Voices and Visions

Voices and Visions

Art and Writing from the Middle School Spring 2018

Voices & Visions: Arts & Writing from the Middle School VOICES: Brennan Columbia-Walsh ‘22 Brodie Snyder ‘22 Callum Reddington ‘22 Christina Bonarti ‘22 Cinderella Hu ‘22 Connor Murphy ‘22 Dhruv Jetley ‘22 Emma Choy ‘24 Evie Maxwell ‘22 Grace Rendino ‘23 Hilal Tokat ‘24 Joseph Bejjani ‘22 Kaavya Krishnan ‘24 Katherine Lynch ‘23 Magdalena Beer ‘22 Margaret Demaria ‘24 Maggie Stanford ‘25 Matteo McClendon ‘22 Matthew Bonarti ‘24 Max Huang ‘24 Natalia Espinosa Dice ‘22 Noah Weinberg ‘22 Trrusha Jariwalla ‘22 Emma Burd ‘22

VISIONS: Katherine Lynch ‘23 Anna Gardiner ‘23 Kate McClusky ‘23 Freddy Bishop ‘23 Owen Lepore ‘23 Lila Jung ‘24 Allison Hobbs ‘24 Chloe Lebovitch ‘22 Anna Keeley ‘22 Perri Katz ‘22 Tim Slater ‘25 Avni Sharma ‘25 Graeme George ‘25 Ben Morganstein ‘25 Cassandra Polanskyj ‘22 Bryony Bexon-Reid ‘26 Talia Rosenthal ‘26 Noah Rodgers ‘26 Aiden Jia ’26 Carolina Lucas ‘23 Cinderella Hu ‘22 Jackie Tsai ‘22 Vera Yong ‘23 Andrew Lin ‘24 Lauren Baker ‘24 Aaron Jimenez ‘24

Editor: Natalia Espinosa Dice ‘22 Faculty Advisor: Marsha Kleinman Layout & Design: Diane Giangreco Visual Arts Teacher & Curator for the magazine: Joelle Francht

Cover Art by Jacqueline Tsai ‘22 8th Grade, Class of 2022 7th Grade, Class of 2023 6th Grade, Class of 2024 5th Grade, Class of 2025 4th Grade, Class of 2026

Noah Winters ‘24 Otto Spehar ‘24 Giorgio Altirs ‘24 Manny Udofia ‘24 Hannah Lewis ‘24 Katie Nossa ‘22 Logan Snyder ‘26 Maanasa Jagen ‘26 Will Ruberton ‘26 Maren Wheeler ‘26 Elliot Higgins ‘24 Gage Orlowski ‘24 Max Huang ‘24 Osias Williams ‘24 Teddy Krenteras ‘24 Emma Choy ‘24 Avery Song ‘22 Trrusha Jariwalla ‘22 Peyton Fishman ‘22 Katherine Hulse ‘22 Matteo McClendon ‘22 Caroline Sheffet ‘22 Sophia Eichmann ‘23 Zhenia Doluda ‘23 Robyn Meynen ‘26

EDITOR’S NOTE For three years, Voices and Visions: Art and Writing from the Middle School has showcased the finest work of our students. This magazine provides an opportunity for artists and writers to be commended for their exceptional abilities, and the students featured in this year’s publication truly deserve our respect and praise. Every piece shows incredible talent, and all artists and writers should be extremely proud of themselves. We hope you enjoy our 2018 issue of Voices and Visions as much as we have in curating, editing, and designing it; we believe it to be an impressive collection.

- Natalia Espinosa Dice ‘22

Katherine Lynch ‘23

Anna Gardiner ‘23 Kate McClusky ‘23

Freddy Bishop ‘23

Owen Lepore ‘23

Lila Jung ‘24

Kate McClusky ‘23

The Effect of Nature on Man A Spring Poem It towers above you, with its massive head glinting in the light.

It is so bright, big, tall, breathtaking, that you mistake it, just at first, for the Sun. Then you see that it is just a Flower.

Well… not just a Flower.

It is the biggest Flower you have ever seen, the largest piece of nature, apart from the big, wide Tree.

You are forced to direct your gaze up, up, up, all the while shielding your eyes from the bright, blinding light that this magnificent Flower mimics.

This massive, perfect example of Grace in Nature.

You could easily rip every one of the big, yellow, almond-shaped petals off of the face, then crumble the massive brown eye from the stalk onto the cold, hard ground, but somehow you, the destructor of all, do not think of that.

You feel completely and totally overpowered by this Plant, this piece of Nature.

It towers above you and looks so influential and immaculate.

Then, a small, fluttery crimson butterfly comes to rest on the eye, delicately sipping nectar through its long, spindly proboscis.

And, for you, the world comes to a stop.

Somehow, for one moment out of one day out of all your thousands of years, you, destroyer of all, living and dead, inanimate and intangible, real and imagined, you, destructor, un-doer, breaker of everything in your path and not, you feel something strangely and strongly like peace.

Maggie Stanford ‘25

Allison Hobbs ‘24

Lila Jung ‘24

Sure, You Can Ask Me a Personal Question*

by Hilal Tokat ‘24 How do you do?

No, I am not sensitive.

No, not uncomfortable.

No. I am a strong female.

Oh, you left the house without makeup, huh?

Oh, you don’t do the heavy work, huh?

Oh, don’t be cold, huh?

Yeah. It is awful what you guys do to us.

It would be decent for you to apologize.

There is no cute face.

This is my face. *this poem was written in response to “Sure, You Can Ask Me a Personal Question” by Diane Burns and intentionally uses the lines and structure from the mentor poem

Katherine Lynch ‘23

Chloe Lebovitch ‘22

Anna Keeley ‘22

Perri Katz ‘22

Christina Bonarti ‘22

My feeling of foreboding began as soon as we left Odysseus on the beach. As soon as we placed him gently down onto the sand and arranged his new treasures around the roots of an olive tree so they would be safe, my sense of unease multiplied. As we got back into the boat, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I felt my stomach churn. That was a bad sign – a few hours before my uncle Alcibiades fell off a ladder and broke his neck, I got this same feeling. This worried me, but I tried to dismiss it and tell myself I was just tired from all the rowing.

I was the youngest man to ever be let into the Phaiakian fleet, and although I was tall and strong for my age, I was only twelve, and my older and more muscled companions had more endurance than I did. After many hours of rowing without break, my muscles were aching like never before and my stomach ache had worsened to the point where I felt like I was about to throw up. We were cutting through the ocean like a knife, and my companions showed no sign of stopping or even slowing down, so I tried to take my mind off my physical torment by turning my thoughts to home.

I lived in a small hut with three sisters and six brothers on the outskirts of Phaiakia. I was the eldest child, and my family was very proud of me for having been chosen for the prestigious task of bringing the great Odysseus back to his homeland. I vividly remember the day Alkinoos himself visited our hut – he arrived with much fanfare and introduction (as if we didn’t know who he was already), saying he had heard tales of my prowess with ships, and he had selected me to be a part of the honored team that was going to take Odysseus home. My entire family was overcome with joy at his statement – none of our family had ever been chosen for a task such as this before. It was hard to fall asleep that night, as I was so excited for the day to come, but eventually a deep and dreamless sleep came over me like a heavy rug, and before I knew it, it was time to leave for Ithaka.

As we drew closer to Phaiakia, my feeling of dread increased so much that I leaned over the side of the ship and retched up the little breakfast that I had had that morning. The other men asked me if I was all right, and one of them reassured me that we’d be home soon – in fact, Phaiakia was visible on the shoreline! This did little to relieve my fear, however, and it was all I could do not to be sick over the side of the ship again.

We rowed quickly towards the shore, excited that we were almost home, and we began to see all the faces of our loved ones who had come to see our valiant return. I searched for the faces of my family, and I had just caught the eye of my mother and smiled in triumph when it happened: The ship abruptly stopped moving.

Suddenly, I began to feel an odd heaviness spread quickly throughout my entire body. I tried to lift my feet and found that I couldn’t – they were riveted to the floor of the ship and looked strangely gray.

This terrified me, and I began to struggle against the rushing denseness that was now flowing through my veins, but it only made it surge faster. My eyes locked on my mother’s, and she knew something was wrong but she couldn’t reach me from the shore. Then I found I couldn’t move at all, and my breathing became very fast, then I couldn’t breathe anymore, and I was suffocating and the light was fading. I couldn’t see my mother anymore.

Connor Murphy ‘22

I stood beside Arete as our great ship came into view. I saw the great oars dipping into the foaming water on the purple horizon. I was in awe of the perils that Odysseus faced and all he had conquered on his way here. We Phaiakians play little part in the world. I guess that was really the reason I gave Odysseus all of those gifts and treasures, so he would remember us and tell of our hospitality so the world knew of the great Phaiakians. I, for one, feared the perils he could face upon returning to Ithaka.

However, in the middle of my deep thoughts, I heard many murmurs from the crowd below. Arete tapped me on my shoulder and she pointed out to the horizon. The ship had stopped. Why have they anchored the ship? I thought. Many men also asked the same question. Nausikaa came running up behind me to see the sight. In the middle of the crowd, there was a shout.

“The ship, it’s not anchored, it’s been turned to stone!” one man cried.

“That’s absurd!” shouted another. Many cried as their husbands, sons, brothers and friends turned to stone, just in sight of the harbor. It didn’t sink though. It stood rooted to the ocean floor, and our best ship was lost along with our best sailors. I looked in fear upon the ship and suddenly remembered something my father had told me long ago.

“Alas! It is true!” I cried, and the crowd was hushed. “This doom was prophesied. I knew this would happen, my father foresaw it in olden times. If we gave a safe road home to a wanderer, the Phaiakian ship bearing him would suffer, and great mountains would rise around the city, keeping us from the sea.” To this, all panicked. They believed we would be trapped in any moment by great mountains.

I struggled to control myself inwardly. Odysseus was safe upon his shores of his home while we suffer from the wrath of the gods. I, along with Arete, pitied him when he arrived here and that was my mistake. Poseidon, our lord and Odysseus’ enemy, was upset with us. This is the worst fortune that can come onto a community. I thought of Odysseus’ land and of the evil suitors who took control of it in his absence. I imagined that his kingdom was in disarray, unable to function without their proper leader. I realized that the fate that was bestowed on Ithaka was better than ours. I would rather have my island taken from my control than having a god mad at me. It didn’t matter; Odysseus was beyond our reach and we would have to face Poseidon ourselves. The prophecy stated that a wall of mountains would be risen around the island, but no mountains rose. I then thought of the future, and I realized what I had to do. The reason we have to suffer from the wrath of the gods was because I let Odysseus onto the island.

Now it was my responsibility to make sure that something like this would never happen again.

“We shall no longer take in any refugees,” I announced, standing in front of the crowd. “We end all contact with seafarers and wanderers. Any castaways shall be sent away, and if they refuse to leave, we must kill them. We will sacrifice our twelve best bulls to please Poseidon, and hope that he doesn’t build a wall of mountains.”

Men went to the pens and selected the twelve best bulls, and we marched to the altar stone. We sacrificed and burned the bulls and waited in fear, praying. As the sun set on that day, the shadow of our ship stood, a reminder of the gods’ power in case we dared to anger our lord again.

We had angered Poseidon, our lord and the greatest of the gods in our eyes. No - we hadn’t angered him. We had betrayed him. I realized what my decree would do to us in the future. We, the Phaiakians of Skheria, were known for our ships and skills in the ocean. And I had to be the one to stop us from doing what we are best at.

