Alvin Coffey

Alvin Coffey was a black pioneer and a slave who made the journey west across America. His journal is of significant importance as there aren’t many accounts of black people who travelled through the states at this time. He made the journey as part of an ‘ox team’ which consisted of several wagons pulled by oxen. Although he doesn’t specifically state how many people he travelled with he said that on train ahead of him had fifteen wagons each carrying 5 people in it.

Alvin set off from St. Louis in Missouri on the 2^nd of April 1849. It does not say what caused his owner to leave but he talks about hundreds dying on a regular basis from cholera in St. Louis and in St. Joe. It was a very dangerous journey with many things to plan for, such as when to cross certain parts of the country such as desert. 

Even with precautions taken such as giving the cattle a day to rest before making the move across the desert to ‘black rock’, Alvin still writes that ‘a great number of cattle perished’ on the way.

The danger was not only because of the landscape, Coffey also writes about when he was travelling through Sacramento Valley and one of the oxen collapsed, only for wolves to eat it alive.

Camping conditions were also bad for the pioneer, who writes that even though they had tents they had to share with others and they barely kept them dry.

He writes about an entrepreneur selling his train 100 pounds of bear meat for a dollar per pound which was a large amount of money in 1850, which was the year he got to California. Alvin Coffey eventually earned his freedom and went on to live a long life.

Sources: http://www.sfmuseum.org/bio/coffey.html

Who Discovered the South Pass?

WHO DISCOVERED THE SOUTH PASS?

Link to post: https://user.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/crooks.html

This is a letter by a Ramsey Crooks from New York of 1856. The letter alludes to the integrity of a Col. John Fremont who Crooks sees as a potential President of the then confederacy. He first begins by a short doubt of his potential by from an article in the Detroit advertiser but quickly changes the mood to commend Fremont on his masculinity. He clearly views the role of President to be an ideal of stereotypical masculinity as he comments on the brawn and bravery of him discovering the American mountain land where he is “surrounded by savages and grizzly bears”; a quality that he says is rare in the US but he seems to believe shows good promise for future leadership skills. He seems to to and fro between his positives and negatives which is formally worded but informally structured. It’s almost as if he’s trying to play devil’s advocate with himself here and is just venting his opinions to a respected friend.

He goes on to not only disavow Fremont but also his endorsers by saying that others that had gone before him, the hunters and traders who many of which had gone through the South Pass long before the colonel. It was therefore not only an untrue claim of ‘discovery’ but also a meaningless one as an attention seeker for political and social status benefit, as he mentions that his party “must be pressed very hard when they had to drag in a circumstance so very unimportant as who discovered the 'South Pass.'”

It is after this point in the letter that Crooks gives a much clearer and decisive verdict on his feelings towards the Col. Fremont. He then enters a brief history lesson to back up his point regarding the true discovery of the South Pass. This is interesting considering the time as this information is surprisingly detailed given the time period. Archives of these kind of discoveries would largely be harder to come across than in today’s world. This does open up the possibility for Crooks to be stretching the truth, but given the detail of the various events spanning from 1810 to 1814, and given Crooks’ Esquire title assumes Crooks is more likely to be an intellectual pioneer.

George Bonniwell - The Gold Rush Diary

The Diary written by George Bonniwell gives a day by day outline of their journey from Milwaukee to California on April 12th 1850. Throughout the journey, Bonniwell discusses his views on the physical landscape that they venture through describing some places such as Beloit as a 'beautiful place' with large churches, a well-established society and a successful place for businesses.

As the journey towards the west continues, Bonniwell talks about how dysentery had affected the group of men he was travelling with and how they were able to recover from the disease within a short time even though it does reoccur within the group multiple times. Not only this, they also had medicine for scurvy for the men on the journey which suggests that disease and ill-health was a common occurrence.

Bonniwell discusses the variety of landscapes such as the woodlands and crossing the large prairies identifying that some were deemed good land whereas others were not, 'as far as the eyes could see'. He continues to discuss the Indian graveyards that he walks through being seen as 'quite a curiosity' within their newly founded society. As the society in Fort Des Moines inhabited nearly 400 people, they were able to protect themselves from the threat of the American Natives attacking due to the on-going conflict between the Natives and the settlers.

Bonniwell concludes his diary with the acceptance of his journey being potentially unsuccessful due to injuries, diseases, and the unsuccessfully built dam that failed due to leaks and the previous dam destabilised itself, therefore setting them back further from completion. The journey in itself had been a difficult one and that the end result of the journey had been a failure.

Sources: http://www.emigrantroad.com/gold05.html

Florence Melton 1857-1926

Florence's maternal great-grandfather married an Englishwoman and they settled in Maryland, not too far from Chesapeake Bay. In this particular area, there was an ongoing war with the Native Americans, this was not uncommon. As a result of one of their many conflicts, some settlers were taken as prisoners, including Florence's great-grandfather.

In this particular tribe, if any of the tribe died in the conflict, their next of kin were able to choose one of the prisoners to replace the lost tribe member. In this instance, one elderly woman had lost her only son, and so she chose Florence's great-grandfather to replace him. At the time, he had a wife and two young children. He aided her with the physical tasks such as carrying her loads and chopping wood for her. He treated her as he would have treated white women. Many of the Native Americans found it amusing that he was doing women's work and laughed at him when his "civilised" stomach could not cope with the native food. But because he treated his Native mother well, she prepared him his own food that he could eat. When he was rescued over a year later, Florence notes that his "Indian mother wept bitterly when parted from him," emphasising the bond they shared.

