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Justin Murphy
HIST 201: American Renaissance
If that title looks familiar to you, it should. In my midterm paper, I
wrote how American Renaissance teaches American history to its readers. In this
paper, I make the argument that American Renaissance does more than just teach
us American history, it teaches us the stories of those marginalized groups of
people in history. American Renaissance writings include those from major
historical figures whose voices fall into this marginalized category,
specifically slaves, women, and Hispanic-Americans. Therefore, American
Renaissance develops our ideas of history.
Many would agree that the most prominent slave narrative author is
Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass wrote his own personal story about what
life was like as a slave, and how he was able to handle the lifestyle. His book
A Narrative of the Life details all
of these things. However, in part two of his book, he details a meeting that he
had with Abraham Lincoln, one which goes to further the ideas that American
citizens have of “honest Abe”. Frederick Douglass states that he “was never more
quickly or more completely put at ease in the presence of a great man than in
that of Abraham Lincoln” [3]. As Douglass puts it, Abe Lincoln was a great man,
one who cared deeply and listened deeply to the things that Frederick Douglass
had to say. What this piece of literature does is it shows us that this meeting
actually occurred, and gives us a “fly on the wall” view into a conversation
between two of the greatest historical figures to ever live. It also shows us
that Douglass advocated for the rights of African-American soldiers, because
nobody else was going to. This piece of literature shapes our view of history in
that we now have a first-hand account of the politics that occurred during the
civil war. It also makes us question why this piece of history isn’t discussed
when talking about the history of the civil war.
Another part of history that American Renaissance helps to develop, in
terms of the slave narrative, is it humanizes the slaves. This is done in what
could be considered to be the beginning of the end for slavery:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Harriet Beecher
Stowe may not have been a slave herself, but she did identify as an
abolitionist. Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in order to show citizens the
horrors of slavery. Even though it is a fictional novel, she humanized the
slaves (the fact that they needed to be humanized in the first place is
appalling, but that’s a story for another paper) to a manor where people
understood just how bad slavery was. For example, Stowe depicts a scene where
Mr. Shelby has a trader over, and Eliza (Mr. Shelby’s slave) walks in with her
child. The trader asks if the child is for sale. Mr. Shelby responds by saying
he is a “humane man, and [he would] hate to take the boy from his mother”
[1.41]. When Stowe writes this, she is putting every parent in the shoes of
Eliza. Unbeknownst to Eliza, her child could’ve been taken away from her. The
horror of this strikes every parent in their heart strings. This is only one
depiction from the novel that shows what slaves endured, and these depictions
encouraged northern white folk to fight for a change.
American Renaissance also develops our ideas of the history of women.
Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman” is heavily influenced by Renaissance
ideals and tools, and it depicts Truth’s struggles as a black woman. Americans
know about the struggles that women faced in the 1850’s, however we don’t
necessarily think about the African-American women during this time frame.
African-American women faced a double jeopardy: this means that they were
marginalized because they were women, but also marginalized because they were
black. Truth shows this through her speech. She states “ Nobody ever helps me
into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a
woman” [2]. Truth shows that even in the basic chivalrous acts, she isn’t
treated like a woman because of the color of her skin. This piece of American
Renaissance literature further develops our ideas about marginalization during
this time period. Without Truth’s speech, we may never have gotten an idea of
what it was like to be an African-American woman during the 1850’s.
One of the most widely-underrepresented groups in American history are
Hispanic-Americans. They are widely-underrepresented when it comes to teaching
history, when it comes to media, and in many other instances as well. However,
American Renaissance brings us the
Memoirs of John N. Seguin, which develops our ideas of the Mexican-American
War. During this war, Seguin reveals to us that he was outed as a traitor. His
“enemies” claimed that he was in support of Mexico rather than in support of
Texas. This led to him being outcast from his political role in Texas. Seguin
states that his “enemies had accomplished their object; they had killed me
politically in Texas” [23]. Seguin claims that because he was a Mexican, the
people in San Antonio envied him, and didn’t believe he should be in a position
of power. This sheds new light on the Mexican-American War. Perhaps, as Seguin
suggests, the Mexican-American War brought forth more marginalization towards
Hispanic-Americans. We may never know; however, the literature develops these
ideas in our minds.
American Renaissance helps us develop and extend our knowledge of
history, especially when it comes to marginalized groups of people. This
extension of our knowledge must be shared with those around us. If it is not,
then we are falling into the same cycle of marginalizing these people. By
teaching these pieces of literature, we are giving those around us a first-hand
look into the life of a marginalized person in American History.