When Odysseus tells his tale, he will tell of the Phaiakians. He would tell of our seafaring ways and of King Alkinoos - who isolated the Phaiakians as if there really were a great wall of mountains.

Maggie Beer ‘22

Zeus? Zeus will do nothing because he is nothing. I am god here, this is my cave, my house and I make the rules.

No god can touch me or my actions. And who do these Akhaians think they are to come into my cave and demand hospitality? They are no guests of mine! If anything, they are intruders. Maybe snacks, too; I am feeling quite famished.

Being hungry does not help with the rising anger caused by these trespassers. Barely holding back my anger, I answer this gnat. Then, in his response, he has the nerve to blame his misfortunes on my father, Poseidon! My stomach rumbles and suddenly I am too hungry to think. The only thought on my mind is food. My sheep are too far a distance for me to eat immediately, and I’m too annoyed with these insects to muster the energy required for the slaughter of an animal. These insects are starting to look quite appetizing. I haven’t had human in a long time, and if I recall they taste just fine raw. I mean the meal is just there, and I wouldn’t lose any part of my sheep herd from killing a couple of these worthless creatures. If anything, I would gain fear, and that would be a good thing! I reach down and snatch two of the mortals. My first order of business is to kill them, because I don’t want them to be moving in my mouth; that’d just be weird. My stomach grumbles again, so better make this quick. Bashing them on a rock will work just fine. Oops, I bashed them too hard and now some of the meat is spread on the floor. Well, I’m not going to eat off the floor (please, I’m not a monster), so I’ll just have to make do with what I have. They do seem dead now, since they’ve stopped moving and most of their brains are on the floor. I just throw them in my mouth and immediately regret it. I forgot about the bones, and now they’re stabbing my mouth! But I can’t show my discomfort; that’ll make me seem weak. The crunching is uncomfortable, like when your grandma makes cookies, and somehow the one cookie she handed you is simultaneously burnt and undercooked. Then you take the bite and it’s becomes hell in a cookie, but you have to eat it because you can’t let down your facade for Grandma. And every bite just gets worse, and by this time your mouth has experienced every feeling and sensation possible - just from eating that one cookie. But you have to sit there and smile for Grandma, because it would look really bad if you spit it out in disgust. So you sit there and smile and wait for a jug of water to gulp down. Or, in my case, alcohol, lots and lots of alcohol. But overall, the meal wasn’t terrible, just the texture. The meat was quite juicy and sweet, while the blood balanced it out with a salty flavor. But now I’m tired and wasted from the man flesh and alcohol, so I must rest.

After a nice night of rest, I’m ready for the day. As usual, I wake up and do my pre-breakfast chores. After all that work, yet again, I am starved. Do you think the men’s bones have disintegrated by now? I have no clue how humans decompose. Might as well give it a shot. Nope, still crunchy. But the taste is quite interesting with these two men, perhaps they drank some wine that marinated them. Regardless, I go on and continue my daily chores after shutting the door to make sure my new food source doesn’t escape my cave. Once my chores are done, I return to my cave and I am tired. My back hurts too, but I can’t find my staff to help me walk comfortably. Oh, well. Soon after I finish the tasks inside the cave, one of the men (I think he’s the leader, he talks an awful lot) approaches me with a bowl - yes, a bowl - of wine. Maybe he wants to bribe me for his freedom. That definitely won’t happen but might as well take what is offered. I drink and ask him his name. He does not answer, yet he gives me more wine, so I drink, and I drink, and I drink just a bit more. Finally, he gives his name: Nohbdy. What a strange name, it sounds an awful lot like nobody, but I do not understand mortals at all, so who am I to judge? In my drunken state, I then promise “Nohbdy” that I will eat him last, as a gift. But now I am tired, so I sleep and dream of man flesh without crunchy bones. I sleep until a pain that feels like hell’s fury plagues my face. I am being killed, I am being murdered. But then I realize that life is not that kind. No, I have been stabbed, but I cannot see by whom because that white-hot pain has blinded me. But then I think, who could’ve done this, who did this to me? And only one name came to mind: Nohbdy. I yell out to my Kyklopes brethren, I shout out that I have been hurt and ruined by Nohbdy!

But they don’t understand that Nohbdy isn’t Nobody, Nohbdy is somebody, the somebody who hurt and blinded me! But they don’t understand, and neither do they care. They leave, and I am left with a blind eye and not much else.

Tim Slater ‘25

Trrusha Jariwalla ‘22 “My ship? Poseidon Lord, who sets the earth a-tremble, broke it up on the rocks at your land’s end. A wind from seaward served him, drove us there. We are survivors, these good men and I.” * I will not give them pity, but rather leave them to my wrath.

How dare they call themselves “survivors” at the graciousness of my father, Poseidon? He did the seas a favor, taking their ship from the wine dark sea. It seems to me a sign. He sent them to me to terminate them; this outspoken man and his crew. I easily clutched his companions, catching two in my hands. Beating their brains out and munching them whole, I finish every piece. The other powerless men cry, lifting their hands to Zeus. My belly is filled, however, with the sweet taste of man. I know they cannot do anything to me, a strong creature, so I will take rest now, leaving them groaning and apprehensive of what is to come the next morning.

The next morning, after downing some four bowls of wine, I ask the outspoken man what he is called. I may give the stranger a gift with which he will be pleased, little did he know what my present was: “Tell me, how are you called? I’ll make a gift will please you.”

“Kyklops, you ask my my honorable name? Remember, the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you. My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy.”

Ruthlessly, I reply: “Nohbdy’s my meat, then, after I eat his friends. Other come first. There’s a noble gift, now.”

Avni Sharma ‘25

He said I must promise him the gift and I did. Bad choice on Nohbdy’s part. Promising to something he doesn’t know of. It seems odd for a man’s name to be Nohbdy; however, I will go with it. It’s not like he will make his way out of the cave. He’ll be a nohbdy after all.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my eye. My eye! My only eye! He’d used a pike of olive. Nohbdy drew it from the coals and his four minions gave him assistance. Nohbdy proceeded: “ . . . leaned on it turning it as a shipwright turns a drill in planking, having men below to swing the two-handled strap that spins it in the groove.”

I was too drowsy to notice what was going to happen when he reached in the fire. I was drowsy...from the bowls of drink he gave me earlier! That ruthless Nohbdy! The pain in my one precious eye felt like a baby being torn from its mother and thrown to its death; however, for me, my baby is my eye and I will truly never see again.

I yelled for aid from my fellow Kyklôpes: “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!”

They replied: “Ah well, if nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain given by great Zeus. Let it be your father, Poseidon Lord, to whom you pray.”

My fellow brothers do not understand that Nohbdy is inside my cave! They think it is truly nobody! Nohbdy. He has tricked me by telling me his name is Nohbdy. Has he no mercy?

I hear faintly, as my neighboring Kyklôpes walked away, hefty laughter. It has to be Nohbdy! He thinks the charm of his name has duped everyone. He thinks he is a great tactician! Nohbdy has blinded me, making me into a nobody. I can’t be a Kyklôpes without my one eye! Maybe I shouldn’t have treated him like a nobody. His laughter and arrogance make me feel like an ignorant beast! *for these perspective pieces all direct quotes from The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, are in italics

Joey Bejjani ‘22 I entered my cavernous chamber, hidden away on the island of the Kyklopês. As I dumped my cargo of dry boughs onto the ground, I heard a scattering of footsteps. “Must be my sheep and goats,” I thought. Leaving the sheep and goats in the yard outside, and ushering the ewes that needed milking inside, I heaved a slab of rock over the entrance, creating a grinding noise that would deafen any puny mortal.

“Oh, how strong am I,” I thought, grinning with a blackish-green set of cracked teeth. I sat down on the floor of the cave to tend my fire. I turned to my ewes, milking them for fresh curds, whey, and cheese.

Suddenly, in the glare of the roaring fire, I glimpsed a dozen men, miniature beings, with one standing proud at the front without a hint of fear. My eye widened, veins popping with curiosity. Then it squinted and I laughed, a laugh that sent birds fluttering away from the island of the Kyklopês. A laugh as great and far-reaching as the lightning and thunder of Zeus himself, bringing fear to enemies who dare to disobey, bringing regret to those who intrude out of a sense of adventure. For this thunder-like laughter is not a joke, it is not humor, it is a sick, booming cackle that punishes those who are caught in its wake, as Zeus punished Prometheus. So, I, Polyphêmus, laughed at the sight of the men, thinking who dares to intrude on my cavern? I bellowed: “Strangers,…What brings you here by sea ways–a fair traffic? Or are you wandering rogues, who cast your lives like dice, and ravage other folk by sea?

Doesn’t matter to me, for I see a flock of men, no different than my own flock of sheep, meant to be ripped apart, roasted, and crunched for the pleasure of Polyphêmus, the favorite son of Poseidon, the strongest of the Kyklopês and the gods! The proud one who stood at the front replied:

Graeme George ‘25

“We are from Troy, Akhaians, blown off course by shifting gales on the Great South Sea; homeward bound, but taking routes and ways uncommon; so the will of Zeus would have it… It was our luck to come here; here we stand, beholden for your help, or any gifts you give–as custom is to honor strangers. We would entreat you, great Sir, have a care for the gods’ courtesy; Zeus will avenge the unoffending guest.”

What a stupid, foolish, halfwit! Telling me to mind the gods! For all I know I am a god! The strongest of them all at that! But I played a while longer with my prey: “We Kyklopês care not a whistle for your thundering Zeus or all of the gods in bliss; we have more force by far. I would not let you go for fear of Zeus…Tell me, where was it, now, you left your ship–around the point, or down the shore, I wonder?

I would love to add more men to this delicious feast I see before me, I thought as thick, viscous, foul-smelling drool dripped from the corner of my mouth, my boulder of a belly rumbling. The leader had a ready reply: “My ship? Poseidon Lord, who sets the earth a-tremble, broke it up on the rocks at your land’s end. A wind from seaward served him, drove us there. We are survivors, these good men and I.” A merciless grin appeared on my face as I answered: “My father Poseidon has sent you, then, a flock of sheep, trapped here on my island. In my cave you are, with no ship or crew to escape! An offering from one god to another, I see.” In one swift motion, my thick, trunk-like arm swept up two of the puny fools. They squirmed and squirmed, gasping for air like little fish. I smashed their heads against the cavern floor, red blood spattering on the faces of the men watching in horror. Their fear only made the meal seem more delicious. I ripped the limbs out one by one, crunched them down, and finished the rest of the lifeless man flesh with a gulp of whey. Satisfied for the moment, I sank down onto my back and fell asleep. No worries had I for the men in my cave. They could never slay or harm the strongest of gods, the wisest of Kyklopês.

When the world became light again, I awakened. I built a fire once again and milked my handsome ewes. One of them didn’t give the usual bucket of milk, and with sudden rage, I clutched the sheep and crushed it with my hand, licking the remains off my fingers with a wide, wet tongue. Remembering the men who remained in the cavern, I did the same to two of them, crushing them first with my fist and then slowly, deliciously sucking their thick juices and chunky, moist innards off of my stubby fingers. With slow, heavy steps, I walked towards the entrance of the cave, heaved the stone aside, and went to the fields for another day with the flock, all the while thinking about my next meal and how long I could make that savory group of men last. Three days? Six? At evening I returned, taking my sheep and rams in for the night. I milked them once again and swiftly ran through my chores.

