The Name of War by Jill Lepore and Anne Orthwood’s Bastard by John Pagan are ideal examples of works detailing historical perspectives or occurrences. The authors utilize two different approaches to narrate these historical occurrences. Jill Lepore uses a macro-history approach whereas John Pagan uses a micro-history approach. However, both authors relay various developments in the American history. Macro-history takes a long approach to present an issue whereas a micro-history utilizes micro topics or several components to reveal a wider theme. This report shows how these approaches have been used by Jill Lepore and John Pagan in their respective works. Macro The Name of War tells the story of how an Indian man was tortured to death by …show more content…
The author takes the time to describe activities and people including the issues surrounding illegitimacy, the Kendall's, the court clerk, the ship’s surgeon, the midwife among others. These stories and people are the small but vital components of ‘micro’ topics that constitute micro-history. Together, the ‘micro’ topics reveal to the readers the legal system of Virginia and England, the role of women in the society, contracts and sale of servants, criminal fornication and the involvement of the church in state …show more content…
Authors using the approach take the time to explain the background and the context of the historical account so that the writers can easily understand. However, the approach fails to capture the exact experience of the people involved or affected. On the other hand, a micro approach goes into detail of what happened and its effect on the people directly involved or affected. It captures the emotion, reaction and experience of these people without which a historical account is not complete. The disadvantage of the micro approach is that it fails to show the overview of the historical event or occurrence and, therefore, does not put into context. Consequently, the reader must have background knowledge of the occurrence or else, they may not understand the historical text. Personally, a micro-history approach is the most persuasive and interesting while investigating and explaining the dynamics of early American society and culture because it captures the emotion and experience of people as they lived through the event of historical significance. It is easy to put things in perspective because of numerous history lessons and therefore, a micro-history approach would be much more interesting compared to a macro-history. This type of history is very interesting because it happened to other people; their experiences, reactions, and emotions are worth
In Anne Orthwood’s Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia, John Pagan sets out to examine the complexities of the legal system on the Eastern Shore in the seventeenth- century. He brings to light the growing differences between the English and Virginia legal systems. Pagan, an early American legal historian at the University of Richmond School of Law, spins a tragic story on the legalities surrounding an instance of out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Indentured servant Anne Orthwood’s brief encounter with a man of higher social standing produced a series of four court cases. Pagan examines each case and persons involved, vividly connecting each case to larger themes of social class, gender, labor, and economic power.
Melton McLaurin’s book Celia, A Slave is the account of the trial, conviction, and execution of a female slave for the murder of her “master” Robert Newsom in 1855. The author uses evidence compiled through studying documents from Callaway County, Missouri and the surrounding area during the middle of the Nineteenth Century. Although much of what can be determine about this event is merely speculation, McLaurin proposes arguments for the different motives that contribute to the way in which many of the events unfold. Now throughout the book the “main characters”, being Celia, her lawyer Jameson, and the judge William Hall, are all faced with moral decisions that affect the lives of two different people.
...ths of the sixteenth century. Yes, women of that time and place left a very light mark on history. Eventually, the story the book tells spirals down into just some nasty courtroom feuds among family members. The story provides a driving narrative that brings into intimate contact disparate kinds that are still prevalent today. And the conclusion drawn from Anna's actions and reactions may surprise. In both everyday life and in times of crisis, women in the twenty first century has access to effective personal and legal resources.
O’Brien, Tim. “How To Tell a True War Story.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2003. p. 420-429.
Neilson, Jim. Warring Fictions: American Literary Culture and the Vietnam War Narrative. Jackson: Mississippi UP, 1998
In this paper I will explain and discuss the historical events that took place in a small rural town in early Massachusetts. The setting for which is Irene Quenzler Brown's and Richard D. Brown's, The Hanging of Ephraim Wheeler. I will explain the actions and motives of Hannah and Betsy Wheeler in seeking legal retribution of husband and father Ephraim Wheeler. I will also discuss the large scope of patriarchal power allowed by the law and that given to husbands and masters of households. Of course, this will also lead to discussions of what was considered abuse of these powers by society and the motivation for upholding the Supreme Court's decision to hang Ephraim Wheeler.
Tindall, G.B. & Shi, D.E. (2010). America a narrative history 8th edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p.205-212.
