Chapter 9 The Market Revolution 51. Complaint of a Lowell Factory Worker 1. The female factory worker compared her conditions with those of slaves because she felt like they were being treated like slaves by not being allowed to speak for themselves. She felt that they were awed into silence by wealth and power and was under tyranny and cruel oppression 2. She doubt the sincerity of the Christian beliefs of the factory owners because they talk benevolence in the parlor, compel their help to labor for a mean and paltry pittance in the kitchen. They manifest great concern for souls of the heathen in distant lands and care for nobody else besides their own. 52. Immigrants Arriving in New York City 1. The tone the …show more content…
A man will find in himself a perfect comprehension. The world is his for who can see through its pretension. 55. Henry David Thoreau, Walden 1. What Thoreau’s means in his statement is that from the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. What he thinks is the cause is the country that is in desperation. 2. What Thoreau means when he writes “We do not ride on the railroad it rides upon us” is that the work from building a railroad is dependent on people. People have to do hard labor to build the railroad for people who want it; if people didn’t want a railroad there wouldn’t be a need for labor. 56. Charles G. Finney, “Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts” 1. Finney means by “change of heart” is to prefer a different end. It is to prefer supremely the glory of God and the public good, to the promotion of his own interest. 2. The fact that that he is preaching in an era of mass political democracy affects Finney’s language is that he will be judged even more. During at time where religious freedom was not present and democracy was dependent only on elected officials. Chapter 10 Democracy in America 57. The Monroe Doctrine 1. Monroe thinks that the “systems” of Europe and the Western Hemisphere are fundamentally different because the Western Hemisphere was no longer open to European
Thoreau implies that if one is to live happily they must let go of all their obligations and responsibilities in favor of a simple life. For the most part, his suggestions are for one’s own happiness instead of others’ happiness. He does not take into account if the “accounts” that people have are for others instead of themselves. Thoreau assumes that everyone is living a life where they have no dependents and all the obligations they have taken upon themselves are for their own
The Monroe Doctrine expressed the idea that new countries should be allowed to develop without interference from any stronger nations. The Monroe Doctrine is a doctrine that European nations should not interfere with American nations or try to acquire more territory in the Western Hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine was derived from President James Monroe's message in Congress on December 2, 1823 and became a part of the United States foreign policy. Earlier in the Unit they asked me to give the 4 key points made in the Monroe Doctrine. And these are the points President James Monroe made. One that America never took apart of the European power struggles, neither did it agree with the policy they had to do so. Two they had not interfered with the other European colonization. Three that the American continents had not nor would they interfere with the other European power. Four, finally they would consider any attempt by any European power dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States of America.
In his address, Washington states, “The Great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign Nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible.” Washington is advising to avoid political relations with foreign nations. He warns not to accept foreign influence of any nation. Washington wants to preserve the free self-government that began under him. The procedures addressed in the Monroe Doctrine are consistent with Washington’s advice. Monroe wants to avoid relations with foreign countries, just as Washington did. He declares that the United States should not get involved in the internal government of any other nation. This is parallel to what Washington suggested in his address. Both leaders wanted to focus mainly on the United States and avoid excessive interaction with other nations. Monroe’s manner is consistent with Washington’s from thirty years prior.
However, if they were to be complacent and stay home, there would be no need to build railroads or expand industry. These different views reflect the contradiction in society and in an individual’s mind. People think that they always have to be moving and building and instituting some new technology that will somehow make us great and earn a spot in heaven. However, people end up hurting themselves with this mindset because they are selling themselves short of the full potential of life, which, according to Thoreau, is to live fully and deliberately. Thoreau is exposing that humans strive for superficial success through their complicated and expeditive routines of their everyday lives, but true success comes by improving one’s own life. Later in the metaphor, Thoreau uses the train to point out oppression and manipulation done by society. He states, “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us. Did you ever think what those sleepers are that underlie the
She emphasizes that the life of a slave woman is incomparable to the life of a slave man, in the sense that a woman’s sufferings are not only physical but also extremely mental and emotional. Whether or not a slave woman is beaten, starved to death, or made to work in unbearable circumstances on the fields, she suffers from and endures horrible mental torments. Unlike slave men, these women have to deal with sexual harassment from white men, most often their slave owners, as well as the loss of their children in some cases. Men often dwell on their sufferings of bodily pain and physical endurance as slaves, where as women not only deal with that but also the mental and emotional aspect of it. Men claim that their manhood and masculinity are stripped from them, but women deal with their loss of dignity and morality. Females deal with the emotional agony as mothers who lose their children or have to watch them get beaten, as well as being sexually victimized by white men who may or may not be the father of their children. For these women, their experiences seem unimaginable and are just as difficult as any physical punishment, if not more so.