Then, I clapped my hands together with a thunderous boom, rubbing them up and down while my huge, magnificent, godlike eyeball scanned the group of dwarves, deciding which pair to devour. Having made my decision, I took the two men, holding them by their heads with my thumbs and index fingers. I squeezed my fingers together, popping their skulls in an instant while I laughed hysterically. I tossed their bodies into the air, and, tilting my head back, caught them in my enormous nostrils, snorting them down in one delectable sniff. Suddenly, the man who had spoken the day before approached, with a small ivy bowl of dark drink. He said: “Kyklops, try some wine. Here’s liquor to wash down your scraps of men. Taste it, and see the kind of drink we carried under our planks. I meant it for an offering if you would help us home. But you are mad, unbearable, a bloody monster! After this, will any other traveler come to see you?”

I snatched and gulped down the contents of the bowl, delighted by the sweet and fiery taste of the drink: “Give me another, thank you kindly. Tell me, how are you called? I’ll make a gift will please you.”

I drained three bowls of the heavenly liquid after that. My vision became hazy, and my mind swirled with thoughts of food, drink, sheep, and sleep. The man seemed to grow more relaxed: “Kyklops, you ask my honorable name? Remember the gift you promised me, and I shall tell you. My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone calls me Nohbdy.”

Had I not been drugged by the wine, I would have realized the trickery of this fool. After all, I am the wisest and smartest of all the gods. But I was decieved and replied: “Nohbdy’s my meat, then, after I eat his friends. Others come first. There’s a noble gift, now.”

Reeling and tumbling backward, the desire for sleep was unlike anything I had ever experienced. With my great head lolling to one side, I dreamed of food, drink, sheep, and sleep. In the midst of my deep sleep, an excruciating pain suddenly exploded in my eye.

I felt a long, sharp stake drive into the soft eyeball, while the sounds of hissing and popping filled the cavern. Warm, sticky blood gushed all over my face. I bolted up, my wild hands clawing the stake out of my ruined eye. “Nooooooooo!” I hollered, the yell echoing off the mountain peaks miles away. In my blindness, all that was visible was a cave, so deep and black, and so frightful.

But this was not the cave on the island of the Kyklopês, this was a cave in the darkest corners of the underworld, the land of Hades, where monsters of unimaginable terror roam, pouncing at intruders with sharp talons, intruders who had been overcome by their own pride and hunger. This deep black cave, dripping with thick, inky blood, void of all happiness and hope, void of all flame and all light, is what I saw through the deep, empty crater on my head.

Startled by my howls sent into the night, the nearby Kyklopês called: “What ails you Polyphêmos? Why do you cry so sore in the starry night? You will not let us sleep. Sure no man’s driving off your flock? No man has tricked you, ruined you?”

I shouted back, the dark, painful blindness sending me into a state of insanity, one that a god as powerful as I should be immune to: “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!”

“Ah well, if nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain given by great Zeus. Let it be your father, Poseidon Lord, to whom you pray.” *for these perspective pieces all direct quotes from The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, are in italics

Dhruv Jetley ‘22 We are the Kyklopes race, a culture of one-eyed giants and louts. Our culture is uncivilized with no laws or organized society, dependent on savage ways. In our culture, we do not fear or worship the gods because we are fierce and strong and can easily overpower them.

I am Polyphêmus, a prodigious member of the Kyklopes and the son of the great Poseidon. I am physically powerful, a robust monster. My home is a cave, stocked with sheep, lambs, pens, cheeses, and pails for milking. I depend on myself and the herds for survival. This is my daily life, and it rarely differs.

On this day, as I entered my cave after sundown to milk the herds, I detected twelve warriors and their leader in my cave. The men were in the midst of eating my cheese in front of an offering. I was startled at this sight, and my anger swelled because here were strangers pilfering my stocks and invading my home. I dropped the dry boughs I was carrying on my shoulders, creating a resounding thud and interrupting their ritual. Before I questioned them, I placed a substantial rock at the entrance to block it so that they could not even think of escaping. Only I could move the boulder with my strength. In my mighty voice, I asked the strangers of their arrival.

The man who appeared to be their leader proudly replied. He said his ships were blown off course by the will of Zeus, forcing him to take a strange route, and he ended up here on the island of the Kyklopes. The leader entreated me for assistance and hospitality because, as he believed, it is a common tradition to grant hospitality and honor strangers. The captain said that if I denied him and his crewmates my hospitality, then I would violate the gods’ custom and be punished by Zeus.

What a fool he was! This request failed to manipulate me, and he antagonized me by implying my inferiority to the gods. I considered it so unseemly that he entreated me for my hospitality and threatened me in the name of Zeus. My culture does not care for hospitality – what the man described as “gods’ courtesy” – because we are superior to the gods and do not worship or fear Zeus.

This man, a mere stranger, disparaged me and my race because he considered us subordinate to the gods, whom we can physically dominate. What a fool he was to think I’d help him after this insulting remark! I do not care for the suffering he has endured and the custom of hospitality he describes. How despicable for a stranger to arrive and denigrate me!

All the men gazed at me in fear, terrorized by my untraditional lack of hospitality, absence of fear and respect for the gods, and monstrous appearance. I did not feel any pity for their adversity, so I took advantage of their fear. I grasped two men in my hand, who appeared to be puny figures in my clutch, and I saw the terror on their faces. Regardless, in my savage ways, their pity did not influence my decision, and I welcomed the men by devouring them. I did not feel any remorse, for a stranger who offends me deserves to be punished. Completing my meal, I spread across the floor and ceded control for the night. I heard the footsteps of the strangers attempting to take action, but, knowing they could not escape, I stayed asleep. As they realized this, they, too, settled down for the night.

When the young Dawn with finger tips of rose lit up the world, I continued with my daily chores. In my savage, inhumane temperament, I devoured two more strangers for my breakfast. After letting the sheep go through, I blocked the entrance with a monumental stone so that my strangers, my fresh meat, could not escape. At sundown, I re-entered the cave, my home, after the day’s work. I made a supper of two more helpless strangers without pity. The man who appeared to be their leader approached me with an ivy bowl of a dark drink. It was a peculiar offer because I granted no hospitality, only affliction, and now he held out a gift. The man said: “Kyklops, try some wine. Here’s liquor to wash down your scraps of men.” It seemed exceptional in appearance and I needed a drink to digest the strangers, so I seized the bowl and inhaled the liquor. I had never tasted a drink of this excellence; the liquor was most satiable. Feeling slightly roused, I demanded more of this fine liquor and asked him his name. In exchange for the liquor, I promised him a gift. He delivered three more bowls, and three more bowls I inhaled. And as I finished the final bowl, I began to lose my senses; I felt intoxicated. Think of your surroundings, as if they are an illusion, becoming askew. Vision and hearing distorted; the world becoming sheeted in darkness. The normal animals and objects all contort in this moment and fade to a dark black color. The way a man struggles to walk on a storm-tossed ship, you stagger and plummet. As if you were trapped in a dreadful, delusional nightmare or entering a coma, so I felt when I drank this liquor. As the world became silent, I heard one man whisper. He was the leader, whose name I’d asked and a gift I’d promised, and he answered: “Kyklops, you ask my honorable name?... My name is Nohbdy: mother, father, and friends, everyone called me Nohbdy.” Nohbdy. It was a peculiar name, but, as my senses left me, I did not inquire about it. I suspected deception and untruth, which was probable for a fool, as this man was. But as I spoke, the liquor overwhelmed me, and I tumbled to the ground and entered a state of deep sleep.

Drunk and in that altered state, I could not sense what was transpiring around me. I dribbled streams of liquor and bits of men in my sleep. I could not discern what the strangers were doing as I slept, but I could perceive extreme pain when I felt it. In the midst of my sleep, I experienced shock, and my intoxication disappeared. The men and their leader penetrated a scalding, keen spike into my eye, blinding me. Excruciating pain seared my eye as the men drove the spike in even deeper. What a man feels being burnt alive – his skin peeling away, the torment and despair of slowly burning, hours on hours before death – so I suffered when they thrust the spike deeper into my eye. The leader did not relent, infuriated by my lack of hospitality and consumption of his companions.

The unadulterated agony I experienced felt as if all the anguish a man endures in his life accumulates into one fatal, devastating moment. The way a volcano erupts after a long period of dormancy, an outpouring of broiling blood surged from my eye as it hissed and the roots popped. I released a strident, painful scream: a scream of a child as its only parent is taken hostage. The scream reverberated throughout the cave, and the rock roared around me. Clutching my face, I withdrew the spike from my eye, threw it away, and groped in anger. The leader had deceived me.

I swallowed the pain and irately bellowed for the other Kyklopes, hoping they’d hear my cry and come to my assistance to murder these evil men. Those who heard me followed the scream, and I heard them gather outside the cave. My fellow Kyklopes asked for the cause of my pain, and I replied: “Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me, Nohbdy’s ruined me!” I discerned no immediate reaction, but they replied: “Ah well, if nobody has played you foul there in your lonely bed, we are no use in pain given by great Zeus.” With this, I heard them return to their pastures. I pondered why they disregarded me, and the reason became obvious. Nohbdy. Nohbdy deceived me and this name was the reason the other Kyklopes could not come to my assistance. Now, the guileful leader’s entire strategy unfolded in my mind. First, he offered me a strong, addictive liquor to make me lose my wits. Second, when the liquor took effect, he took the opportunity to blind me so that I could not fight back. He told me his name was “Nohbdy,” so, if other Kyklopes came to my assistance after he blinded me, they would think that nobody did it or the pain was caused by Zeus so there was no reason to help. The name “Nohbdy” was merely a trick, and now, due to his trickery, I am blind. What a wanton he is! As a bull reacts at the sight of the color red, so I, quivered in anger at Nohbdy’s deception. However, still infused with unbearable anguish, I realized that I had to take my violent revenge before he escaped, so I briefly suppressed my anger.

Nohbdy laughed in the background at the success of his deception as the other Kyklopes left my cave. Wheezing in pain, I stumbled and knocked away the boulder so that it was no longer obstructing the entrance. Realizing this opportunity to leave, I heard the leader gather his remaining men to devise a plan for escape. When Dawn spread out her finger tips of rose, the rams inside the cave began to stir. Still weary from my wound, I stroked each ram and let it pass through to go to pasture. I checked each ram to make sure none of the men were on it, but I detected nothing. Briskly, all the rams passed, but one straggled back. Curious, I questioned the ram: “Sweet cousin ram, why lag behind the rest in the night cave?... Can you be grieving over your Master’s eye? That carrion rogue and his accurst companions burnt it out when he had conquered all my wits with wine. Nohbdy will not get out alive, I swear.”

Detecting nothing peculiar, I let it pass with the others. Still, my mind bore the thought of Nohbdy. I trembled in anger, desiring violent retaliation. I swore to brutally murder Nohbdy before he could escape. My face teemed with unfettered ire, and my body was ready to explode if that wanton provoked me again. The way a fire is triggered and permeates, razing everything in its way, spreading turbulently; so was the indignation that filled me. Nohbdy continued to boast, and the intensifying fire inside me was fed, as when Nohbdy bellowed from a far distance away: “O Kyklops! Would you feast on my companions? Puny, am I, in a Caveman’s hands?

