Winter

1.        The historical question / problem that Elizabeth A. Fenn addresses is who exactly was responsible for the spread of smallpox to the American civilization. She also addresses the severity of the disease and the affects it had on the people of America.

2.         Elizabeth A. Fenn uses many sources to investigate the issue of smallpox in the 18^th century. One of the first sources mentioned is from a letter written by Simeon Ecuyer, a captain in Fort Pitt. He said that Fort Pitt was very congested and he feared getting the disease. Another source, the diary of William Trent, mentions “the deed itself”, the giving of the blankets and handkerchiefs from the small pox hospital to the local Indians (Fenn, 4). Fenn uses another source but this time from the World Health Organization. The World Health Organization made a statement in the 1980s saying that smallpox is no longer a threat to American civilization.

3.        Elizabeth A. Fenn’s main points are the affects of small pox in the American civilization in the 18^th century, the investigation of who exactly was responsible for the spread of smallpox to the people, and the affect that the history of smallpox has on the American civilization today. Elizabeth A. Fenn concludes her essay by discussing the effects of “biological warfare” and how horrible it was and how it is now considered (Fenn, 55). Although it was horrible, it was not unheard of in the eighteenth century, but today this type of warfare is uncommon and considered very wrong.

4.         Yes, I do believe that Elizabeth A. Fenn proves her argument well because she uses many sources to support her argument of how dangerous smallpox really was and to try and answer the mystery of who was responsible for the spread of smallpox in the 18^th century. One source Elizabeth A. Fenn used to somewhat solve the mystery was from the diary of William Trent, where he writes, “ we gave them two Blankets and a Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital. I hope it will have the desired effect” (Fenn, 4). Another source she uses is from a letter written by Henry Bouquet in reply to an earlier letter written by Jeffery Amherst, where he asks Bouquet if it is possible to send Smallpox to the Indians that are not already infected by the disease. Bouquet’s reply says, “I will try to inoculate the Indians by means of Blankets that may fall in their hands, taking care however not to get the disease myself” (Fenn, 5). Through these sources Elizabeth A. Fenn makes it apparent to the readers and myself that there was an actual cause to the spread of smallpox.

5.            The answer is important because it is wise to see how things were done long ago and how much things have changed. Reading of the horrible mistreatment of local Indians in North America centuries ago has helped me better understand the reasons why America has changed for the better and also helped me see that there are still great changes to be made in the future. We as American citizens have learned by the use of history how to be civilized and that spreading diseases is not the right way to go about winning a war.

Blog 2 – T.H. Breen

1. In the article Narrative of Commercial Life: Consumption, Ideology, and Community on the Eve of the American Revolution T.H. Breen discusses how important trade and commerce was in the creation of independence and politics for the American Colonists. After the Seven Years’ War, British soldiers returned home and spoke of the Colonists living lavishly and since the British were “oppressed with a heavy load of debt, how natural then, was it for Parliament, to hunt out fresh resources?” (Breen 477). Thus, this false assumption of the Colonists’ ways of life was the start to an escalating disagreement that would eventually lead to the American Revolution. Trade at this time played a large role in American culture and politics.
2. Breen’s main points focus on how trade was an enormous factor in the relationship between the British and American Colonists. Trade also was responsible for affecting American politics and culture. When the pompous British came to America during the Seven Years’ War the colonists felt as though they needed to impress the British. So, the colonists “worked hard to make a favorable impression on their elite guests” (Breen 476). The colonists “displayed a parade of wealth, beyond the bounds of moderation and prudence; and suffered [their] guests to depart, with high ideas of our riches” (Breen 476). This false display of wealth caused the British to believe that the American Colonists could now be harshly taxed. Thus, the British heavily taxed the colonists on British goods. This angered the Americans, causing them to organize and boycott British goods. The colonists now felt a sense of unity that positively affected American politics and culture.
3. Breen used several different sources to support his argument. Sources ranging from journals, newspapers, sermons, essays, letters, and pamphlets. Mainly Breen used newspaper, he took articles from newspapers such as the Boston Chronicle, the Boston Gazette, the South-Carolina Gazette, the Pennsylvania Chronicle, and the New York Mercury. Trade being one of the main idea’s of Breen’s article, he took this great quote from the South Carolina Gazette, “… And the Man who would not refuse himself a fine Coat, to save his Country, deserves to be hanged” (Breen 500). That quote taken from a newspaper in South Carolina clearly displayed the anger of the colonists in the midst of their boycott against British goods.
4. The Textbook, Out of Many, says that the Colonists political and cultural unity was because of the Seven Years’ War and thus brought them together against the British. Breen’s article on the other hand argues that it was after the Seven Years’ War when the American colonists came together to boycott the British that political and cultural unity was attained.
5. I found Breen’s article very persuasive and well-argued because he used many factual sources to back up his argument. Breen used the argument that the false show of wealth that American Colonists put on was the reason why the British heavily taxed the colonists on goods. Also, it was because of the harsh taxation that the colonists unified and boycotted against British goods. Before reading this article I had never even considered that the display of wealth was the cause of high taxation, or that the boycott against British goods was the reason why the colonists became so unified. For example, In a narrative of commercial life David Ramsay says “to gratify their own pride, the colonists had made a parade of their riches, by frequently and sumptuously entertaining the gentlemen of the British army. The visitors mistakenly concluded that the colonists lived very well” (Breen 477). This mistake that the colonists lived a life of luxury was the start to a long and bitter disagreement that eventually would result in the American Revolution.

