Oral Traditions During The Colonial Period

The immigrants that settled the colonies of Chesapeake Bay and New England came to the New World for two different reasons. These differences were noticeable in social structure, economic outlook, and religious background. As the colonies were organized the differences were becoming more and more obvious and affected the way the communities prospered. These differences are evident from both written documents from the colonists and the historical knowledge of this particular period in time.

First Generations: Women in Colonial America delivers a broad analysis over American women in the colonial period. It is evident that married women in colonial America were not considered equal to their husbands or to society in general. The rights of American women have come a long way in regards to civil rights. The control a woman in early Colonial America had over her own life was linked to race, religion, and class. Berkin organizes the first chapters according to race and region. Other chapters are organized by African American women, New England, and the middle colonies, Native American Women, and white women in the Chesapeake. Within each chapter, Berkin gives details about one woman from the region. European, Indian, and African women of seventeenth and eighteenth-century America were protectors of their native land, pioneers on the frontier, like-minded immigrants, and courageous slaves. They were also, as most scholars tend to leave out, just as important as men in shaping American culture and history.

Colonial America was a time of great change and discovery. The era was a time of conflict between people’s secular desires as innovation boomed and their spiritual growth as they discovered more about God and explored new religious ideas. In his essay, Worlds of Wonder in the Northern Colonies, David D. Hall accurately argues that despite the secular advances of the Colonial Era, religion was undoubtedly the most prevalent area of Americans’ focus because the power of God was being manifested into their lives in so many irrefutable ways.

Although the Chesapeake and New England colonies were the earliest English colonies to flourish in the New World, they were both extremely different in the ways that they developed. Similarities between the colonies can be found, but the colonies were mostly different. The colonies differed most in religion, society, culture, economy, and their relationships with the American Indians of the region. The reasons for such differences can be understood by realizing that the colonies were settled by incredibly different people who possessed different cultures, religious beliefs, and motivations for settling in their respective colonies in the first place. The Chesapeake and New England colonies had similarities and differences in their development, including how each colony affected nearby American Indians. Their differences and similarities can be understood by analyzing each colony’s geography, economy, religions, and cultures.

My First Buffalo, by Luther Standing Bear, may be one of the more terse stories in the anthology, Native American Autobiography, but it by no means lacks wisdom. When reading the captivating story, I was struck by the amount of life lessons that could be pulled out of one single experience in Luther Standing Bear's childhood. On the surface, My Buffalo seems to be a simple coming of age story, however once properly analyzed, you can find a story that teaches you to listen and respect those wiser than yourself, to honor the art of hunting and to only speak the truth.

The author John Smith, a pilgrim who arrived to the Americas, wrote a description of the new land in his book “ A Description of New England ”. In this book Smith shows a wonderful world of vast food and pleasure. Also, William Bradford another pilgrim who arrived to Plymouth on the coast of Massachusetts, wrote a book called “ Of Plymouth Plantation ” in which he describes what really happened, how the pilgrims actually lived. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast both authors and their books. John Smith wrote about the wonderful place the New World was, on the other hand, William Bradford wrote about the realities and difficulties of the New World.

“Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.-Native American proverb” This is a Native American proverb that shows how important storytelling and stories are to the Native Americans and their culture. Storytelling was a big way of teaching their lifestyle to their younger generation. Storytelling is very important to the Native American culture because it helps explain their way of life, faith, and helps teach life lessons to the younger generation.

Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions. Since early times women have been uniquely viewed as a creative source of human life. Historically, however, they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also a major source of temptation and evil. Colonial women faced the harsh realities of childbirth, housework, and serving their husbands because it was tradition. The ways of the ‘old country’ culture was forced upon a new one, disallowing any room for new ideals. Although constrained by society Colonial women have had their part in shaping America.

Within the New World, individuals such as William Bradford, a separatist religious leader as well as governor of Plymouth (131), and Thomas Morton, a lawyer and social reformer, were both very significant men within our history books. The story of Merry Mount/Ma-re Mount is shown from two different perspectives which offers the readers an awareness and understanding of the way religion and government influenced the lives of those who dwelled in Plymouth Massachusetts, and Ma-re Mount. Thomas Morton and William Bradford are somewhat like Tom and Jerry for the reason that they dislike one another and have different accounts of Ma-re Mount/Merry Mount and that they tend to dispute with one another often when it comes to religion. Bradford’s writing tells the story of Merry Mount in a narrative and formal way whereas Morton’s writing is unlike any writing during his time, it’s humorous and also told from a non-Puritans perspective. Although Bradford claims Morton to be an anarchic drunk there are many reasons to say that he was in fact a comedic hero.

While the Chesapeake and New England colonies were similarly the earliest successful English colonies in North America, the colonies developed quite independently of each other. When looking at the differences and similarities in the development of these colonies, it seems as though the differences far outweigh the similarities. These colonies varied in regards to their religious beliefs, their societal organization, culture, economy, and relationships with local American Indians. The differences and similarities between the colonies can be further understood by analyzing the individual colonies’ geography, economy, religious beliefs, and cultural practices.

McGovern, A. (1992). If You Lived In Colonial Times (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Scholastic.

Traditions and old teachings are essential to Native American culture; however growing up in the modern west creates a distance and ignorance about one’s identity. In the beginning, the narrator is in the hospital while as his father lies on his death bed, when he than encounters fellow Native Americans. One of these men talks about an elderly Indian Scholar who paradoxically discussed identity, “She had taken nostalgia as her false idol-her thin blanket-and it was murdering her” (6). The nostalgia represents the old Native American ways. The woman can’t seem to let go of the past, which in turn creates confusion for the man to why she can’t let it go because she was lecturing “…separate indigenous literary identity which was ironic considering that she was speaking English in a room full of white professors”(6). The man’s ignorance with the elderly woman’s message creates a further cultural identity struggle. Once more in the hospital, the narrator talks to another Native American man who similarly feels a divide with his culture. “The Indian world is filled with charlatan, men and women who pretend…”

The first selection is a court proceeding from 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts which accounts a slave woman name Tituba giving testimony on charges against her. The second selection is a poem by Anne Bradstreet, a puritan woman who lives in New England in the mid 1600’s. The poem that Anne writes about is her children leaving the nest. The final selection is a letter by Richard Frethorne an indentured servant, who lived in Martin's hundred settlement in Virginia. Richard wrote a letter to his parents in England describing his experience in the new world in 1623. These selections give us an accurate depiction of life in 17th North America.

Chapter Ten: An Aspiring Society covers the social and religious reordering that occurred in the 1700’s in the colonies. The norms about the consumption of alcohol were challenged, there was a leap in time and challenges to established religion swept the colonies during the Great Awakening.

In discussing the English colonization of the Chesapeake, many people often adhere to Anglocentric and male-dominated perspectives. In adhering to such perspectives, one fails to consider the significant role of women, family units, Native Americans, and imperial politics in colonization. Although males had their own significant role, the development of the early English colonies involved a complex interplay of many different historical actors. The readings for this week force one to consider these other historical actors and the context of English colonization. Collectively, these readings and documents propagate a reassessment of the English colonies in Virginia and Maryland.