How do you like the beating that we gave you, you damned cannibal? Eater of guests under your roof! Zeus and the gods have paid you!” How hubristic the man was! He already blinded me but he continued to taunt me! From the distance of his call, it seemed as if he had already fled safely to his ship and our encounter was over. Nonetheless, in his rampant egotism, he bellowed back at me to assure that I remember I was vanquished by a small, guileful man, and his actions were a consequence of my own inhumanity and savageness. Our conflict had ceased, but Nohbdy continued to boast in his pride and arrogance. As a result, my fury and hostility broke. I heaved a hilltop at the ship, and the massive wave it spurred washed the ship back to shore. The men earnestly rowed to get out of my range, but, no matter how far they got, the captain continued to boast: “Kyklops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laërtês’ son, whose home’s on Ithaka!” How Odysseus’ pride was uncontrollable! Blind, I could not confront him, but he still continued to gloat. He boasted his name, telling me to remember that I was conquered, outwitted, and blinded by the great Odysseus. He had the opportunity to escape, but his hubris transcended concern for the lives of his own men because he boasted his name and identity as the vanquisher. Such imprudent arrogance! At this boast, my fire culminated. So as a helpless child pleads to his powerful father for help, I sent a prayer to Poseidon. My father would deal him his suffering: he will not see his home for many years, all of his men will die, and he will find sorrow when he returns home. This was what he deserved. *for these perspective pieces all direct quotes from The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, are in italics

Natalia Espinosa Dice ‘22

My day started off just like every other day had since the war ended. I rose with the sun, dressed and went about my daily chores. It seemed no different than any other until, as I was walking into town, I heard the shouting of two boys as they ran up the hill. I wondered whether this was some foolish prank, and I dismissed it without a thought and kept walking. Then, as the sea came into view, I saw a fleet of massive, intimidating ships coming directly towards us. I squinted in the morning sun, straining to see who it could be. Could it possibly be one of ours? Did we have ships like that at our disposal?

I took a few more steps and stopped dead. I could now make out men, who were disheveled and weathered. They bore the looks of warriors, and I could tell they were fast approaching. How could more destruction possibly come to us now, even after all the fighting that had lasted for so many years? What more could these people possibly want?

I turned and fled. I ran as fast as m skirts would allow, screaming and shouting for help. Our town was unprepared, and what warriors we had were no match for a well-trained army. How would we possibly survive? I shouted warnings and a crowd quickly formed in the center of town.

“Help, they’re coming,” I gasped as I tried to recover from running. “Ships, warriors, they’re coming to attack us. We must do something.”

A grim and muscular man stepped forward to take charge. He organized the men into some sort of defense while sending the women and children into locked homes. Two boys were sent inland to call for help from the bigger cities.

As I crouched in the shadows, watching through a small crack in the door, I saw them come. They ruthlessly killed any men standing in their way with a mere flick of their swords. Our men fought valiantly, but they were no match for these skilled, powerful warriors. Tears formed as I watched these merciless savages cut down men whom I had known all my life. Then they reduced our town to rubble. I pulled my children closer and tried to shield them with my body. They obediently remained quiet but looked up at me, their eyes round with worry. I attempted to comfort them, but inside I was terrified for all of our lives. Surely these men would at least show compassion for mere children? I shuddered and took a deep breath, trying to think.

“Go hide in the linen chest in my bedroom, and whatever you do, don’t come out. If sounds of fighting die down, wait twelve more hours before coming out,” I whispered goodbye, kissed each of them upon their heads and gently pushed them away.

Tears filled their eyes and the younger of the two began to cry, but they obeyed me.

I refused to break down; my own husband was out there, and I had to help him. I peeked out the window again and saw him! Thank the gods, at least he was still alive. I breathed a sigh of relief before peering again. Five warriors surrounded him, and while he fought bravely, I knew he wouldn’t last. None of our men stood a chance against these much more experienced warriors, but all I could do was close my eyes and pray to the gods for his safety.

I opened my eyes to the sound of a loud, piercing scream and watched, tears boiling over, as one soldier plunged his sword into my beloved’s chest. As the sword pierced his heart, I experienced an excruciating white hot flash of pain in my own. It quickly spread until I was consumed by an unbearable fire of agony. The pain far exceeded any cut or broken bone I had ever experienced in my life. It was worse than torture, worse than even the harshest punishment Hades could give me. I curled up on the floor and watched as the tears soaked through my clothing, just as the blood soaked through my husband’s tunic. My whole body shook with grief as my vision blurred. I cried out, but I couldn’t be heard over the sounds of fighting, yelling and plundering. I whispered to the heavens for the protection of my children, but I saw no sign the gods heard me or listened. What could I possibly have done to deserve this? How could the gods let this happen to their innocent, faithful worshippers?

All my life, I had believed in the gods. I had prayed to them, made sacrifices for them and respected them, as any mortal should. Yet now, my friends, home and husband were torn from me in a matter of minutes, and I was utterly and completely helpless.

As the warriors moved to other parts of town, I stumbled outside to my husband where he lay unmoving. I bent over him and let a fresh wave of tears wash away the grime, sweat and blood from his face. I held his hand as his skin grew cold, and I suddenly lost all remaining strength in my body. Any remaining defiance vanished as I crumpled to the ground next to him and gave up. I knew what lay ahead, yet I had no desire to fight it. Slavery was nothing compared to the utter misery of losing my husband.

I held on to the faint glimmer of hope that my children might be able to escape enslavement, but as for me, my free life was over.

Even now, I’d be kept from the love of my life as I toiled through endless years of servitude and misery until one day, I could finally achieve peace and be reunited with my husband.

Ben Morganstein ‘25

Cassandra Polanskyj ‘22

Bryony Bexon-Reid ‘26

Talia Rosenthal ‘26

Noah Rodgers ‘26

Aiden Jia ‘26

Carolina Lucas ‘23

Cinderella Hu ‘22

Jackie Tsai ‘22

Katherine Lynch ‘23

Vera Yong ‘23

Andrew Lin ‘24

Lauren Baker ‘24

Aaron Jimenez ‘24

Noah Winters ‘24

Otto Spehar ‘24

Giorgio Altirs ‘24

Manny Udofia ‘24 Hannah Lewis ‘24

Katie Nossa ‘22

Logan Snyder ‘26

Maanasa Jagen ‘26

Will Ruberton ‘26

Maren Wheeler ‘26

Talia Rosenthal ‘26

Elliot Higgins ‘24

Lila Jung ‘24

Allison Hobbs ‘24

Gage Orlowski ‘24

Max Huang ‘24

Osias Williams ‘24

Teddy Krenteras ‘24

Emma Choy ‘24

Avery Song ‘22

Perri Katz ‘22 and Anna Keeley ‘22

Avery Song ‘22 and Chloe Lebovitch ‘22

Jackie Tsai ‘22 and Cinderella Hu ‘22

Trrusha Jariwalla ‘22 and Peyton Fishman ‘22

Katie Nossa ‘22 and Katherine Hulse ‘22

A Sneaky Personality Max Huang ‘24 Often, Fingers on keyboard Mulling over a phrase Stuck in mid-thought I ask my mom for help She is busy stirring the bright orange soup That will quell the hunger pangs shooting through my belly She won’t come over to me What do I do?

I rely on personal traits To get her attention Just enough That she won’t get too mad at me But yet, listen to me I trick her I confuse her mind I provoke her anger That way, she comes over to me Not too much Or else she takes away everything Just enough to bring her to me I pretend to play a video game Tapping into her greatest worry The anger rushing through her head The sudden frightful thought Once she realizes It was only a mind trick She might as well stay For I promise That it will be quick She gives me a tip Then my brain lights up With what to write And then I am all set With that one tricky phrase That I got caught on Sometimes, I don’t get what I want For my mom doesn’t always take the bait But most of the time, I get my mom to help me

Perri Katz ‘22 and Cassandra Polanskyj ‘22

Matteo McClendon ‘22

Jackie Tsai ‘22 and Cinderella Hu ‘22

Katie Nossa ‘22 and Katherine Hulse ‘22

Caroline Sheffet ‘22

Perri Katz ‘22

Trrusha Jariwalla ‘22

Generations We go way back the Renaissance continent maybe Michelangelo in the bloodline on both sides Similar backgrounds winding together from tomato sauce and rolling hills of green From a small village in the south and another in the north Crossing the deep ocean Crammed into a big hunk of steel Rejoicing at the sight of Lady Liberty Dreaming of life in the New World Matthew Bonarti ‘24

Stephanie Zhang ‘23

Sophia Eichmann ‘23

The Tree

by Maggie Demaria ‘24 A gentle breeze makes it dance for me.

A bird makes a branch its home.

A child climbs up high to claim the sky.

A leaf flutters to the ground to find out what happens next.

Zhenia Doluda ‘23

Matteo McClendon ‘22 Tempête de neige Mon meilleur souvenir d’enfance est quand j’ai été dans une tempête de neige. Quand j’ai eu 6 ou 7 ans, il y a eu une grande tempête de neige. J’étais dans le salon avec ma famille et je regardais un film pendant qu’il neigeait dehors.

On avait presque fini avec le film quand le film et toutes les lumières se sont éteintes. Il n’y avait plus d’électricité parce qu’il y avait une tempête de neige dehors. Donc nous

avons allumé des bougies et nous avons joué à des jeux de société comme le Monopoly et aux cartes pendant toute la nuit. Quand nous nous sommer levés le jour après, il y avait plein de neige dehors. Il y avait 15 centimètre de neige, et parce qu’il y avait aussi de la neige dans la tempête c’était couvert avec de la glace. Je suis sorti dehors avec mes frères et une luge et j’ai marché jusqu’au parc. Normalement il y avait une rivière sèche, donc il y avait juste un trou dans la terre. Mais ce jour-là il y avait un trou qui était complètement entouré avec de la glace très glissante. Si tu es tombé dedans, ça va être très difficile de sortir. Après avoir essayé de m’approcher de la rivière pour regarder dedans, j’ai glissé et je suis tombé dans la rivière. J’ai essayé de grimper sur les bords de la rivière, mais j’ai juste glissé. Mais frère ont essayé de m’aider, mais il n’y avait rien qu’ils pouvaient faire. À ce moment mon frère a eu une idée. Notre luge avait une corde, donc il m’a lancé la corde, et ils ont tiré et j’ai été sauvé. Après je suis rentré à la maison.

Robyn Meynen ‘26

Mathematical Art by Cinderella Hu ‘22

Callum Reddington ‘22 Mon souvenir d’enfance préféré Mon souvenir d’enfance préféré est quand j’allais à ma vieille maison du lac. J’ai commencé à aller à la maison du lac quand j’avais deux ans. Elle était à Skaneateles, New York. C’est un voyage de quatre heures. Je suis allé avec ma mère, mes deux sœurs, mon père, mes deux cousins, ma tante, mon oncle et mes grands-parents. Mes parents ont loué un bateau parce que la maison était sur l’eau.

Ma famille et moi avons mangé dans le village, et après nous avons regardé des films. Mon grand-père m’a appris à jouer au baseball dans l’arrière-cour de la maison du lac. J’ai aussi regardé des films d’horreur avec mes cousins, ils étaient très effrayants ! Je me souviens de nager tous les jours avec mes cousins. Mon père a pris le bateau au centre du lac et nous avons fait du jet ski autour du lac. Je suis devenu ami avec d’autres enfants quand je suis allé à Skaneateles. Un de mes bons amis était mon voisin, Michael. Michael et moi, nous faisions du vélo dans le quartier. Nous avons aussi beaucoup nagé. Parfois, j’ai dormi chez Michael. Nous avons joué à des jeux vidéo, nous avons regardé des films et nous avons regardé les étoiles sur le quai. Mes parents ont arrêté de louer la maison quand j’avais neuf ans. Skaneateles me manque.

