John Henry Myth Analysis John Henry was born a slave in the 1840s or 1850s. He was one among a legion of African Americans freed from the Civil War; John Henry went to work rebuilding the Southern states whose territory had been severely damaged by the Civil War. The war granted equal civil and political rights on African Americans, se nding hundreds of men into the workforce, in bad conditions and for poor wages. John Henry was hired as a steel driver for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company. The Chesapeake and Ohio’s new line was working efficiently, until Big Bend Mountain blocked its path. Then one day a salesman came along to the railroad site. He had a steam powered drill and said it could out drill any man. The men working on the …show more content…
John Henry won, but died shortly after, some say from stroke, others say from exhaustion. Few American myths have achieved more widespread acclaim and acknowledgement than the story of the African American steel driver, John Henry. Though the origins of the tale are unclear, the myth seems to have begun in the postbellum American South. The earliest evidence of the tale dates from the 1880s and was most widely known among African Americans, who would often sing the tale as a working song. Many of the earliest instances of the myth are in the form of songs, often sung by prisoners as they worked. An analysis of the John Henry myth reveals that John Henry represents a man who worked hard and took pride in his work, even though he was living in a place and time where, just like Big Bend, the roads of opportunity were blocked …show more content…
There are many similarities and differences between the movies books and songs even though they have changed throughout time. The most popular version of the tale says that John Henry was working at the Big Bend Tunnel on the C&O railroad in Virginia, but other versions of the tale have claimed that he was working on railroads in Georgia, Alabama, and Pennsylvania. Many book versions of the tale specify that he used a nine or ten pound hammer, but others say that he used a hammer of thirty or forty pounds, occasionally with a hammer in each hand. In all iterations of the story of John Henry in film, when John Henry goes up against the steam powered drill he always uses two hammers during the competition. Also in every retelling of the story of John Henry he always beats the steam powered drill. In the Disney movie Tall Tale are that John Henry has great strength, a strong determination, and carries his twenty pound hammer wherever he goes. This is similar in the John Henry and the Railroad film. Another similarity in films about John Henry is that other workers doubted him when he decided to challenge the steam powered drill, even after knowing the super natural ability John Henry possessed. Although there are a few differences in the movie John Henry and the Railroad one being that John Henry has a son who travels with him to look for work, who he throughout the film tells to not be lazy and
According to Hunter, the period between 1877 and 1915 is critical to understanding the social transformations in most southern cities and complicating this transformation are the issues of race, class, and gender. The examination of the lives of black domestic workers reveals the complexity of their struggles to keep their autonomy with white employers and city officials. For example, African-American women built institutions and frequently quit their jobs in response to the attempts by southern whites to control their labor and mobility. Hunter carefully situates these individual tactics of resistance in the New South capitalist development and attempts by whites to curtail the political and social freedoms of emancipated slaves. African-American women migrating to Atlanta after the Emancipation found themselve... ...
From different contextual standpoints, both William Shakespeare’s King henry IV part 1(1597) and Barry Levinson Man of the year (2006) both represent a unique similarity in discussing power rather than truth. Shakespeare invokes an appreciation of strategic manipulation for both King Henry IV and prince Hal. King Henry struggles of breaking divine lineage whilst Prince Hal appearance vs reality allows Shakespeare to explore the political strategies upheld by politicians within the Elizabethan era. Similarly, in Man of the year, Tom Dobbs use of short and verbose colloquial language exhibit his demagoguery approach to candidacy epitomizing political succession within the 21st century.
As a final note, Gregory Wigmore`s article really touched upon a unique and unexplored topic on local history in the Windsor-Detroit region. I had never seen the Detroit River as a safe haven for anyone, much less slaves. His article focuses on how the borders provided freedom and screwed over the slave owners that got stuck in red tape trying to retrieve their `property.` Although cross border freedoms were created, laws at the time didn`t protect the slaves in the country they were living in; the only way to freedom was to run away. This article is an interestingly unique and an underexplored topic of slavery before the underground railroads.
C. Vann Woodward, who died in 1999 at the age of 91, was America's most Southern historian and the winner of a Pulitzer Prize, for Mary Chestnut's Civil War. He’s also a Bancroft Prize for The Origins of the New South. In honor of his long and adventurous career, Oxford is pleased to publish this special commemorative edition of Woodward's most influential work, The Strange Career of Jim Crow. The Strange Career of Jim Crow is one of the great works of Southern history. The book actually helped shape that historical curve of black liberation; it’s not slowed movement; it’s more like a rollercoaster.
