A Disaster of a Day

This blog post represents how one might have spent their day in London during the 17th century.

My dear  friend Marianne,
       What an awful day I have had! I can't even begin to express my bad luck that I have had this Wednesday. First, I skipped breakfast as usual and was out and about early so I could go see an execution. I was so exited that I ran out the door and didnt realize I was stepping right into a pile of animal waste! I could not walk around smelling so foul! I changed me shoes and when I looked in the mirror one last time before I was out the door again, I realized that my face was conpletely broken out in a horrid red rash! My ceruse caused it so I had to wash it all off of my face. I looked like a tomato but I still went out because I couldn't miss the execution. So then I went to the execution and thats a whole other story. I wasfront row excited to see the execution of Richard Sherling. The chopped off his head and blood splattered all over my tight corsett. I had to go home an change! I decided to take a little boat ride with my husband down the river and of course that didn't go as planned either. It was hot out so I decided to put my hand in the water off the side of the boat. I didn't expect to be bitten be a fish! It hurt so bad I wanted to cry. Then, I was off to the hospital for blood letting. I felt as if I might have been disease by the fish so I wanted to get that blood from my finger out. Turns out i'm not really good with blood and I passed out right onto the floor! Whn I awoke my husband had his friends wife prepare me some boiled mutton and lobster with wine that I gobbled up. The food was delicious and the only good part of my day. Well anyways I just needed to tell someone about this disaster of a day! How are you doing on the other hand? How are the kids?

Your friend,
Julia

A Pilgrim Talk

This past week I have read chapters 5 and 6 of the book Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. I was reading this along with my other classmates so that when we all finished, we could have a literature circle discussion which would help us better understand the Pilgrims and their life when they came to America. There were four people in each group that were assigned different roles to look for and comment on different parts of the text. At the end, we woul discuss our roles and further discuss anything else form the chapters. The main idea or kepy topics that were in these two chapters were the struggles of the Pilgrims setting up at Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrim's relationship with the Native Americans. Chapter 5 starts out by mentioning many deaths of the settlers and the struggle of building houses and getting things done quickly with all of the diseases spreading. Then, the book turns and they meet the Wampanoags and it describes how they came to make peace with eachother and how they were helped by the Natives. I liked this book for learning puposes. I don't think I would go off and read this on my own but it was an easy to understand book that helped me learn more about the Pilgrims for class. I would reccomend this book to others wanting to learn about the Pilgrims coming to Plymouth Rock and people that just like to read about history. I wouldn't reccomend this book if someone is just looking for a good book to read. I found these two chapters to be very detailed and easy to understand. I owuld rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars just because it was good for the purpose of using it in class, but I wouldn't read it for enjoyment.

Big Map: 13 British Colonies and their Economic Activities

My Group in history class created this map that depicts the 13 Britsh colonies and their economics activities. Below is also a paragraph of observations and inferences from the map.

 

               In the 13 colonies, there were varying economic activities dependent on the region. Shipbuilding and fishing were the most popular in the northeastern coast of the colonies. This is due to the fact that fishing was the easiest way to acquire food, and ships were needed to access deeper waters for fishing. Livestock can be seen all throughout the colonies, particularly in the areas that had no easy access to major bodies of water. This provides the evidence that livestock was the only form of food in these areas, for those who have no easy access to the sea or trade routes. Rice and indigo were exclusive to the southeastern coast of the colonies. These two products required a hot and humid climate to grow successfully, in which this area provided. Furs were exclusive to the most northern parts of the colonies. This area was generally cold, harboring a surplus of animals with furs in order to survive. These products were some of the major economic activities that were present during the time of the 13 British Colonies.

Step Up and Help!

Watch and listen to this public service announcement as well as the others created by my class at www.endingmoderndayslaveryatrmhs.wikispaces.com 
My groups PSA is "Ways to End Modern Day Slavery


Modern day slavery or other wise known as human trafficking is a horrific practice thats is unfortunatly all over the world today and affecting millions of people. This PSA was made by my group and I to give people like you an idea of what can be done to help end modern day slavery. It is possible to end this within our lifetime, but sadly not everyone knows that this is taking place. I had no idea or atleast I didn't think it was as bad and as widely spread as it was until I began to research the topic in my class. Learning about the experiences from other slaves and just the facts themselves made me feel extremely bad for the people that are forced into such a harsh and violent life. But, if people from all over like you and me step up and let people know that this can be ended and how they can help to end it, well then it might just end in our own lifetime and that is what this PSA was created for.

A Story form the Slave Ships

Sarah

Summary- Sarah was on the Liverpool slave ship the Hudibras in 1785. She caught everyone’s attention on the ship as for she had beauty and grace as well as charisma. She showed off her dance skills on the ship when she could and was selected as one of Captain Jenkin Evan’s “favorites” as well as one other young woman.  She was named Sarah by Captain Evans which is a biblical name relating to a princess and beautiful wife of Abraham. The enslave men on the ship all of the sudden started a revolt to take over the vessel and they later found out that Sarah and her mother were involved in it. They did not participate in the actual revolt but still knew about it and Sarah possibly helped plan it or help free the men from the chains with her advantages of being a favorite. She was punished but survived and was sold.

There is clear evidence of resistance from the enslaved men in this story. They try to kill or capture the ship’s crew and take over the vessel to try and get free. Also resistance is shown from Sarah because she knew about this and could have even helped plan it.They all of the sudden erupted and made their best attempt to resist enslavement. However, they were defeated and punished. The excerpt describes it as a bloody scene which makes it clear that they fought very hard.

I learned some new things from this reading. I did not previously know that the enslaved men and women could dance to African musicians on the ship for exercise. That must have been a little enjoyable for them to move around with each other. I thought they left the enslaved people chained and lying down all day. Also, I learned that Captains could pick favorites like Captain Evans had done with Sarah and treat them a little better than anyone else