Anna Gardiner ‘23 “Stomp, Stomp, Stomp.” The footsteps are like thunder. They start off softly, then gradu-

ally get louder and louder. I look at the wooden door. It is light brown with pieces chipping off and there is a dusty gold doorknob on the right side. I see the knob slowly turning and the opening door gradually starts revealing a person. She has dark black hair swept into a tight bun on the top of her head. Her shimmery magenta glasses perch on her face. She strides across the room as intentionally as a praying mantis. The only sound is the click of her shiny black high heels. Every time her foot meets the floor a wave of uneasiness passes through the room, almost like a disease. First one person has it, then it spreads to everyone else as fast as a dog runsspot to the door when the doorbell rings. I look back up. She is towering above everyone like the vicious Godzilla hanging from the Empire State Building.

She approaches her desk and her magenta skirt with black polka dots disappears as she sits behind it. Now only her black sweater and face are visible. She reaches with pale, dainty hands and picks up a fat stack of paper. She slowly stands up. Everyone watches, waiting in anticipation. I feel as if I am watching my favorite television show and I’m waiting for the giant mystery to be solved. I am filled with curiosity. Her glossy pink lips partially part.

“Pop quiz today,” she announces. We look at her like we have just seen a ghost, and all hearts drop.

Grace Rendino ‘23

Forever

I stand still. I’m being waved up and down. My content is being chanted. “WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS,” over and over again. I wear pink. The color women supposedly have to like. I am made of cardboard, glue, and construction paper. There are also signs on me. I don’t know what they mean.

They are white circles with a cross underneath. Next to me are others. They have little paper dolls on them. They are pink, too. The humans holding us are wearing pink hats and pink shirts.

It’s freezing outside. I stand still in the cold, bare, with nothing on me except for words and signs. What meaning do they have? What are the humans doing? Why am I pink? All of these thoughts are jumbled inside of me. Loud chanting. Screaming. Others join in. I kept getting passed on and on. New hands. Some black, some white, some in the middle. I notice there are all women and girls. All female.

Except for one. A little boy. About the age of six, maybe seven. He grabs me.

He starts chanting, “WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS.” I’m surprised. This little boy is another gender.

I don’t know if he knows what he is saying. What it means. I see others join in. More men and more boys. Soon a whole group of people start chanting, “WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS.” Now it is a large mix between women and men. Lines form. The little boy is still grasping me in his hand. Gripping onto me. It’s almost hurting. We march all across a street, up and down, down and up. I am still being waved up and down, down and up. By the little boy.

There is someone next to him. His father, maybe. The little boy shows signs of fear.

Why? At the brink of crying he looks at me and says, “Thank you.” I try to understand why.

He says it again, “Thank you for everything.” I realize he is not saying it to me, but for what I stand for. I notice the boy and I are alone. There is no one around. He gives me a hug. I’m cardboard, so I don’t know why. Then we start walking. On and on. With no end. Forever.

Kaavya Krishnan ‘24 Image credit: https://www.jmrocketreporter.org/arts-entertainment-2/staff-columns/2017/01/26/inspirational-womens-march/

Emma Choy ‘24 Perspective Piece

Get home before 7:00, get home before 7:00. It’s 6:22 right now. I need to get back home. I need to get back home. Dinner should be on the stove already! What in the world will my husband think about me now? What if he finds out? Pull yourself together! He won’t find out. Regardless, good will come of this. I won’t have to be stuck in the house cleaning up after my pig of a husband. He won’t find out, he won’t find out. Tick, tick, tick. It’s getting late. I can feel the vibrations of my pocket watch on the chain around my neck. The metal is cold to the touch. Whoosh. Stupid automobiles! These are my new glossy black spats, too! Why are we standing on the road? Get control of yourself, Mary.

I look over my shoulder at the other women looking quite solemn. It’s frigid outside and I’m waiting for the guards to come out and send us away. But they don’t. I look up at the gleaming, white, menacing building behind me. Can the president see us? Can he see me? I gaze up in wonder, staring at the multitude of windows, one from which the president could view us with our signs. These are the signs that will one day save the women of our future from the inequality that has tormented us for years. Now is the time for change. President Wilson, how long must women wait for liberty? Mr. President, what will you do for women’s suffrage? I prayed long and hard, closing my eyes and squeezing them shut. “Dear God, how long must women wait in the shadows? Dear God, please hear my voice and the other women’s voices around the country. Please hear us as we beg for justice in a place that has become a ‘man’s world’ during these many centuries. Let us have a vote.”

Tick, tick, tick. 6:58. Tick, tick, tick. 6:59. Tick, tick, tick. 7:00.

7:00? It’s 7:00? I look around the street, expecting to see my husband walking towards me with his cedar wood cane going, tap, tap, tap. I could imagine him walking hastily towards me. I watched as he came towards me and raised his cane ready to strike, then… there was suddenly a wall in front of me. A wall of females blocking my husband. It was amazing. I could not have imagined anything like it. I watched my husband trying to knock down all of the women in front of him. I watched as he flailed his cane around trying to hit every last one of them, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t lay a finger on them. During my husband’s desperate efforts, he started to perspire until his forehead was dripping a salty liquid. His shoulders sagged and his breath was coming out in short little gasps. I had an urge to step into the line of women. My shoulders tensed as I got in line with them. I was ready for a fight.

Tick, tick, tick. I suddenly opened my eyes and broke free of my daze. There was no wall of females. There was no husband with a cane. It was only me with my sign and the other women staring ahead, looking vigilant and unafraid. I looked down and opened the collar of my coat. My pocket watch was there, glinting in the light of the lamppost. It was 7:01. Time to go home. In the light of the lit lampposts, I took my time heading home, walking along the road by myself. As I walked, other women appeared along the street. We females were all walking together, side by side.

http://www.crandonpl.org/history/womens-suffrage/ http://wagingnonviolence.org/

Brennan Columbia-Walsh

January 28, 2018

PRESERVING OUR YOUTH How Social Media is Stealing Our Childhood With the youngest generation becoming more tech-savvy than ever, the use of social media is at its peak.

From the moment a parent allows a child to use Facebook or Instagram, that child is exposed to an endless public domain where they can see and learn about whatever they please. An endless universe opens as the child begins to follow all accounts that may or may not interest them. Politics, sports, fashion, friends, family and hobbies come into view. With one swipe, they can see the record of a favorite sports team, with another they see a tweet from an attention-hungry politician. This child is now exposed to new things to learn, but could this new knowledge come prematurely? It seems parents often are telling their children to go outside and spend childhood wisely because it is so short, but is a worry-free childhood

growing even shorter because of social media?

According to a survey taken at the Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, New Jersey amongst students in the eighth grade, over 50% of

students believe that their childhood is whisking away because of the stressful and unavoidable political content on social media. In the same survey, 67% of students believe that they are becoming more mature

1

Brennan Columbia-Walsh

because of similar reasons.

In this context, maturing can be defined as waking up to the real world around oneself, and politics can cause this. It is not a secret that politics are overwhelming. It is safe to say that not many people feel comfortable by the looming threat of a nuclear war brought on by the President’s provoking tweets on Twitter. Politics have the ability to expose the harsh realities of the world to people of all ages, but they are affecting the youngest generation the most.

Political Activity

Because so many children are using social media, it would appear that students are becoming more aware and active because of it. This meaning trying to take a stand for what you believe in. The Women’s March is an example of political activity. Last January, hundreds of thousands of women and men gathered in Washington, D.C. to flood the streets and provide a protest to the inauguration

January 28, 2018

of Donald Trump. Protesters came to stand up for women’s rights and equality for all as the country was falling into a roller coaster of controversy and unpredictability. The New York Times called it a “campaign of protest in a polarized America.” (Hartcollis, goo.gl/ULNSjT).

Although children are finding politics on social media, political activity is a positive outcome of it.

However, this is not common amongst younger teenagers. Only 40% of students said they were socially and politically active because of social media.

That leaves more than half of students not doing anything about what they

see. What could inspire young users to do something about what they believe?

Perhaps, most young users of social media aren’t seeing the

world from different perspectives, so taking a stand doesn’t seem important.

In the article “How Does Social Media Shape Our Political Views?” by 2

Brennan Columbia-Walsh

Chanelle Ignant, it is explained that social media was not created to help users discover new things, but to show us things we already know and are interested in.

This works until it comes to important issues that need to be looked at with different perspectives. Social media surrounds the user with other people that are interested in the same things as they are, often accompanied by the same political views. That means that whatever the user thinks about a topic is echoed backed through the voices of others. The article suggests, “Living in a democracy means that all voices can be heard. But with the ability to curate our own news and limit the voices of those with opposing political views, we end up only hearing from people we agree with and completely missing out on anyone else’s opinion.” (Ignant, goo.gl/ HvpsHg). At a young age, adolescents can adopt views that can stick with them for the long run, so it is important to branch out to other media pages in order

January 28, 2018

to view other perspectives on important matters such as global politics.

“We end up only hearing from people we agree with and completely missing out on anyone else’s opinion.”

Simple Solutions

Social media is transforming childhood into something that it shouldn’t be: overwhelming. Growing up is supposed to be fun and stress-free, but it seems that many teenagers are worrying about their future because of what they see on their phones. Overexposure to politics should not be something adolescents have to worry about. Because politics have the ability to shape the views of teenagers, it is even more important to keep them out of reach. Not much can be done to stop young adults from looking at their phones, but things can be done to change what they are looking at. Parents, monitor your children’s electronics to make sure that they are not seeing anything

that will negatively impact them. When your children are old enough, make sure to show them how to look at all sides of a topic to find the truth of it. Finally, give them the opportunity to stand up for what they believe in. If you do these three things for your children, they will become aware and active people in today’s society. Be sure to keep stress generated through social media away from children so that their childhood is spent the way it should be.

Pictures • Washington Women’s March 2016- https:// www.tripsavvy.com/ womens-march-onwashingtonjanuary-21-2017-4115328 • Social Media collagehttp:// houston.culturemap.com/ thumbnail/600x450/ photos/2013/07/25/socialmedia-with-medialogos_080206.jpg

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Increasing Fast Food Sales Change in Wealth and Fast Food Sales From 2010 to 2015. Red = Lower Middle Income, Yellow = Upper Middle Income, Blue = High Income Dionne Searcey and Matt Richtel “Obesity Was Rising As Ghana Embraced Fast Food. Then Came KFC.” (The New York Times, October 2, 2017, goo.gl/3RXHVG)

World War Junk

By Noah Weinberg

How Fast and Processed Food Has Impacted Other Countries But has this occurred worldwide?

Since the 1960s, Americans have eaten Whoppers and Big Macs for lunch, and the Dollar Menu has dominated. Strip malls have eaten up the countryside, and America has now reached the pinnacle of fast food consumption and reliance. Processed food has long filled household pantries, and American staples are loaded with junk. But has this occurred worldwide?

No, not until the 1980s, and the situation has grown more dire in the past decade. Imported foods are incredibly popular, carrying the allure of a world in which life is better. China, Germany, and France are among the many countries where fast food containers and sugary drinks have invaded. Foreign school children have always been drawn to American culture, and McDonald’s represents quintessential America. They now consume KFC and McDonald’s with their friends during lunch breaks. Even quaint European towns now contain fast food outposts in strip malls on the outskirts, decimating the walkable city centers for which they are known.

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Maria Arellano, the Middle School Director of SEL and Community Life and an English teacher at Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, NJ, says, “In schools in Singapore and Hong Kong, McDonald’s is offered for lunch. Students have to pre-order their one hamburger or cheeseburger. Overall, students in these two Asian cities do not consume large amounts of fast food, but McDonald’s’ golden arches represent the American culture.

