Masculinity In The Deep South Summary

The Mississippian Indians lived settled lives as they were organized into chiefdoms, which were a form of a political organization united under a leader and organized by families or differing social rank and class. Social ranking and class served as a fundamental part of their structure as people belonged to one of two groups, the elites or commoners. Many families laid under commoners, where men and women played specific roles in the social organization. The Mississippian indian women were “horticulturalists” who grew much of their food in small gardens and cultivated agricultural plants such as corns, beans, squash, sunflowers, and sumpweed. Traditionally, women would raise these crops and prepare food for daily meals. They would also maintain

During the Jacksonian Era, there was an increase in demand for slaves because of the newly invented cotton gin. Because of African Americans’ skin color, they were treated as the lowest class in society. Philip Hone, a New Yorker, describes, “Hostility to the blacks and an indiscriminate persecution of all whose skins were darker than those of their enlightened fellow citizens” (E). Majority of the Whites resented Blacks and saw them as mere tools. Because of this immoral view, the African Americans could not vote and express their thoughts freely until much later. A British author, Harriet Martineau, describes the United States as a country where “every man in towns an independent citizen; every man in the country a landowner” (D). She would be correct if she meant every white man. Under Jackson’s rule, the property requirements and tax paying requirements for voting were lowered, so more white males could vote. Jackson increased white male suffrage and advocated equality for all white males. From a Jacksonian perspective, Jackson promoted political democracy and supported the Constitution. But in reality, Jackson left the women, the African Americans, and the Native Americans in the dust. The Jacksonians did not see them as their equal. Although Jackson and his party increased white male suffrage, he ignored everyone else’s political rights; therefore,

The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South takes a profound look into slavery in America from the beginning. The author, Kenneth Stampp, tells the story after doing a lot of research of how the entire South operated with slavery and in the individual states. The author uses many examples from actual plantations and uses a lot of statistics to tell the story of the south. The author’s examples in his work explains what slavery was like, why it existed and what it done to the American people.

During the Reconstruction era, the idea of freedom could have many different meanings. Everyday factors that we don't often think about today such as the color of our skin, where we were born, and whether or not we own land determined what limitations were placed on the ability to live our life to the fullest. To dig deeper into what freedom meant for different individuals during this time period, I analyzed three primary sources written by those who experienced this first hand. These included “Excerpts from The Black Codes of Mississippi” (1865), “Jourdan Anderson to his old master” (1865), and “Testimony on the Ku Klux Klan in Congressional Hearing” (1872). The ability to have absolute freedom is a common theme in these three documents. Freedom means more than just having the independence to make your own decisions and pursuing your own happiness. The hopes of Reconstruction were to create

The story “The View from the Bottom Rail” is set at the time of the ending of the Civil War when slaves about to be freed from their masters. Knowing that the Union soldiers were close, the slave master would paint the soldier as “long horns on their head, and tushes (pointed teeth) in their mouths, and eyes sticking out like a cow!” (Davidson & Lytle, p. 177). Obliviously, this wasn’t true. With freedom coming, some slaves were still loyal to their masters. Yet, the slave masters still consider slaves to be the bottom rail of society. The bottom rail was considered the “lowest level of America’s social and economic scale” (Davidson & Lytle, p. 179). The slaves were portrayed to be dumb or stupid because state governments discouraged slaves

In Robert Jensen’s article “The High Cost of Manliness”, he states that the idea of masculinity is a bad thing and they should get rid of it. This article debates on the common stereotypes of men, as he states:

Literature is often credited with the ability to enhance one’s understanding of history by providing a view of a former conflict. In doing so, the reader is able to gain both an emotional and logistical understanding of a historically significant event. Additionally, literature provides context that can help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the political climate of a time period. Within the text of The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead’s, the use of literary elements such as imagery, metaphor, and paradox amplifies the reader’s understanding of early 19th century slavery and its role in the South of the United States of America. Throughout the novel, Whitehead utilizes a girl named Cora to navigate the political and personal consequences of escaping slavery, the Underground Railroad, and her transition

Since the beginning of American history, conflicts have arose between the North and the South between the varied people that inhabited the land. Clashing viewpoints were common between people and the military, large and small states, and between free and slave states during the civil war. The Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865, it was fought within the United States and was the North versus the South. The cause was rooted on the discussion of slavery, but also on sectionalism between the North and South. Sectionalism can be defined as when a group restricts their interests to a narrow sphere without concern for the general well-being of other groups. Such as the North South relationship. Although some believe slavery to be the major cause

In “The Pastoralization of Housework” by Jeanne Boydston, Boydston explores the effect of the romanization of housework. The pastoralization of housework that occurred during the Antebellum period was the result of the development of early industrialization. In order to have something remain constant in the changing times the formation of two separate gender spheres allowed a routine to an ever changing society. A result of these two spheres was the pastoralization of domestic labor in the early 1800s that made labor ‘invisible’ and began to discredit the women’s work at home, but also raised them to a higher pedestal in the family dynamic. By embracing the idea of True Motherhood women were able to flourish by the naturalization of the social

Using telling details, Douglass describes the dehumanizing effects of the slave system which condones the treatment of human beings as property. For example, when one landowner would pass his belongings to another, “men

The primarily focus of this paper is to address the studies of the African-American views, conflict, and treatments from the Southern states following The Civil War. Documents include “Black Codes of the State of Mississippi” and the “Address of the Colored Convention to the People of Alabama”. These documents provide shaped rules, laws, and statutes for black society among whites. Between the years of, 1865 and 1867, both Alabama and Mississippi took action and state their thoughts towards the end of slavery in the United States.

The impact of slavery on the Old South is a difficult measure to establish because slavery was the Old South. While the popular adage was “Cotton is King,” it was simply a microcosm of the delusion of the day. Truly, slavery was king. Slavery was the growing tension of the time, political catalyst and ironically crux of American power. To the masses, slavery was a social defining stance; the “peculiar institution” to some and a defining moral line to others, American life was changed depending on what view you took of slavery. No matter your stance at the time, one thing became clear: socially, politically and economically, slavery was the fabric of American success and gave birth to the Old South as we know it today.

United States Navy. This is an excellent work in an area where little research has

With the rise of civilization also came the rise of patriarchy-based societies and the slow decline of the importance of women in society. For the longest time the history of the world has been written by men who have been the head of the patriarchy and have forgotten the role of women in history. It is important to realize that women do in fact have a place at the table with men when it comes to importance in history, and are not just the ones cooking and serving the meal. It is women who tasked with raising the next generation. By looking at women of the past, people of the future can learn and evolve to fight oppression and gain their own power. Come up with a good thesis that doesn’t suck.

The respectful timidness of the American South portrayed in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” shows the demeanor towards higher members in society. People avoid the slightest possibility of insulting members of a higher social class. Even when these members are under mental distress they are afraid. Their status voids them of their civilian duties if they choose to. They can completely ignore the law and others will have to make up for it. These members themselves are not even allowed to under mind their respective social classes.