for him though, in the letter he wrote to the us minister to rufus king- he states that revolts have broken out in diff parts of the USA, pretty much a chain effect that gave 'considerable impluse' of slaves in the united states to 'act out' pretty much. This shows that america is kind of no diffrent than any other super power at this time- you think of it being a big melting pot as they say, and it was 'founded on justice and equality'... obviously not. 

Constitution of the French Colony of Saint-Domingue, pg. 167

These rights are good because of the new rights the slaves got, but there is still some of them that are a little less lean-ant. for example title 3 of religion states that only some religions can be publicly professed. Title 6 of cultivation and commerce has more to do with 'family'  (dont really get that because i thought they were more like businesses). It seems like there is just a lot of focus on family in general, no divorces, article 11, the status and rights of children born in marriage will be fixed by laws meant to spread and maintain social virtues and encourage and cement familial ties. i wonder if there is more underlying meaning or purpose for all of the family innuendoes. 

The Haitian Declaration of Independence, pg. 188, The Haitian Constitution, pg. 191

Def a cry for freedom "we will live independent or die". This also shows a lot of hate towards the french and them coming and claiming the land. They also stress freedom of religion and no restrictions on doing so. This declaration of independence runs right into the haitian constitution which in my opinion, is a little angry, but i guess they have a right to do so: no white man should own land; there is a stress on haitian citizenship, if you go backrupt you lose your citizenship; if you try to emigrate, and change citizenship, you can die. All of the race comments are generally to the french- for example, white women, germans and poles are allowed to become citizens- no one else.. Its good that they had everyone know a mechanical trade though- allowing for more education and options and specialization's in jobs. Religion is not that great of an issue, it gets more lean-ant from the previous constitution.  

Week 5

Observations on the Origin and Progression..., pg. 78

this was a very interesting read as well- "Europeans became attached to African women who cared for them all the more intently because they hoped liberty would be their reward." Its funny that that was a motive to be intimate with a white englishmen, but it also shows how much the french still had power over the colored- even in an everyday, wife at home, sense. what also surprised me is that many of these husbands of the mullato race didnt think that their mullato bore children deserved his will of land and slaves... crazy. But on the flip side, i do think that this article does a good job in showing progression with mixed marriage and whatnot. i think that once cultures start to mix in marriage, and its being accepted, that open mindedness in societies as a whole improves. 

History of the Revolution of Saint-Domingue, pg. 89

This article was harssshhh: when hes describing their religious ceremony: "it is natural that a cast this ignorant and stupid would begin the most horrible attacks with the superstitious rites of an absurd and blood thirsty religion. First off: they want the same freedoms as the whites who 'own' them, secondly, this shows how prominent chirst religions probably still were at that time. Its also amazing that some slaves spared and saved their masters..

Reports from the Insurrection, pg. 95

This was a pretty violent, first hand account. Because it was published in Philadelphia, you can imagine what the white slave owners in america must of been thinking at the time- it kind of came off as a warning that that might happen to them... Its also interesting how the mixed races were choosing what sides they wanted to be on. 

The Abolition of Slavery, pg. 129

This passage shows that things are progressing in france- you still have to wonder the governments motives are though, because it could just be a stunt to help settle things down or to prevent future rebellions. But it is a step in the right direction, nonetheless. 

Week 5

The Code Noir, pg. 49

Definitely thought the The Code Noir was more for the slaves to feel as though they were 'taken care of'. I thought it was interesting that the fate of the children who were born was decided by their mothers role in society. It was interesting how conveniently it was all written- obviously black women had more of a chance to have intimate relations with white men vs black men having relations with white women- making more "slave children". Religion also played a huge role in the code. Number 6 shows this well: "we charge all our subjects, whatever their status and condition sundays and holidays..." I think this was to create order, make society and the slaves believe that they were a part of something greater and put them on the same plane as some of the white folk. Even though you can tell that they don't really care about the slaves in a sense, because 14 states that even if slaves ARE baptizes, they wont be given the same respect as the whites when it comes to burials. Overall, I believe that the code is just fake security and scare tactics to the slaves, not really a genuine code meant to actually help them out.

Description...of the French Part of the Island of Saint-Domingue, pg. 57

This is written by Saint-Mery, a lawyer who also had relations with a colored woman and was suspected to have a mixed blood child with her. His descriptin of mixed blood is very half and half. He describes them as having potential (from their white side) to do whatever they wanted, and that they are smart- but on the flip side- because they have black blood in them- can be as lazy as any of the others. Its very stereotypical and has nothing to do with how people really are, more just based off of how people were expected to be if they were white or black. I also thought it was ironic that he actually did have a mulato child and he thought this way about these people still.

Letter to Those Who Love Mankind, pg. 73

1st off, the ratio of slaves to whites was crazy: 10 to 1, so why their just talking about revolting is weird to me ( i feel as though they should of earlier). its just really interesting that the slaves didnt act any earlier, but its good that they did 'threaten' the government by actually making them aware of their outnumbered-ness. and the line "these men will be the victims of oppression until their tyrants agree to lighten their fate" def shows they are aware of where they stand and further on in the passage describe that they will not be taking this unequalness any longer. 

