Chains By Laurie Halse Anderson: An Analysis

The American Revolution resonated with all classes of society, as it stood to divide a nation’s loyalties and recreate the existing fabric of society. During the 1770s to mid 1780s, no group living in the British American colonies was left unaffected. For blacks enslaved in America, the war presented the fleeting possibility of freedom in a nation that was still dependent on an economic structure of oppression and bondage. For those blacks that were free, they chose their alliances wisely in hopes of gaining economic opportunities and improving their status in the American colonies. The American Negroes, whether free or enslaved, could be found on either side of the battlefront. They took on many different roles, some fighting on the

Is choosing the wrong path to find the real you a bad thing? In a story generally the

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical fiction novel Chains, Anderson uses fictional characters to describe real life situations that some may have faced during the Revolutionary War. All these characters in the story are fighting for the same thing, freedom. The definition of freedom, however, varies for multiple characters in the story. Curzon, an African-American slave who sides with the rebels, is fighting with “my master and those he serves, the rebels, the Congress. We’re fighting for freedom from people like Lockton [a loyalist].” (p. 39) The main character of the story Isabel meets another African-American slave at a well who was taught that “if the British win, we’ll all be free.” (p. 165) For the other races

Freedom and Liberty are explained in many ways and in “Chains” by Laurie Halse Anderson it is explained in the American Revolution by different types of people like Patriots, the rebels that are fighting against the king to become independent, the Loyalists that want to stay with the king of Great Britain, and the slaves. The slaves are working for both Patriots and Loyalists and they chose different sides but still have their own opinion like Isabel who is more on the Patriots side but still has here opinion on freedom. They all have their own interpretation of the words, “Freedom and Liberty” but they're all different. In the book Isabel is a slave with her sister Ruth, and is with a kind woman until she dies then she is sold to the

By supporting the Revolutionaries actions to break free from British Rule, Douglass alluded to the similar fight that the American population faced to attain the same liberty that white citizens had. With the same courage the Founding Fathers had to create a free country, the American generation of 1852 faced a similar test to uphold the values of the Declaration of Independence, and liberate American slaves.7 After applauding the Founding Fathers, Douglass acknowledges that the emphasis of his speech is not to give praise, but to call on America to act on it’s own failures and begin to faithfully fulfill the nations oath.8 He asks his audience, “Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us [African Americans]?”9 This rhetorical question Douglass presents, challenges America to reevaluate what they are truly celebrating on the Fourth of July, for it is surely not the freedom in which they claim to have achieved. Douglass asserts that asking black people to rejoice in the “shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery”10 and do not respect the courage, and steps the Founding Fathers took to create a free, liberated nation.11

The context of freedom was augmented among slaves versus slave owners, pro versus anti-slavery states (free-soil), the northern versus the southern regions of the U.S., and southern / northern democratic versus republican factions. Furthermore, slavery was attributed as

Edmund S. Morgan's book, American Slavery, American Freedom, is a book focused on the Virginian colonists and how their hatred for Indians, their lust for money, power, and freedom led to slavery. The Virginian society had formed into, as Morgan put it, a republican society towards the end of the 18th century. This society believed in a certain view of freedom and liberty that would define America, through the realization of how this republican freedom depended on its opposite, slavery. How had the Virginia, a society that originally never incorporated slaves into their workforce, become so dependent on them to the point that they feared them? This question and the republican belief of

We Patriots have a strong belief in colonial independence due to unnecessary, violent actions taken by the British government and taxation without representation. Many conflicts occurred between the British troops and Patriots declaring their freedom. For example, the Boston Massacre began as “two bullets struck Crispus Attucks, a large black man at the front of the crowd. He was the first to die, but not the last. The enraged crowd went home only after receiving a promise that the troops would be tried for murder” (TCI 70). The vulnerable colonists involved in this incident were victims of excessive force by the British. During the trial, the jury had ruled that 6 of the soldiers were not guilty but two others were only charged with manslaughter.

Durning chains time it was illegal for slaves to have freedom they didn’t have any rights. Slaves had to listen and obey their masters. In the book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson page 68 “ Make haste, girl,” she hissed. You didn’t start the fire. Why are you still abed?’’ “ Why are you dawdling so? She yelled. The floor in here is filthy, and the banister needs to be polished.” Isabel had to listen to what madam Locktons commands and follow her order. Slaves weren’t the only one that had to listen to rules even though you weren’t a slave you don’t have particular rights Pg 21 of Chains “ the table frozen. A person like Jenny did not speak to folks like the Locktons or Mr. Robert, not in that manner” even though you aren’t a slave. You had

The staple of societal thought, freedom, is the power to act, speak, or think as one wants without the concern of being oppressed (Webster). Freedom, is a unique element to the mixture of liberty across the United States. Martin Luther King Jr’s a “letter of Birmingham Jail,” and Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence both advocate the claim for freedom. Both of these historical figures make this apparent by arguing for the protest against tradition, a change across unjust laws, although they differ between the kinds of change to be enforced.

In the book, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character Isabel has lived in many different places throughout the book.She has lived in plantation, the Lockton’s home in New York, and the small farm that Miss Mary Finch owned before her death.City life for a slave was usually pretty good depending on your master. In the book Isabel unfortunately gets stuck Madam Lockton who treats her worse than a slave owner usually would. Slaves would usually go to the market many times a day to get their master anything they needed as often as they needed it. The work load for a city slave was usually the basic cleaning and cooking for the slave’s master. Small farms was in the middle of city life and plantation life. The work would often be tending

To begin, loyalists viewed freedom and liberty as radical. They believed a country not under British control would be detrimental to their way of life. One loyalist in the book Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is Mr. Lockton. He was an extremely wealthy person, with close relations to the British.

Freedom is a gift given to us at birth. When we are born we do not have to face judgment, or feel the hatred of the world. Actions and words are what determine the type of person we are, and the backfire from the world, during the American Revolution this was not the case, at least for people of color. In the novel Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, teenager Isabel is challenged by the pigmentation of her skin and the cruelty of the time period she lives in.

Chains is a book about black history during the revolutionary war and about how she positively influences people even when her most basic rights are violated. Chains is written by Laurie Halse Anderson it is 300 pages long. After she was illegally sold after she was freed in the will of her previous owner. Now it is her sister and her together when a boy named Curzon asked her to spy she spied because she wanted to get her sister out of slavery. Next after she was branded and whipped she woke up in Lady Seymour’s house where they became friends and she eventually saved Lady Seymour’s life from a fire. After she visits Curzon in jail she starts to bring them food and blankets whatever she can to keep them alive. When I see the elementary kids

The inspiration of Anderson writing Chains was in fact Benjamin Franklin. Ben Franklin was adored by Anderson and with the fact that he owned slaves had brought out wonder by her. Realizing that so many of the Founding Fathers owned slaves, she started to write a character that was in the American revolution. The character had an option between freedom or losing her sister. The article states, " Isabel must negotiate the daily chores of a slave, the challenges of a shifting political landscape, and the dangers of a battle zone." This meaning that Anderson had been greatly inspired and wanted to send a message that you shouldn't judge people by ethnicity, but by how much heart one has.