Children do idolize the Americans, and McDonald’s is definitely a representation of that culture.” There is clearly some positive control on the fast food presence in these two Asian nations. But the American pull remains strong, and its influence must be limited to maintain the low obesity rates in Singapore and Hong Kong. In Andrew O. Odegaard, Woon Puay Koh, Jian-Min Yuan, Myron D. Gross, and Mark A. Pereira’s study “Western-Style Fast Food Intake and Cardiometabolic Risk in an Eastern Country” (Circulation, July 9, 2012, goo.gl/YMRxk3), the researchers found that Singaporeans who consumed fast food twice a week or more were 27% more at risk to get type 2 diabetes and 56% more vulnerable to death due to heart disease. Overall, the increase of Western diets being consumed in Eastern countries has negatively impacted the health of Easterners.

Quick, a French fast food chain that is similar to Burger King.

Carolyn Harper “Reflection on My Trip to France” (Missouri S&T, June 22, 2013, goo.gl/kjLz9z)

According to Anne-Sophie Roure, a French teacher at MKA, “In 1970s and 1980s France, there were limited fast food options in the countryside. However, bigger cities did have McDonald’s, Quick, which is similar to Burger King, and Flunch, a cafeteria-style restaurant.” Clearly, fast food did not penetrate the storied French countryside until after the 1980s. In addition, Roure grew up viewing fast food as unhealthy, but she did end up working there and consuming lots of their food, which caused her to gain weight.

Even though her story is depressing, France may have found a solution to the fast food issue. Over time, McDonald’s has been ‘Frenchized’ to serve pastries, espressos, and beer, which is similar to the country’s traditional fare. McDonald’s still exists in France, but it is far healthier and does not resemble its U.S. counterparts.

The American Samoa, an island and U.S. territory, may need to follow France’s lead in a return to its cultural diet.

The island, long known for its traditional diet of fresh fruits and meats, is very isolated, and shipments to the island remained uncommon until at least the late 1990s. Damien Barrett, a system technician at MKA, says that there was no fast food in the 2

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American Samoa until the 2000s. Barrett remembers from his childhood that the only packaged food available in the island chain were candy bars, and there certainly were no potato chips.

However, the healthy diet has completely eroded, and the American Samoa is now regarded as one of the places with the highest population of people at-risk for obesity. The allure of sugary, imported food remains too high, and life expectancy may now fall in the American Samoa thanks to abysmal health statistics.

The American Samoa’s adult population is around 93% obese or overweight.

Helen Collis “American Samoa's battle against obesity as 95 per cent of the nation are declared overweight” (Daily Mail, July 8, 2013, goo.gl/ LPVWPJ)

Based on Sophie Morgan’s reporting in the video “The Fattest Place on Earth” (Unreported World, September 24, 2017, goo.gl/PciKAR), around 93% of adults in the American Samoa are obese or overweight. Over the past few decades, imported foods have significantly grown in the Samoan Islands, and the inhabitants of the islands greatly prefer unhealthy, tasty foods shipped in over locally-sourced fruits and vegetables. Local food is commonly viewed as worse than imported food, which is why Samoans continue to eat unhealthily. Obesity in the Samoan islands is now 20 times worse than what it was 20 years ago. The American Samoa desperately needs help or else its population will falter, leaving innocent children abandoned and emergency diabetes clinics further strained.

Another French teacher at MKA, Dominique Benson, says that fast food chains are unavoidable in China these days, in stark contrast to the 1980s when there were none. Benson remarks that children in China began to consume more and more fast food once it became available. This, and preferential treatment, led to the high obesity rates among Chinese boys that exist today. China, along with many other countries, has a large eating out culture that defines the middle class lifestyle. Fast food restaurants cater to the Chinese wealthy, who, unlike the American elite, feel fashionable when found in a Burger King or McDonald’s.

Unfortunately, China is not the only country where fast food represents social status and prosperity. According to Dionne Searcey and Matt Richtel in their article “Obesity Was Rising As Ghana Embraced Fast Food. Then Came KFC” (The New York 3

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Times, October 2, 2017), the obesity rate has risen from 2% to 13.6% in Ghana since 1980, based on information from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which is affiliated with the University of Washington. The rise of fast food in the developing world has severely endangered populations and may The percentage of adults in Ghana who are prove even more overweight. Purple = female. Green = male. devastating than the AIDs crisis. A young goo.gl/mPPFUF generation of consumers, similar to those in their tastes of the American Baby Boom, have fallen into the fast food addiction trap. The European lifestyle of mall shopping and unhealthy eating is seen as more stylish, a way to show off your newfound wealth. While this transformation unfolded, the local diet was eroded to the point of belittlement in much of Ghana to the dismay of health advocates.

In order to stop the fast food industry from infiltrating another generation of children, much like in Ghana, one top city devised a plan. According to Caitlyn Dewey’s article “Why One Major City Will No Longer Let Fast-Food Outlets Open Near Schools” (The Washington Post, December 1, 2017, goo.gl/A36vBH), London recently approved a policy, effective in 2019, that will ban fast food establishments from being under a quarter-mile from primary and secondary schools. London is the first major city to take these preventive steps, and public health will be more intertwined with zoning in the future. The city is thinking ahead and hopes to curb childhood obesity, or at least slow its growth. In the United States and United Kingdom, 20% of 11-year-olds are obese, a product of a diet filled with fast and processed foods. A study from the American Journal of Public Health discovered that students who attend schools close to fast food restaurants are less likely to eat fresh foods and more likely to be overweight. The policy, though, may deliver a mixed bag of results. Many schools are within walking distance of multiple fast food restaurants, and existing 4

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Obesity rates in British children. goo.gl/LygEpe

establishments will not be forced to close.

However, many schools are not within close proximity of fast food restaurants, and these schools may deliver real results.

Hopefully the restriction of fast food near schools will lower childhood obesity and allow a generation, or at least part of a generation, of Londoners to escape

the grip of fast food companies.

A city of newfound oil money rises out of the desert along the Persian Gulf, home to the Burj Khalifa and the famous airline, Emirates. Huma Niazi, MKA Primary School Science Specialist, lived and taught in Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, for quite some time. She says, “In Dubai, there was a lot of ‘dining out’ culture and therefore people would eat a lot of fast food.”

Fast food is equated with the American and European lifestyle people want to live. Even though money is plentiful in Dubai, people choose to eat poorly. They do not realize the taboo of fast food and the constant avoidance of it by wealthy Westerners. If only the image of American prosperity could be altered, an emerging, and increasingly wealthy, region could be salvaged. Even more disturbing is the extreme Obesity rates in the United Arab consumption of fast food by teenagers in the Emirates United Arab Emirates. Referring to teenagers’ fast food goo.gl/cFukpq consumption, Niazi says, “It was noticeable in their physical appearance.” An entire cohort of Emiratis is being failed by poor choices. The culture of their country encourages eating out and replicating American behavior, and their 5

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city’s essence of prosperity, innovation, and youthfulness could be fatally threatened by their missteps.

This drastic cultural change poses a massive, undeniable threat to public health in the future as this generation rises in age and prosperity. The developed world, which has seen its population fall to the trap of fast food, needs to take charge and protect developing nations. North American and Western European institutions, governmental or citizen-run, must help protect people’s lives and save the world from becoming an overweight, Americanized planet. The developed world is only now feeling the full effects of a half-century war waged against public health. And it cannot occur again; the human race cannot afford any more casualties. At its core, the draw of the American lifestyle is too great throughout the world. In order for healthful peace to reign, America must start a diet and get on the treadmill, effectively fulfilling its role as a superpower. Very little threatens the planet more than the obesity crisis, so as the world’s police, the United States must patrol and protect. America has the ability to lead the world in a ‘health revolution’, but money, time, and political will must be invested in this all-important endeavor.

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THE BIG IMPACTS OF BIG DATA Big data is revolutionizing business and is the impetus for unprecedented U.S. economic growth

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Amazon, a digital commerce company founded in 1994, has grown exponentially since its initial public offering in 1997, and, as it continues to dominate competition and penetrate numerous industries, Amazon gives the impression that its unprecedented growth will not cease. As its stock price, sales, and e-commerce market share consistently show drastic increases, Amazon continues to invest, innovate, and change the world (nasdaq.com). However, in order to continue to proliferate sales, Amazon has deployed various strategies to engage and satisfy customers and persuade them to purchase speciďŹ cally-targeted products. The one vital aspect that distinguishes Amazon from its competition is its consistent application of big data and predictive analytics.

Amazon collects and stores its users’ data and The Big Impacts of Big Data

information in order to determine how its consumers spend their money, and they analyze this data and information for target marketing. Yet, Amazon is only one example of the multitude of companies that have recently applied big data to reach a greater insight by learning more about their customers, to enhance decision-making, make marketing more effective, and, ultimately, to increase revenue. And as the application of big data becomes more and more prevalent, it continues to bolster and stimulate U.S. economic growth.

What is Big Data?

According to a report by the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST),

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(bigdatawg.nist.gov) big data is defined as the presence of extremely voluminous data sets that are analyzed to reveal trends and patterns relating to behavior and interactions. The NIST report also stated that companies and organizations derive their masses of data from an abundance of different sources including smartphones, social media, sensors, computer servers, and the internet of things.

As big data analytics is advanced and increasing amounts of data are gathered, the opportunities and possibilities continue to grow, especially for the U.S. economy.

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Amazon is one of the multitude of companies that apply big data to gain a competitive advantage. Amazon’s optimal usage of big data is a primary contributor in its major success.

Sales and Marketing Similar to Amazon, many large and small businesses have applied big data because it provides numerous competitive advantages. First, companies can optimize big data as a strategic asset. Big data analysis reveals information that allows companies to enhance and accelerate decision-making because, by using big data analytics to quickly identify trends and patterns, companies can adjust quickly to target specific goods or services in particular locations for individual customers at opportune times. The key to marketing is understanding the consumer. With big data analysis, companies can analyze consumer behavior, which allows them to alter their marketing strategies and operations to tailor to certain demands and customer interests (economist.com). Big data is a valuable -PETER DRUCKER, AMERICAN MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT AND strategic asset because AUTHOR the intelligence and insight it reveals leads to better real-time decisions, so companies can instantly increase profits. Understanding consumer behavior with big data also allows companies to optimize marketing performance. In addition,

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

The Big Impacts of Big Data

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IBM Watson Analytics is an advanced data analysis service currently used by many companies. According to IBM, some of Watson’s services include: “Discover relationships. Test correlations. Develop outlooks that can guide you to your next great achievement. Search for insights in your own voice and instantly get answers. Smart data discovery, automated predictive analytics and cognitive capabilities enable you to interact with data conversationally.”

according to a recent survey conducted by BARC, (barc-research.com) big data analytics enables cost and time reduction and an increase in productivity, which allows for new product development and innovation because companies have more money and time to invest. For example, IBM Watson Analytics, an advanced data analysis service, converts data to information efficiently, which allows for greater and quicker insights and more well-informed business decisions in real time !2

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(ibm.com/watson-analytics). With quick data analysis, such as that enabled by Watson, companies can increase productivity, cut costs, and raise savings, which will increase their overall value and earnings.

Other economic impacts of big data are demonstrated in the sales and marketing industry. Sales and marketing entails putting products or services into the hands of a customer in the most profitable way (Marketing and Sales: Big Data, Analytics, and the Future of Analytics and Sales, McKinsey&Company). Big data analysis is a crucial tool for sales and marketing because by understanding their customers’ behavior and interactions, companies can improve customer engagement and loyalty and optimize marketing performance. As previously mentioned, big data analysis facilitates customer analytics and target marketing, which allows companies to increase revenue by tailoring goods and services to certain demographics. In addition to more advanced customer analytics, some other impacts of big data in sales and marketing include: more efficient product development, pricing optimization, increased operational efficiency, greater customer loyalty, and search engine optimization (SEO) (Marketing and Sales: Big Data, Analytics, and the Future of Analytics and Sales, McKinsey&Company).

