Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

Daniely Modesto
Eng 48A
Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

He was indeed a person of a well-tempered spirit, or else it had been scarce possible for him to have kept the affairs of Plymouth in so good a temper for thirty-seven years together... The leader of a people in a wilderness had need be a Moses; and if a Moses had not led the people of Plymouth Colony, when this worthy person was their governour, the people had never with so much unanimity and importunity still called him to lead them. -- Cotton Mather

"Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element." (norton 115)

In the book Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford describes all the difficulty many puritans suffered, but because they believe that everything that was happening was God’ will they accept the events with pleasure.

Most of them believe that everything was happening for a reason and they all should learn from the pain and grown stronger. When they made to Cape Harbor safely, Puritans believed that it was God helping them to overcome the obstacles. Bradford also explains that many people were dying from horrible diseases, but nobody was panicking because that was just what God wanted from them.

Anne Bradstreet Poems

Daniely Modesto
Engl 48A
Anne Bradstreet Poems

Anne Bradstreet was born in England and since very young her father gave her a superior education to what most woman at that time. Bradstreet was very intelligent and self-educated; she was the first woman poet to publish her poems in colonial America. She married at the age of 16 to Simon Bradstreet and they both sailed with her family to America in 1630.

Bradstreet’s poems were written for her family, friends, she never meant to publish them. They were almost a way that she found to express her feelings of loneliness and strangeness in America. In 1650, her brother in law secretly brought her collection to London and published them, later called The Tenth Muse.



“Although she may have seemed to some a strange aberration of womanhood at the time, she evidently took herself very seriously as an intellectual and a poet. She read widely in history, science, and literature, especially the works of Guillame du Bartas, studying her craft and gradually developing a confident poetic voice.” www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/Bradstreet

In “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” Bradstreet writes about her maternal love, but it also shows her fear of dying “How soon, my Dear, death may my steps attend” as if she was trying to explain to her daughter that death is part of everybody’s life.

"The Prologue," is also a very beautiful poem, which she writes about being a woman in a Puritan society. She writes about women inferiority “For my mean pen are too superior things” as if women were not meant to speak their mind or have strong opinions. Bradstreet argues that women can be as intellectual as men, “Men can do best, and women know it well”.


Another very powerful poem is “To My Dear and Loving Husband” which she describes the love between her husband and her. Bradstreet in this poem uses simple but very touching words to describe the love that she claims to be forever: “Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere/ that when we live no more, we may live ever” Bradstreet’s love and affection for her husband is intense and she believes that they will be together even after death.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards

Daniely Modesto
Engl 48A
Jonathan Edwards



“ And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the king of kings?” (Norton 436)

"Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1758) was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards "is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian," and one of America's greatest intellectuals." Wikipedia.org



Jonathan Edwards in his essay “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” uses of many strong and horrifying words to describe the place sinners will eternal live if they do not take care of their “unsaved souls”. I liked the way Edward uses of figures of speech to describe the power and kindness of God over the people, such as when he compares the sinners to spiders and serpents, which are creatures repulsive by humans just as sinners are to God.




“He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but He can most easily do it”. (Norton 426)Edward creates the image that God is holding the sinners by a thin thread, just to warn them and give them some time to redeem themselves while God constantly offers help from the sin state that people live.

I really enjoyed this reading, I could almost hear Edwards talking directly to me- it is a very beautiful and at the same time scary sermon.

The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson

Daniely Modesto
Engl 48A
Thomas Jefferson
The Declaration of Independence


"Jefferson kept a mockingbird named Dick in the White House study, and let the bird ride on his shoulder whenever possible. President Jefferson even trained Dick to take bits of food that he held between his lips at meals! When Jefferson went upstairs, his faithful companion would hop up after him, step after step, never far from his side." www.ushistory.com


“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”


The main purpose of The Declaration of Independence was to explain the foreign nations why the colonies had chosen to separate themselves from Great Britain. According to Jefferson, all men are equal and with right, that government should not violate. Rights those which include “right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” and when the government fails in providing people with such rights, there is no reason to conform.