Florence goes on to refer to that experience as an "Indian adventure" as if it was a meaningless event and that the natives posed no threat to him. If he hadn't been chosen then he would have been put to death with the rest of the prisoners. It was not an adventure, more a period of time when he was forced into slavery. Not unlike how westerners treated people they came across when settling.

Where are your posts?

Morning all
Well done to those who have posted.  However, we meet today and some of you are missing posts for both last week and this week.  Please post in good time as I like to read your work before our class.

Map of transport links and telegraph lines

James Truslow Adams writes that ‘America has always been a land of dreams, the "land of promise."’. This is reflected in the expansion of infrastructure within the us during the 19^th century. In the above image this is shown through a map of ‘Railroads, Telegraph Lines and Principal Stage Routes’. This expansion through America shows that the people were driven by the ‘American Dream’ to better themselves. Adams writes about the rapid population expansion in Michigan which he says ‘had a population of 31,000 in 1830, held 212,000 ten years later.’. The number of transport links and telegraph lines shows the evolution of the American society and the new links between the different parts of the country, and the progression of the country.

This map also outlines the changing nature of the American Dream which was written about by Cullen in his book. It shows that the Americans not only dreamed of new prosperity but also progress on a wider scale through transportation and technological advances. The American Dream today is different from the early dream but it still remains subjective.

Sources:

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3700.rr000170/

Cullen, J., The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation, (Oxford, University Press, 2003), 3-10.

Adams, J.T, The Epic of America, (Routledge, 1931) Ch.8

Charleston, S.C., general view from St. Michael's Church

The image above titled 'Charleston, S.C., general view from St. Michael's Church' reinstates the ideals of the American Dream outlined by Jim Cullen and James Adams.

As Charleston's population increases significantly, it provides a more diverse society. Adams speaks of how the newcomers of America led to 'new interests and wider social opportunities'. These opportunities as such can be viewed clearly in this image due to the multiple establishments throughout the city whether social, educational, political or economical. Further on from this, the establishment of religion stated in the tile and seen in the distance shows unity within the society. The success of Charleston as a community extends the experience that Adams reflects on as to how  'every successive frontier of the many America has known'. Not only can the architectural structure of buildings reflect the successes but also the size as this could symbolise the ideals of success.

As well as this, the enrichment of multiple cultures within society and the outcome of this as seen in the image above correlates with Cullen's view that the American Dream has changed from its original definition and to one more so of that 'businessman cite achieving it as the ultimate goal of their enterprises'. The daring ideals of the American Dream outlined since the Declaration of Independence was formed is argued by Cullen as if America is 'a nation that has recreated' multiple times due to various individuals seeking their own personalised American Dream. 

Sources: 

Adams, J.T, The Epic of America, (Routledge, 1931) Ch.8

Cullen, J., The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation, (Oxford, University Press, 2003), 3-10.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/det.4a05885/ , 'Charleston, S.C., general view from St. Michael's Church', c.1900,  Library of Congress.

*Sorry that I uploaded this post late, I struggled to upload the image correctly.*

Small group meeting today is cancelled

I must apologise but I am afraid I will need to cancel our small group meeting today as I am off sick.  Do please make your posts.  I will read them and offer comments and we will pick up on discussion points in our meeting next week.

A Narrative of the Life of Rev. Noah Davis

Reverend Noah Davis was born in 1804 in Virginia to a family of slaves. His father, John Davis, was head miller and was well respected. They belonged to a Mr. Robert Patten, a wealthy merchant.

Noah talks about how his parents were “pious members of a Baptist Church, and from their godly example, I formed a determination, before I had reached my twelfth year, that if I was spared to become a man, I would try to be as good as my parents.” This is Noah’s own idea of his American dream, what he aspires to accomplish, given the opportunity. It’s particularly interesting because Noah is a black slave, and it would be highly unlikely that he would get the opportunity to be a free man. Yet he keeps this dream of liberty (a common aspiration) and success in his head and gives himself hope. Cullen emphasises the importance of this kind of hope when he notes that “simply having a dream has sustained, even saved, lives that otherwise might not be deemed worth living.”

John Davis effectively achieved the typical dream of living off his own land and gaining liberty, as when the owner sold the mill, he gave Noah’s parents their freedom and allowed them to maintain themselves by cultivating as much land on the farm as they needed to live. We can relate this success to Adams’ statement that regardless of what happens, Americans “still have fever in our blood”, he never gave up his dream of providing for his family.

Cullen writes how “there are many American Dreams, their appeal simultaneously resting on their variety and their specificity.” This is prevalent in Noah’s account of how his children were sold into slavery and he made it his mission to get them back. This is a very different dream to the typical landowning dream, yet it is still along the lines of the dream of liberty, just for others. 

Welcome to Denise's Blog group

Welcome to my blog group.  Our first meeting will be on Monday 23 January at 1 pm in my office, TAB 206.  Please see module handbook for blog task.