Leveraging big data shows companies what products to create The Big Impacts of Big Data

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17 MEGABYTES

By 2020, it is projected about 17 megabytes of new data is created every second for every individual on the planet (forbes.com).

$300 BILLION

By better integrating big data, healthcare could save as much as $300 billion a year – the equivalent to reducing costs by $1000 a year for every man, woman, and child (forbes.com).

$125-$270 BILLION

McKinsey Global Institute estimates a total productivity gain of $125$270 billion within manufacturing, production, and distribution.

$30-$55 BILLION

McKinsey Global Institute estimates a $30-$55 billion gain in GDP through use of big data in the retail sector.

$31 BILLION

Companies spend $31 billion annually on big data (ibm.com).

65%

65% of global executives say they embrace data to stay competitive (ibm.com).

and what products to modify or advance, which leads to an upsurge in production efficiency (ide.mit.edu).

The purpose of big data analysis in sales and marketing is to determine what products and services engage and satisfy specific consumers and market niches. During production, companies can use this information to design products that connect with consumers or develop existing products based on consumer activity and behavior.

(Marketing and Sales: Big Data, Analytics, and the Future of Analytics and Sales, McKinsey&Company) Products developed with the application of big data are more “well informed” because they are deliberately designed to display a greater appeal to consumers. Also, companies can allocate resources more efficiently and purchase materials more economically if they have more information about planning, producing, and launching new products. With big data, companies can make more money with less resources and produce greater outputs.

Big data analysis can lead to pricing optimization. Pricing optimization refers to setting the best prices – the maximum price that customers would be willing to pay – and it is critically important because prices are a major determinant of a company’s profits.

Big data analysis facilitates finding the best prices because it can be used to predict supply and demand. Uber, a highly successful global taxi technology company, uses its pricing algorithm to maximize the amount it charges its customers without charging !3

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an absurd price. Uber’s pricing algorithm depends on big data analysis (bloomberg.com). It uses demographics, time of day or year, and other factors to predict demand and supply. Equipped with this data, Uber optimizes pricing, which increases the company’s net profits.

Next, companies use big data to increase operational efficiency. Operational efficiency is essentially a measure of the “efficiency of profit earned as a function of operational costs” (investopedia.com). In other words, it is an input to output measure of how much a company makes in regards to how much it spends.

According to an article by IBM, (ibm.com) the implementation of big data can improve operational efficiency because it enables companies to gain insights in order to enhance asset and infrastructure efficiency. Basically, big data allows analysis of production, so companies can manage their assets and infrastructure more effectively based on what the data shows is optimum. This improves manufacturing and reduces production costs, which results in greater operational efficiency. According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, (mckinsey.com) retailers that use big data to their greatest value can increase their operating margin by more than 60% by optimizing inventory, transportation, and labor and increasing supply chain and operational efficiency. Also, with predictive analytics in big data, companies can enhance operational efficiency by pinpointing or predicting the most demanded products and services and ramping up production for those items. By ensuring asset and infrastructure efficiency with big data, companies can minimize costs, upgrade service, and avoid failures. They can also gain insight into current events in order to learn how to adapt, predict future trends, and determine what needs to be done to generate new opportunities and sources of income (Marketing and Sales: Big Data, Analytics, and the Future of Analytics and Sales, McKinsey&Company). Operational efficiency is The Big Impacts of Big Data

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This figure shows how the top 1000 US companies have applied big data. As shown, a large percentage of companies have used big data in some way. Of the companies that use it, most companies have realized its value.

crucial for companies to grow and increase profits, and it would not be nearly as effective without big data.

Companies use big data to build customer loyalty by discovering what influences consumers’ decisions and what factors motivate them to return.

By working to satisfy, better understand, and predict the behavior and needs of individual customers, companies can build a stronger, personalized relationship with each of their customers. This greater loyalty encourages customers to return, which increases long-term revenue.

The final major impact of big data on the sales and marketing industry is marketing through search engine optimization (SEO). SEO, in relation to digital marketing, refers to the process of increasing website traffic, views, and conversion rates in order to find new customers and expand (Marketing and Sales: Big Data, Analytics, and the Future of Analytics and Sales, McKinsey&Company). Big data monitors a searcher’s complete history and activity on the internet. Companies analyze this data and deliver results based on a searcher’s activity in an effort to !4

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prompt them to a specific page, which can help to increase the traffic of a website and make it more visible and attractive to searchers. Then, companies can adjust their sales tactics to tailor to the consumers’ needs. Another method companies have implemented for digital marketing and sales is effective email campaigns. With this method, companies deliver personalized and relevant emails to consumers marketing certain products based on their preferences and behavior, which has shown to drastically increase sales.

Since big data permits less costly and more efficient operations and production, companies have a greater amount of capital and time leftover. This additional capital and time can be reinvested into the company, which fosters more innovation. According to a McKinsey & Company report titled “Marketing & Sales Big Data, Analytics, and the Future of Marketing & Sales,” companies that incorporate data into their operations show productivity rates much higher than those of their competition. The application of big data analysis in sales and marketing is crucial for companies to grow and maximize their earnings, which can lead to substantial economic growth.

One prominent company that has applied big data as a strategic asset is Netflix. Netflix pursued big data analytics with the hope of engaging its customers, which would, in turn, increase monthly subscriptions and revenue. Netflix fulfilled this hope. They designed an algorithm to gain insight into their customers’ behavior such as their viewing habits, so they could accurately predict the preferences of a specific customer based on their watch history and interests (forbes.com). Netflix collects data based on the activity of their customers, which they use to satisfy customers and to make better decisions to tailor certain shows and movies to specific customers. In Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Are, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a former Google data scientist with a PhD in economics from The Big Impacts of Big Data

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House of Cards is in original series designed

by Netflix. Netflix designed this series by applying big data and predictive modeling to engage and appeal to users. By understanding what users enjoy viewing, Netflix created a show aligning with users’ habits and preferences. House of Cards was an instant hit. (nytimes.com) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ en/thumb/0/0b/ House_of_Cards_season_1.png/250pxHouse_of_Cards_season_1.png

Harvard, stated: “Netflix learned a similar lesson early on in its life cycle: don’t trust what people tell you; trust what they do... Netflix stopped asking people to tell them what they wanted to see in the future and started building a model based on millions of clicks and views from customers” (Stephens-Davidowitz, 156-157). Netflix uses this predictive model to suggest films to customers based on what the data reveals about the customer’s behavior. As a result, customers visit Netflix more frequently and watch more movies.

Additionally, Netflix uses big data to design new shows aligning with the interests and tendencies of their customers, such as House of Cards (above).

According to an article by Medium titled How Netflix Uses Big Data, (medium.com) Netflix’s predictive algorithm for their original shows demonstrates a success rate of 80% as opposed to a success rate of 30% to 40% for traditional TV shows. This disparity in success rate can be attributed to Netflix’s extensive implementation of big data.

Differential Pricing

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Although big data provides companies with a competitive and strategic advantage, some privacy and trust issues have also emerged regarding companies’ usage of big data. A major issue is differential pricing, which is commonly referred to as price discrimination. According to a report titled Big Data and Differential Pricing released in 2015 by the Obama Administration (obamawhitehouse.archives.gov), differential pricing is “the practice of charging customers different prices for the same product.”

Traditionally, a retailer might use visual clues or speech to price discriminate, but big data takes this practice to the next level. Big data analysis reveals information about specific consumers, and companies use this information to understand consumer behavior and determine the likelihood of a certain consumer paying a certain price for a product. Specifically, the data and information companies receive about customer behavior is

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This price differentiation of Coca-Cola at different locations can

be attributed to difference in supply and demand. A newsstand charges more than a big supermarket for the same can of CocaCola because newspapers are usually impulsive buys, so customers will be more likely to buy the Coca-Cola. Also, a big supermarket has more purchase power than a newsstand, so it can afford to charge less.

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This graph shows the potential of big data analytics for US retailers and manufacturers, for health care, and for the government. As shown, big data analytics can trigger massive GDP and productivity gains (McKinsey Global Institute).

derived from their location, gender, income, race, family size, search history, social network activity, purchase history, and song and video history. This information is exploited to predict consumer behavior and characteristics. For example, senior citizens pay less than middle-aged consumers at movie theaters and for air travel because they are not at peak purchase power (obamawhitehouse.archives.gov). Consumers in certain demographic groups especially benefit from differential pricing because the data shows they are more price sensitive, so they will be presented with lower costs. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz stated: “Businesses are often trying to figure out what price they should charge for goods and services. Ideally they want to charge customers the maximum they are willing to pay. This way, they will extract the maximum possible profit.” Based on the demographics of customers – which is known through big data analysis – companies charge their customers maximal sums in order to extract maximal profits, and they set prices depending on the demand of consumers for a product or services. Also, with !6

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analysis, uses varying demands and takes advantage of information asymmetry to charge customers different prices for the same product or service, and this allows companies to increase their revenue.

Healthcare

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differential pricing, companies can expand the size of the market by providing lower costs to more costsensitive customers and reach customers who might not otherwise purchase a product. One may argue that price discrimination is inherently an inequitable tactic companies use to take advantage of their customers; however, as economic theory suggests, differential pricing is actually an effective tactic because it benefits both retailers and consumers (obamawhitehouse.archives.gov). In essence, differential pricing, which is facilitated by big data The Big Impacts of Big Data

Another industry in which big data has had a significant impact is healthcare. Healthcare spending accounts for 17.9% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (cms.gov). In order to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and value in healthcare, organizations must decrease spending, cut costs, optimize operations, and make better realtime decisions (aspe.hhs.gov). Big data analysis enables this improvement. According to an article by Forbes, (forbes.com) the usage of big data in healthcare can be used to improve care and cost efficiency, predict epidemics, cure and prevent disease, and improve safety and avoid preventable deaths. The importance of big data in the healthcare industry is expanding rapidly because as population and longevity increase, organizations must effectively use resources, be quicker to provide treatment, and predict chronic diseases and outbreaks before they occur. Based on a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, (mckinsey.com) if the US healthcare sector uses big data effectively, it is estimated that health organizations can save more

This image illustrates how healthcare organizations say they are using big data.

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than $300 billion per year in spending in the U.S. In order to improve care and cost efficiency in the industry, health organizations must analyze big data and information to extract new insights about individual patients. Optimally, healthcare organizations should strive to present the highest quality patient care at the lowest costs. With big data, health organizations can improve quality of care and reduce costs because they can analyze patients’ profiles comprehensively to customize care.

Also, by using predictive modeling, health organizations can improve cost efficiency by better allocating resources and expending resources more effectively. In addition, big data analysis delivers imperative diagnoses quickly and accurately by accounting for numerous unique circumstances to formulate the care plan in real-time (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). This limits costs by reducing the number of hospitalizations and readmissions. Health organizations can decrease the number of hospitalizations and readmissions by monitoring patient data in real-time so that patients can selfmanage conditions or seek preventive care before conditions exacerbate (forbes.com). Big data analysis shows which patients are likely to need additional treatment, and this prevents readmission and increases operational efficiency. By using big data analysis, health organizations can provide high quality cost-effective patient care and improve overall outcomes.