Blog #3 – Campbell

1. In ‘The Most Diabolical Act of all the Barbarous War’: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Burning of Columbia, February 1865, Jacqueline G. Campbell studies southern women and the role they held during the time of the civil war. But she mainly focuses on the women during the Burning of Columbia, South Carolina. During the war the women of the south were faithful and proud to the confederacy. This pride and honor for their nation really surprised many people in the north. Although, Campbell states that it was this pride and loyalty to their country that helped women with gaining important roles in society.
2. Her main point is that elite southern women during the civil war upheld a strong sense of nationalism and pride. These women could be described as fearless. They stood their ground on their home front while their husbands, sons, and brothers were gone fighting the war. Their behavior shocked the Yankee soldiers, these women were not afraid and demanded that these soldiers treat them with respect. These women fought as “mothers and warriors” for something they strongly believed in (Campbell 59). These women hated the Yankee soldiers but ironically many of the soldiers were somewhat courteous. One women even spoke of a Yankee soldier helping her to reach a place of safety. Campbell concludes by saying that the women “certainly had reason enough to hate Yankee soldiers who wrought such devastation on their homes and country” (Campbell 66). Furthermore, she argues that the suffering the women experienced created a strong mix of pride and hatred, which caused the women to act as leaders which they had never done before. It was these women during the Civil War who really helped to start change the role women held.
3. Campbell using several sources from other historians. Historians such as Cory Gallagher and Drew Gilpin Faust. She also uses James McPherson’s analysis of Civil War soldiers to provide a “helpful model” (Campbell 66). She uses a good deal of Faust to help prove her argument.
4. Campbell’s article examines the southern women’s role during the civil war. She argues that the southern women during the civil war were very loyal to the confederacy and they upheld a strong sense of nationalism. These women fought on the home-front for their country. The text book claims that the southern women during the Civil War were very diverse. The text says that the upper class women had a very different war experience than the middle and lower class women. The text states that the upper class women had much more pleasures during the war than the middle and lower class women. So, the middle and lower class women did not approve of the upper class women’s sense of nationalism and pride during the war because they barely even suffered at all.
5. Campbell incorporates the notion of “true womanhood” and “female honor” by arguing that the southern women would go to any length to uphold their community and families. She uses other women’s accounts of the war to back up her argument. Specifically, She uses Emma LaConte and Grace Elmore to show how fearless women were and how these two women were willing to stand up and speak up against the northern men. Southern women used their sharp wit and southern appeal to benefit their cause of speaking out against the northerners without any retaliation from the soldiers. Campbell disagrees with Faust’s argument that that elite white women’s disillusionment with and growing resistance to the war, especially after Sherman’s march, played a significant role in the Confederacy’s defeat. She disagrees with this because she believes that the women of the south were a large factor in the union between the confederate soldiers. These Southern women stood by their country and defended what they could of it. Campbell believes that it is because of these women that we have had such influential changes with the rights that women bear.