WEEEEK 4

the first three letters:

the first three letters were more about education and languages- kind of had a similar feel so i wrote them in one: i cant believe how much they wanted education so badly! they want to read books and had a need to want to send their children to school. Like the letter from "Books", and how the man keeps saying that they are cheap, but no one will buy them. Also from "Sebotseng's" letter its mentioned that (what i got) that parents don't have time to take care of their kids because they are so busy that keeping them in school would of been a better benefit to society. Also, that not all kids can go to school- she said she had 4 kids and only 3 went to school the other one being 'left out'. Its also good because i think this shows the progression in society in how these letters are public. Even though not everyone could understand them or really wanted to take a step in trying to learn it, they could have been. Its showing progression in society in more than one way because these people want equal rights. they realize that they are not being treated fairly and how their children deserve education like the others.

Bogadi:

I have no idea what they are talking about in this one- i think that its kind of like a dowry system? what is Bogadi? anyone know? :(

Pass Laws:

Obviously these laws were invasive and strict... but i feel that's just what the times were like. Anyone would be that secure around the mining fields. I thought it was interesting that they used 'shilling passes" with Africans trying to move outward, but in the same city. I thought they would do it more so to search for gold but they seemed to just be 'confining' them to one area.
This passage kind of reminded me of the book 'the jungle'- such harsh working conditions, such as poor/non existent/not followed labor rules. Also officials trying to create a monopoly of labor... horrible.

south africa: final project region!

WEEK 3!

COMMONWEALTH 

This book at first seemed to be packed with information and names and seemed like it was going to be difficult to read- but as you read more, the more everything became more clear. The book jumps right into how penal colonies were established and what types of people were 'shipped off' and what they were shipped off for. If you ask me- kind of ridiculous. Like how Richard, who killed someone had the same fine against him as a guy who stole a handkerchief. Also, that they would let you off sometimes if you were good looking enough. I did figure that they were just trying to get rid of people in England due to a rapidly growing population, because sooo many of the crimes that people got sent away for were very petty. Also, because the people in the jails had access to prostitutes and alcohol it just seemed like they were a little lean-ant with the convicts. 

The way the natives of Australia were portrayed was quite negative. Obviously, because this was Keneally's description of Philips account, the natives weren't 'represented' well. You could kind of maybe pick up the tone of how they must of been feeling though when you read about what they named their land.... so they seemed quite territorial. Because of this and other accounts of natives we've learned in class about, im sure that they had a negtive gestalt about the new penal settlers. I do kind of wish that the book had more about the interactions between the natives and the settlers. 

I feel like the way the exploring happened was also 'morally questionable'. Its not like they were just trying to explore land and resources- they were kind of using people to just randomly test things out. "lets dump all of these convicts in a bay in Australia and see how they survive, and adjust from there". for example, poor soil conditions wouldn't allow for growing food that was needed to sustain life- but that came to be known after people were dumped there. It just seemed like these people were at the expense of philips, which they were, but no prior, proper exploring was going on. 

We dabbed on this in class as well, but how the women were portrayed was interesting as well. They were pretty much just baby makers and are kind of the 'glue' in these new societies. They were pretty much around, in my opinion, to make everything more 'homey'. Taking care of kids, having children- building families so that colonization would expand faster. From what we learned about in class, i thought that it was supposed to be a negative thing to have 'convict blood' children, but i guess not in this book. It seemed as though the women didn't mind, but this book is quite skewed when it comes to points of view. 

Overall, this book was a good read. Def got more interesting as the book progressed. I was kind of skeptical at first, esp after the first few chapters with all the names and everything that was going on. I started taking notes though, so that helped. So did the notes in the back of the book :)

-**Week 2**-

Letter

I think (from based on what we talked about in class) that in cortes's letter to the king, he is more trying to impress him and write what he thinks the king wants to hear. It seems as though hes making fun of the natives that live there and pretty much degrading them and saying that they should 'convert' from their sacrificing and idling different gods to believing Christ.

Cantares Mexicanos

In the two poems, you can tell that they are negative. The native people are devastated about losing their land. This is exemplified thru the way the writer talks about 'the kings being imprisoned'. pretty much stating that if the kings can get put away, their 'voice' is gone and they have no one to represent them. The second poem, it seems like the writer is talking to a higher power, wondering why these things are happening to him and his community. These are helpful documents that makes the view of the natives more apparent from the skewed version of the European texts.

From the Codex Mendoza

The pictures from this selection gave a different way in looking at the history of these people. It looks as though the second map is more detailed than the first one. I also thought it was interesting that mas back then were used to record social, political, and historical events more than just dimensions. These maps, especially the ones signifying the rankings of the warriors and givings to the gods are most def helpful to us today. It shows not only what was going on back then with just the people, but what kind of animals and jewels were around and what communities had what resources.

Captives and Cousins

This passage makes women look like objects. They could either make or break a mans honor (which was very valued back then). Overall, this is the message that i got from this piece. It's kind of confusing and hopefully the in class discussion will shed some light on the subject : /

WEEK ONE POSTS :)

POEM

This poem is def a satire that is kind of racist and demeaning and is basically saying that the 'rich white man' has a duty to help the less fortunate, regardless of if they want the help or not. He also saw Imperialism as a burden that the White man was morally obligated to undertake, for the 'good of the colonized' aka one of the lines says: "To seek another's profit And work anothers gain".

VIDEO

I think that these days its the media that depicts different countries in a different light and creates new 'orientals' (word?) about them. For example, Slum Dog Millionaire (even though it was a great movie) did not portray India in the best light. Many people from that whole region were very angry in how Indians and Muslims were portrayed in the movie. Even though some incidents in the movie do occur in real life, i still think that it sends a very negative image to the rest of the world, especially people who haven't been to that country.