Thoreau seems to be a very educated political thinker. He can be very stubborn but humble when it comes to his beliefs, “I have contemplated the imprisonment of the offender, rather than the seizure of his goods -- though both will serve the same purpose -- because they who assert the purest right, and consequently are most dangerous to a corrupt state… ”(Thoreau 24. 218). Thoreau has lived in the woods for over six years, without paying state taxes. When the police officer asked him to pay, the non-violently compiled and spent a day in jail. Thoreau did not want to fund the American Mexican war through taxes and believed that people shouldn't be forced to do what they don't think is right. He is also a very optimistic person and believes that the people themselves should be good people, live good lives and therefore we wouldn't need as many laws, “when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.” (1. 210). Thoreau believes that the government is doing the best when doing the least, “I heartily accept the motto, -- “That government is best which governs least” …” (1. 210). Although Thoreau might have an unpopular opinion, he sticks with his beliefs throughout this essay. As he presents his opinion, he does it in the most classy yet confident arguments. He had the thought of the people in mind while writing, showing his good intentions of improving our government.
In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.
Also in from Where I Lived and What I Lived For one can find how Thoreau shows his appreciation for the wisdom of the past and a dislike for progress. In his last couple phrases he describes the railroads, which can be seen as a symbol for technology or advancement, these he talks about with great antipathy as he implies that no outward improvement will bring the inner peace and contentment that men seek. He suggests that the freedom that railroads are thought to represent truly bring about a type of servitude in the respect that one must conform to the train’s schedules and routes. In conclusion he states, “We do not ride the railroad, it rides upon us.”
Finney believed that revivals were human creations. Finney believed that sin was voluntary and people can live perfectly.
Thoreau is basically rallying for the absence of government in the lives of the citizens. He believed that everyone should govern himself. He also believed that no one should have to ride on the shoulders of the government, but instead rely on himself. He thought people should treat other people the way they wanted to be treated, and follow the natural laws of society. Martin Luther King Jr. believed there should be laws or it would be total anarchy. Thoreau believed that without the
This onslaught of capitalism directly revolutionized modern industrialism as well as the industrial city. Machines morphed the predominately agricultural nation to a herd of factory and corporate workers. Swarms of people, both native and immigrant, flocked to major cities. “The present century has been marked by a prodigious increase in wealth-producing power. The utilization of steam and electricity, the introduction of improved processes and labor saving machinery, the greater subdivision and grander scale of production, the wonderful facilitation of exchanges, have multiplied enormously the effectiveness of labor.”(George, p.20) The major problem with this newfound industrialism was the way in which the workforce was treated. Capitalism was supposed to provide a way out, a way ascend the financial and social staircase, if you worked hard enough. This however was not the case, if you were a loyal, hardworking employee you simply got to keep your job, and if you were in any way injured or incompetent you were fired.
Thoreau’s essay represents his beliefs about the government in 1849. He uses several logos with credible examples, and uses the emotions of the audience to support his argument. The first example of logos he uses is when he says, “The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government.” His claim is that it is unconstitutional to have an army standing or ready when everything is peaceful. The government should act under this same rule; if there is peace then the government should not be standing so to speak. Throughout the essay he continues to provide credible examples of why the government abuses its power and is useless; such as when he says “Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its
Industriousness was heralded as a strong and virtuous quality in a man. 'Idle hands do the Devil's work' was a favorite saying of the hard working people at the time. Yet Thoreau saw this logic as flawed and actually an abomination of society. He stressed that one could be ascetic without being lazy. Reasonable necessity, not fashion, was the most important to Thoreau. Understanding the difference between what we want done and what must be done is a tremendous first step in Thoreau's mind. And this confronting our own
To begin, the main points of Thoreau’s essay must be analysed. Thoreau began by advocating a life that is simple and slow. This is summarized by the phrase from his book, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand.” A philosophy such as this may be appealing, especially when one is overwhelmed by the problems presented by society. However, maintaining this simplicity in a community context requires ignorance of the needs and wants of other people. Many of society’s complicated demands, such as tax payment and jury duty, are necessary for the betterment of other citizen’s lives. In his essay, Thoreau dismissed the importance of community problems by claiming that they were a complete illusion, adding, “Men say that a stitch in time saves nine, and so they take a thousands stitches today to save nine tomorrow. As for work, we haven’t any of any
Thoreau believed that we should fight against injustice through non-violence, instead of being neither acquiescent nor using physical violence. “Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine.” This meant that we should stop the government and corporations that had no conscience. He deemed that