In his work “Escape and Revolt in Black and White,” James M. McPherson discusses the lives of now famous black and white defenders of the black population and how society’s views of these individuals changed over time. The majority of his essay focused on the stories of Harriet Tubman, Harriet Jacobs, and John Brown, each of whom impacted their own immediate surroundings, even if only on a small scale, in an attempt to improve the condition of blacks. He investigates whether these now famous individuals became famous due to their own merits or as another piece of propaganda to support either side of the fight over civil rights. However, this overall point was very unclear and jumbled as he focused too heavily on just his narrative of these
The Life Story of a Negro Peon (1904) contextualizes the scope and impact of race-based exploitative labor practices in Georgia during the post-Reconstruction South. Through a poignant personal narrative, the Negro Peon recounts how the peonage system undermined his hopes of building material wealth and acquiring land. “We learned that we could not lawfully break our contract for any reason and go and hire ourselves to somebody else without the consent of our employer; more than that, if we got mad and ran away, we could be run down by bloodhounds, arrested without process of law, and be returned to our employer” (340). Alas, this gripping story illuminates how the vestiges of slavery, subjugation, and degradation took root in new forms:
This story was set in the deep south were ownership of African Americans was no different than owning a mule. Demonstrates of how the Thirteenth Amendment was intended to free slaves and describes the abolitionist’s efforts. The freedom of African Americans was less a humanitarian act than an economic one. There was a battle between the North and South freed slaves from bondage but at a certain cost. While a few good men prophesied the African Americans were created equal by God’s hands, the movement to free African Americans gained momentum spirited by economic and technological innovations such as the export, import, railroad, finance, and the North’s desire for more caucasian immigrants to join America’s workforce to improve our evolving nation. The inspiration for world power that freed slaves and gave them initial victory of a vote with passage of the Fifteenth Amendment. A huge part of this story follows the evolution of the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment more acts for civil rights.
The black man in the Deep South of America was greatly despised during the 1950’s. The world that the Negroes lived in was not the same as whites in their society. In this book, John Howard Griffin Sacrifices his life as a middle-class white man and becomes a dirt poor Negro, trying to survive in the South. He simply did all of this in order to bring out the truth about what it is really and truly like to be a Negro in the South during the 1950’s.
That was when blacks could fight for their own freedom. Even though slavery was “abolished” from the United States as well as the whole world, the fields were still short many workers and machinery, which in return made most of the labor to be done by hand. These events are like the events that happened at Chesapeake Bay, when it was hard for officers to handle laborers. The events that followed have been haunting to Americas history. Due to history and events the present is still being strongly impacted by slavery, but not in terms of placing chains on the African culture, but instead presenting racist patterns (O’Connell, 2012). After researching slavery’s history extensively this paper will be a source that presents information regarding to the impact that slavery has had on past and present society as well as a detailed history of slavery. Even though slavery was “abolished” from the USA it will continue to root its ugly head into society and the psychological affects that slavery still has on contemporary
The reader will find Huck and Jim more knowledgeable at the conclusion of the novel, and notice their love for life and for each other.After reading the novel and watching the Disney film Huck Finn, one will find many dissimilarities. Many of the classic scenes have been switched around and combined in the 1993 version. There are a few scenes in particular that I will focus and comment on.The major difference between the movie and the book is an important character named Tom Sawyer, who is not present or mentioned in the film. It is evident from reading the story that Tom was a dominant influence on Huck, who obviously adores him. Tom can be seen as Huck's leader and role model. He has a good family life, but yet has the free will to run off and have fun.
The main focus of this essay is on the discrimination against African Americans in Cleveland After World War I and why discrimination began to increase after the war. I first chose this topic because it has always been a topic that sparked my interest and I’ve always wanted to know more about the African American community. I figured when am I going to get a better opportunity to gain more knowledge on the topic of discrimination against African Americans then in an African American Studies class. I also think it is really important to know about the past history of our city and it is just as important to know about the people who were here many years before us especially the African American community. These things are important to know because they are what makes up Cleveland today especially because we live in a diverse city.
In 1619 a well-known issue was brought to life that is now known as an American catastrophe. In the book Black Southerners, the author John B. Boles doesn’t just provide background of how slavery began or who started it, and doesn’t just rant about the past and how mistreated the African American race was; he goes on to explain how as slavery and racism boosted the families of these slaves began to grow closer to a community and the efficiency and profitability of slavery. He also shows the perspective of not just the slaves, but the bondsmen as well to show the different perspectives throughout this point in time. As far as my generation goes, we all picture slavery as African American’s picking cotton, or doing chores around the house, going
White, Richard. “Strike.” Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. N. pag. Print.
2 John Bowe, author of Nobodies: Modern Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy said if he could sum up what his book was about it would be “we all seek control. Control equals power. Power corrupts. Corruption makes us blind, tyrannical, and desperate to justify our behavior” (268). He is writing about the slave trade happening in our own Land of the Free. He wants Americans to be aware of the slave trade and recognize that it is not only happening in other countries, but effects items we use in our everyday lives, like the clothes we wear and the food we eat. As he is an immersion reporter, he visits three different sites of slavery: Florida, Tulsa, and Saipan. The stories and facts in this book are all from people who experienced some aspect of the abuses he writes about, whether a victim, a lawyer, or just a witness to the heinous crimes. He is not satisfied with half truths, which seem to fly at him, especially from those who did the abusing he was talking about, he does his research well and I appreciated that while reading this book.
All things considered, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, suggests that people are subject to various enslavements and attempt to pursue freedom from these enslavements. The reason I selected this theme as the most important is due to its real world application. This theme is relevant to real life due to the fact that numerous people are deprived of freedom and are attempting to obtain the freedom that they desire. People throughout history and even today seek their freedom. In this novel, one of the freedoms sought after was the end to racial discrimination, this was achieved in the 1960s by the Civil Rights Movement and famous American hero’s we now admire such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..