American History to 1887 - 1148 Words

Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaums Salem Possessed explores the pre-existing social and economic divisions within the Salem Village community, as an entry point to understand the accusations of witchcraft in 1692. According to Boyer and Nissenbaum, the village split into two factions: one interested in gaining more autonomy for Salem Village and led by the Putnam family, and the other, interested in the mercantile and political life of Salem Town and led by the Porter family. Boyer and Nissenbaums deft and imaginative look at local records reveals the contours of communal life in colonial New England and provides a model through which to understand the witchcraft accusations as part of a larger pattern of communal strife. Such a tight†¦show more content†¦Boyer and Nissenbaums intensive focus on the dynamics of Salem Village blind them to other dynamics contributing to the witchcraft outbreak. Although the outbreak originated in Salem Village, the majority of the accused hai led from surrounding villages such as Andover, removed from the Putnam/Porter disputes and known for its harmonious community life. As Bernard Rosenthal points out, the study stops short of inquiring into why the outbreak spread throughout Massachusetts Bay and caught in its net people having nothing to do with the quarrels of that particular village. The dynamics of village dispute can help to explain the origin of the outbreak, but cannot explain why this outbreak became an epidemic. Boyer and Nissenbaums almost exclusive focus on the socio-economic dimensions to the witchcraft episode obscures the importance of individuals and of Puritan religious beliefs. In his review of Salem Possessed, T.H. Breen argues that Boyer and Nissenbaum assume a direct causal relationship between socio-economic conditions and individual behavior. Indeed, the authors manage to trace almost all personal motivation back to the pocketbook. While their deft reconstruction of Salem Villages factious society and the economic changes which contributed to such divides is quite convincing, the intellectual jump they make to connect these pre-existing divisions with the personal motivations of accusers is largely speculative and circumstantial. Boyer and NissenbaumsShow MoreRelatedA Free Fair Election Is The Keystone Of Every Democracy1429 Words   |  6 Pagesin the British history (Carter, 2002). The American electoral system is complicated and confusing. It has been designed to ensure univ ersal suffrage to all women and men who are the United States citizens of age eighteen years and above. In the United States, elections are held in even-numbered years for the Congress and certain local government offices and states. Other local jurisdictions and states hold their elections in years which are odd-numbered (O Neil, 1887). The Americans elect their presidentRead MoreCultural Sovereignty And Their Own Culture And Community Without Having Someone Decide How They Live896 Words   |  4 Pageschoice. According to an article by Wenona T. Singel in the Kansas Journal of Law Public Policy, â€Å"Cultural sovereignty refers to tribes efforts to represent their histories and existence using their own terms, and it acknowledges that each Indian nation has its own vision of self-determination as shaped by each tribe s culture, history, territory, traditions, and practices.† (Singel). For instance, as Vine Deloris Jr. pointed out in Custer Died for Your Sins the termination policy carried out todayRead MoreNative American Education Essay1530 Words   |  7 PagesNative A merican Education Through the years minority groups have long endured repression, poverty, and discrimination. A prime example of such a group is the Native Americans. 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Overall this chapter will seek to demonstrate how the eventual decimation and marginalisation of the Native Americans had been a deliberate consequence of the colonisation of the Americas. According to historian David Brion Davis, the impact of European colonialism on the Native American population was â€Å"the greatest genocide in the history of man. Yet it’s increasingly clear that most of the carnage had nothing to do with European barbarism. The worst of the suffering wasRead MoreNative American s Greatest Flaw Throughout History1721 Words   |  7 PagesNative Americans: 1830s-1930s America’s greatest flaw throughout history is how it treats its minorities, especially the Native Americans. From the beginning of European involvement in America, Native Americans have been cheated and mistreated. Even before the United States became a country, European traders would do whatever they could to make a profit, even use the diseases that they carried to begin an epidemic. As shown in the early Franciscan missions, Native Americans were considered heathensRead MoreThe Dawes Severalty Act of 1887826 Words   |  3 PagesThere has been much documentation on the plight of Native Americans throughout the beginnings of this nation. In spite of the attempts by the early government of the United States, the culture of many Native American tribes has survived and even flourished. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 is just one of many examples of how our government attempted to wipe out Native American culture. This paper will discuss the Dawes Act, particularly the time leading up to the act, the act itself, and finallyRead MoreWhites Had Brought Seeds Of Emerging Industries923 Words   |  4 Pagesrush to get good but soon after people from all over the world have come for gold. This bringing a more diverse community. 1883- November 28th Kittitas county became a county. Kittitas has different towns within all with a different but similar history. The towns including cle elum, roslyn, ronald, thorp, and ellensburg. 1883- In 1883 The town of Cle elum came to be after Walter Reed and Thomas Gamble bought a quarter section of farmland, naming the town after the indian word meaning â€Å"swiftwater†Read MoreThe Laws of the South, 1860s1024 Words   |  5 Pagesfrom different water fountains, and even be incarcerated in different prisons. Enforcing the laws of African-Americans to be separated from any form of Caucasian person is usually referred to as the â€Å"Jim Crow† legislation, which was not very common until the final ten years of the nineteenth century. Before, though, in 1881, this law was enacted on by Tennessee, that forced African-Americans to ride in separate sections of a train, where whites and blacks had no communication. For this the state isRead MoreNative American Education Essay1368 Words   |  6 PagesThrough the years minority groups have long endured repression, poverty, and discrimination. A prime example of such a group is the Native Americans. They had their own land and basic way of life stripped from them almost constantly for decades. Although they were the actual â€Å"natives† of the land, they were forced by the government to give it up and compelled to assimilate to the white man’s way. This past scarred the Native American’s preservation of culture as ma ny were discouraged to speak the