The objective of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to examine why Wollstonecraft felt this quest into the genre of novel for the politics which she already had discussed at length in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)? The second strand of inquiry will be into the domestic ideas of despotism which arise from gender discrimination perpetuated by the state machinery, with the legal system, in particular. This second strand will envelope the prevalent issues like the legally disadvantageous position of married as well as maternal women and how the revolutionary bodies of these mothers are confined along with infliction of mental harassment by both private and state systems. The issue of the imprisonm...
Cott, Nancy F. The Bonds of Womanhood: "Woman's Sphere" in New England, 1780-1835. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977.
Ulrich shows a progression of change in the way that women’s sexuality was viewed in New England. First, she starts with a society that depended on “external rather internal controls” and where many New Englanders responded more to shame than guilt (Ulrich 96). The courts were used to punish sexual misconducts such as adultery with fines, whippings, or sometimes even death. There were certain behaviors that “respectable” women were expected to follow and “sexual misbehavior” resulted in a serious decline of a woman’s reputation from even just one neighbor calling her names such as whore or bawd (Ulrich 97-98). Because the love between a man and his wife was compared to the bond between Christ and the Church, female modesty was an important ideal. “Within marriage, sexual attraction promoted consort; outside marriage, it led to heinous sins” (Ulrich 108). This modesty was expected to be upheld even as death approached and is seen with the example of Mary Mansfield in 1681. Ulrich describes Mary to have five neck cloths tucked into her bosom and eleven caps covering her hair. “A good wife was to be physically attractive…but she was not to expose her beauty to every eye”. Hence, even as she died, Mary was required to conceal her sexuality and beauty. However, at the end of the seventeenth century and throughout the
John Ruston Pagan’s book, Anne Orthwood’s Bastard, is split into sections describing the different components of sex and law in early Virginia. Pagan describes these components through the story of Anne Orthwood, John Kendall, and their bastard son, Jasper. Anne Orthwood was born an illegitimate child. There was much shame and disgrace for illegitimate children. Although illegitimacy made Anne’s life especially hard, she also faced the same pressures as other members of her generation. Her generation was dealing with shortages of land and labor; increasing prices, rent, and unemployment rates; and declining wages. These struggles caused many people to emigrate from Britain to the Americas.
...y uses anecdotes and stories of women in the 17th and 18th centuries to provide evidence to the reader and demonstrate the roles women filled and how they filled those roles. Furthermore, she illustrates the individuality in each woman’s story. Although in several of the stories the women may be filling the same roles, the uniqueness of the situation varies from woman to woman. Ulrich’s use of period stories helps add to the credibility of the arguments she makes. She makes the reader feel the weight of responsibility on the shoulders of colonial New England women. A sense of appreciation is gained by the reader for the sheer number of roles fulfilled by the women of New England. In addition, Ulrich’s real life accounts also give valuable insight to life as it was during this time period in American history and the silent heroes behind it – the wives of New England.
James clearly resists historical interpretation which would fill in the blanks with knowledge on social groups. Yet, through analysis of the Governess and Mile’s relationship by placing their narration and dialogue in a socio-historic context the battle is revealed between desires and demands. Awareness of Victorian sexual commencement allows readers to trace the development of the two characters transformations from pupil and teacher to lover and mistress.
In order to see how cultural and historical situations affect literature throughout history, it is important to get a brief history on each era discussed in this paper. The first era we will be reviewing will be writings from 1865-1914. The Civil War was just ending in 1865. America lost over a half of million Americans in the war. The nation was in a state of disorder and the south was devastated. Nevertheless, the country prospered. America became industrialized and saw innovations such as; the railroads, telegraph, telephone, and electricity. The population of the United States had also started to increase due to immigration.
The miller’s daughter Malyne falls victim to the patriarchy’s denial of her personage, both through her father’s relegation of her as property and Cambridge law student Aleyn’s sexual reduction of her as a commodity. The latter denies her a chance to consent during his assault of her, as though she is an inanimate object that he may use how he pleases. As a woman, she is her father’s property under medieval law rather than a person of her own accord, meaning that a man does not need to gain her permission to engage with her but rather that of her father. However, as Aleyn wishes to exact revenge upon her father, this fungibility further allows him to consider his violation of her not as an atrocity against another human being but a crime against her father’s property (Barnett 6). Knowing her father’s theft instigated her assault, Malyne is willing to further the clerks’