Jefferson explains that George III, the king, is guilty for many specific abuses, such as acting with Parliament, the king instituted legislations that was affecting colonies without their consent. This legislation also levies taxes on colonists and preventing them from trading. Jefferson wanted to set the colonies free from this pressure and create a new and different nation. This new nation, called United States of America, which will no further have any connections with Great Britain

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Daniely Modesto
48A
Thomas Paine- Common Sense

"a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right..." (Norton 630)

"Thomas Paine had a grand vision for society: he was staunchly anti-slavery, and he was one of the first to advocate a world peace organization and social security for the poor and elderly. But his radical views on religion would destroy his success, and by the end of his life, only a handful of people attended his funeral."

www.ushistory.org


Thomas Paine in “Common sense” encourages people to fight for American Independence explaining with “simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense” that American colonies had received no advantage from Great Britain, which was trying to corrupt them. Paine’s played a large part in the separate America from England; he thought that the colonies should revolt against the government that he believes is not right for them.




Paine believed there was no reason for the Colonies to stay dependent on England as he argues that colonies have too little to gains to be attached to Britain. As he recommends an envoy democracy that gives equal weight to each colonies, he uses his persuading tone to led people to take actions against what they believe is unfair. He also uses motivation on his writing to bring people the courage they need to fight for their independence.

Paine uses of many Biblical references to support its claims; he argues that texts from the bible originated in sin and if America remains under the Britain’s rules there will be new taxes and rates interfering in the colonial life.

He explains that America was not a "British nation"; America was composed of influences and peoples from all of Europe, so why should they live by England’s rules.

Poems from Phillis Wheatley

Daniely Modesto

Engl 48A

Phillis Wheatley

"After the death of John Wheatley and his wife, Phillis married John Peters, a free black man, who ran a small grocery store in Boston. The business was unsuccessful and Phillis was forced to find work as a servant. Phillis Wheatley died in poverty in Boston on 5th December, 1784."

Spartacus Educational.

On Being Brought from Africa to America.

“Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, May be refined, and join the angelic train”
Wheatley in this poem describes her anger against racism that African American suffered and they lost of identity. Wheatley points out the idea that slaves are as intelligent as the whites and that by the law of God, we are all the same and that they should have legal rights.

To the University of Cambridge in New England

The poet makes a clear distinction between her and the students, however she still points out that they are all the same. The poet calls the attention for the whites- to think about the religious aspects “How Jesus’ blood for your redemption flows. /See Him with hands outstretched upon the cross” explaining the idea that Christian people are enslaving the blacks, and that it is not right from the God’s eyes.

To His Excellency George Washington

“While freedom’s cause her anxious breast alarms, she flashes dreadful in refulgent arms”
In this poem, Wheathey writes a letter to General Washington before the American Independency with the theme of freedom. She describes the struggle from the colonialism to be free from England.

To S. M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works

In this poem Wheatley encourage and gives power to the imagination of an artist.”When first thy pencil did those beauties give” Wheatley says his words create vivid images on the reader’s head and she tries to understand the process of his imagination.

The interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African Written by Himself

Daniely Modesto

Engl 48 A
Olaudah Equiano

“Sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through different countries and various nations, till . . . [he] arrive[s] at the sea coast"

"As a major voice in this movement, Equiano petitioned the Queen of England in 1788. He was appointed to the expedition to settle London's poor Blacks in Sierra Leone, a British colony on the west coast of Africa. Sadly, he did not complete the journey back to his native land.

www.atomicage.com/equiano/life.html

Olaudah Equiano writes about his life and the cruelty of slavery. Equiano was born in Nigeria, and as a child he and his sister were kidnapped and sold to slavery, and consequently, he never came back home.He explains that he was sold many times, as he claims in the quote above, and in one of those trades h

e finds his sis

ter, but they are not together for long and soon he is sold again. Later on he became a seaman, when he traveled the world, including Atlantic, Arctic, Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Comin

g to London, he became involved in the abolishment of slavery. He explains that even though many slaves were treated badly, he only felt the real slavery when he was sold to America. Equiano clearl

y points out the differences between African slavery and American slavery.