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The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll Analysis

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The song “The lonesome death of Hattie Carroll” by Bob Dylan portrays the racist values displayed by Maryland’s state's inhabitants, dating back to slavery before 1860 and even in today's modern society.
Maryland experienced conflicting views on racism throughout its history. Maryland was the seventh state to be added to the original union of only thirteen states, on April 28th, 1788. As the union grew, many of its settlers recognized that selling tobacco to Europe was a good source of income. Tobacco farmers at first tried to work with servant's from Europe, but in the end, they became reliant on native Americans and African slaves. Since African slaves were viewed as different and below the white farmers, they believed that they had a right to exploit them. Slavery was abolished …show more content…

The song can be described as dark and gloomy. This is because it talks about the murder of a black woman by the name of Hattie Carroll, and the killer being a white male by the name of William ZanZinger. The values expressed in this song varies throughout, though the value prevalent throughout the whole entire song is justice. The lyrics describe Hattie as a simple black woman who was never in power, and William as a wealthy white man who killed Hattie for no reason at all. The lyrics “And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence” (The lonesome death of poor Hattie Carroll). Show that despite his crime since he is a rich, white man he is given a lighter sentence. This confirms the fact that Maryland is a state that is still rooted in racism and the preference towards rich and powerful people.
The state of Maryland is one that has deep roots in racism. With research and the song
“The Lonesome death of Hattie Carroll”, it is shown that the state still has some racist undertones which represent the state's

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