Second, big data is used in the healthcare industry to predict epidemics and cure and prevent disease. With advances in technology, more sources of patients’ health data have emerged, so a profusion of data and information about patients is gathered.

Health organizations inspect this data to discern and research trends in the state of the health of the general public (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). If health organizations are equipped with information about the health of the general public, they can discover complications before they occur and work to develop treatments or cures in advance, which saves The Big Impacts of Big Data

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future costs and reduces total deaths. The ability to identify health issues before they initiate and pervade is crucial because it can save an abundance of lives.

Similar to target marketing, health organizations can use data to create a comprehensive representation of an individual patient to provide tailored, individualized treatment. With ample access to information about individual patients from a wide range of sources, health organizations can use predictive analytics and modeling to assure they provide individualized, tailored care because they can compare one patient to others with similar conditions, lifestyle, and demographic backgrounds to reduce errors, predict outcomes, lower costs, prescribe tailored treatment, and develop effective care plans (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Individualized treatment improves care while also building stronger relationships with patients. By using big data to analyze patients’ profiles, health organizations can provide faster time to treatment, which saves costs and lives. Furthermore, according to an article by Quartz, (qz.com) some Google researchers are using big data and predictive analytics to predict a patient’s medical outcome as soon as they are admitted to the hospital. Google’s study used 46 billion data points from 216,221 adults aggregated over 11 years at two different hospitals – University of California San Francisco Medical Center and University of Chicago Medicine. According to the analysis, Google claims “vast improvements over traditional models used today for predicting medical outcomes… including the ability to predict patient deaths 24-48 hours before current methods.” This advancement is crucial for hospitals because it allows additional time for doctors to perform lifesaving procedures. Big data is saving lives.

As shown, big data has vast applications for the healthcare industry – the delivery of personalized medicine, tailored diagnostic and treatment decisions, population health analysis, disease !8

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detection and prevention, increased cost and resource efficiency, and improved overall quality of care. By improving healthcare in these ways, organizations can decrease spending, which will foster economic growth.

Big Data-Driven Business Models With new advances in technology and artificial intelligence, companies have started to build business models supported by big data. This has led to the growth of an industry of data brokers and the development of business models based on big data. According to Harvard Business Review (hbr.org), there are three main approaches to big data-based business models: using data to create differentiated offerings; brokering information; and building networks to deliver data https://www.facebook.com/images/ where it’s needed, when it’s needed. fb_icon_325x325.png Google is a prominent example of a company that relies on a data-based business model to create differentiated offerings. By analyzing customer “click” patterns, Google’s advanced analytical software formulates an algorithm that displays a user’s browsing and purchasing trends and This image shows Facebook’s history. Google uses this data to logo. Facebook is a social tailor advertisements to certain users media platform that has (forbes.com). By depending on this successfully applied big data into its business model. big data business model, Google creates personalization, differentiated offerings, and relevance for customers to improve satisfaction and engagement, which proliferates revenue and strengthens loyalty.

Next, many companies broker data and information as an additional source of income (hbr.org). This means that companies collect data and information about individuals and sell it to other organizations, including the government, for profit. In the advent of big data, more business The Big Impacts of Big Data

January 29, 2018

opportunities have emerged to manage, control, and sell the masses of data. Data brokering has inevitably become a critical industry. One company that has built a business model entirely based on data brokering is Acxiom. Marketers need big data, and Acxiom was established to provide it. Acxiom collects a superabundance of data from a wide range of sources – such as from public records, consumer activity, and reports of retail purchases – to create consumer profiles, which they sell to marketers and retailers for a profit (itworld.com). Many social media networks broker data, too. For instance, Facebook sells a user’s browsing data directly to advertising companies related to that user’s activity on the network. Facebook’s privacy policy states: “We collect the content and other information you provide when you use our Services, including when you sign up for an account, create or share, and message or communicate with others. This can include information in or about the content you provide, such as the location of a photo or the date a file was created. We also collect information about how you use our Services, such as the types of content you view or engage with or the frequency This image illustrates a cellular tower.

Cellular towers collect data in realtime and monitor transportation, which can be mined for useful market research. https:// www.theridgefieldpress.co

m/wp-content/uploads/sites/ 28/2016/02/t_PR-P1-Celltower-close.jpg

and duration of your activities.” (facebook.com/about/privacy) Stocked with this information, Facebook sells users’ browsing data to !9

Dhruv Jetley

create more targeted ads and improve ads. Recently, concerns about online privacy and data security have arisen from Facebook selling personal information; however, in reality, data brokering is just a business tactic Facebook uses to improve their customers’ experience and make money. Data brokering is a crucial part of many social networks’ business models.

With prodigious masses of data circulating every minute, it is vital that information reaches organizations and individuals who can use it. This process of delivering data into the right hands at the right time has enabled the monetization of data, so new business models based on building networks to deliver data are also being developed and instituted.

In an article by the Harvard Business Review (hbr.org), it states: “Few organizations will have the capital to create end-to-end content delivery networks that can go from cloud to devices… Big data could be their opportunity.” Information providers and brokers work with companies to deliver offers in ad networks. Distributing content to different targeted groups is crucial for marketing because companies must deliver their content to a wide range of consumers. One way to distribute content is by using social media platforms and networks. For example, Facebook is a major content delivery network. An advantage of using Facebook to deliver content is that people and organizations http://wikibon.org/vault/Special:FilePath/BigDataMarketForecast2013.png

This graph shows the growing market for big data. Since 2011, the big data market has demonstrated large increases. In the future, this trend is expected to continue.

The Big Impacts of Big Data

January 29, 2018

rely on it for communicating and discovering content. With big data analysis, this advantage is amplified because Facebook ads are capable of targeting based on interests, behavior, demographics, and activity collected by the platform. This allows advertisers to increase conversion rates, appeal to a large audience of consumers, and generate ampler profits. Furthermore, as described by the Harvard Business Review (hbr.org), large wireless carriers – such as Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile – monetize data by mapping traffic flows. With this data, these large wireless carriers can work with display advertisers to optimize advertising for popular routes, such as the optimal location to construct a billboard. The requisite of content and data delivery networks has led to new opportunities and the founding of new businesses centered on this model.

Innovation and Economic Growth The most advantageous and promising economic impact of big data is to strengthen innovation. Innovation is vital to business growth and is critical to success because companies must generate new ideas and take action to keep up with and surpass competition. By exploiting big data, companies can stimulate and bolster innovation in multiple ways. As previously shown, big data allows companies to develop new products or services based on consumer demand, improve operational efficiency, formulate new business models, reduce failure, improve decision-making, optimize marketing, and price differentiate. These strategic assets are vital for business growth, and, by saving time and money, they allow companies to work to innovate. By gathering and analyzing big data and making it central to innovation processes, companies can guide strategy, recognize problems, pursue opportunities, and spur innovation (ibm.com).They can convert business intelligence into actionable !10

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insight and innovation. Innovation is the impetus for economic growth, and it leads to increased revenue and loyalty from customers and better responses to changes in the community or industry (Big data: the next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity, McKinsey Global Institute). Big datadriven innovation also economically benefits consumers. It permits improved quality of healthcare, lower prices, stronger connection and retention to certain companies, and a precise match between products and consumer trends. McKinsey Global Institute describes this phenomenon as enhanced consumer economic surplus because consumers directly or indirectly experience similar benefits to businesses (mckinsey.com). In essence, big data-driven innovation has become “a key pillar of 21st-century growth, with the potential to significantly enhance productivity, resource efficiency, economic competitiveness, and social well-being.”

In a study conducted by McKinsey Global Institute (content.pivotal.io), expert researchers considered big data analytics to be the #1 factor contributing to increased US productivity and raised GDP in the near future. This demonstrates how big data analytics is an essential asset to US economic growth, fostering growth and competition and innovation. In the midst of a digital revolution, companies that embrace big data can create farreaching, impactful new opportunities. These opportunities not only benefit marketers and business owners, but they are also key, positive contributors to national economies and their actors.

Reliance on abundant data has transcended traditional marketing and decision-making processes, but, in the words of Senior Advisor to the CEO at Microsoft Craig Mundie, “The data-centered economy is just nascent. You can see the outlines of it, but the technical, infrastructural and even business-model implications are not well understood right now.” The potential of big data is limitless. As more companies and organizations and new sectors The Big Impacts of Big Data

January 29, 2018

realize the full potential of big data in economics, its application will continue to expand. Ronald Coase, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, once stated: “If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.” Coase is implying that data is an invaluable asset to companies and can lead to any imaginable insight. And as ever-increasing masses of data are generated, aggregated, and analyzed and technology is advanced, it is distinctly possible that the big data revolution is just beginning.

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Brodie Snyder

COLUMBUS DAY: What are we really celebrating?

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue: a phrase we’ve all heard growing up. We were told that Columbus was a brave mapmaker and explorer, who discovered the Americas and brought riches to Europe. His socalled ‘greatness’ is even celebrated in a national holiday today: Columbus Day. But Columbus actually had a dark history behind him that many people choose to ignore. The negatives caused

by Columbus are beginning to become apparent, and many people are starting to oppose Columbus Day. In fact, Columbus didn’t even ‘discover’ the Americas. Obviously, the Native Americans were already living in the Americas; the ‘discovery’ is merely for the Old World. Many different ethnic groups from around the world had already set foot on American soil before Christopher Columbus was even born.

Vikings are believed to have been the first Europeans to discover the New World and are credited with discovering Greenland along with parts of mainland North America. They set up temporary shelter and settlements throughout the region. In Norse literature of the Middle Ages, or “sagas,” the Vikings were said to have discovered and settled in a place just west of Greenland named Vinland.(Exploration of North America, n.d.) These tales were disregarded as myths until archaeological proof was found in 1960,

Spongebob Squarepants, from the popular cartoon of the same name, celebrates Leif Ericson’s discoveries in episode “Leif Erikson Day”. https://goo.gl/Qkj8Ft

confirming the Vikings’ presence in Nova Scotia.

(Christopher Klein, 2013)

Around the 1000s (11th century), almost

five centuries before Columbus set foot on the Americas, a Viking explorer by the name of Bjarni Herjulfsson was blown off course on a visit to his father and evidently discovered Greenland.

(Exploration of North America, n.d.) A few years later, Leif Ericson, another Viking explorer, was sent on a follow-up mission. He eventually discovered Helluland, Markland, Vinland, and even areas in present day Canada. He may have 1

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also discovered further areas on the east coast, like Cape Cod and Chesapeake Bay.(Exploration of North America, n.d.) Many Norse voyagers continued exploring, and were successful in discovering many areas through North America; however, the knowledge of these discoveries were not largely shared with the rest of the Old World, and no credit was given to the Vikings up until very recently. But the Vikings, while one of the earliest groups to set foot in the Americas, were not the first peoples to discover it for themselves.

Around 750 B.C., African expeditions launched from ports in Egypt and possibly Morocco, and landed on the East Coast of Mexico. (Loewen, 2008) This specific group is referred to as Afro-Phoenicians, a people that had grown wealth from trade throughout Africa. (Van Sertima, 1976) There was rumor of this occurring, through Native American primary sources, talking of significantly dark-skinned people who journeyed from the East. (Van Sertima, 1976) Their presence was verified when evidence was found across Mexico. Native American sculptures were found that specifically looked like the people that visited them in 750 B.C. The statues had stereotypical African features: full lips, rough hair, large noses, notable jaw, and tattoos of the AfroPhoenicians of the time. (Van Sertima, 1976) Alexander von Wuthenau, an archaeologist and collector of many such terra cotta figures, speaks on the topic: "It is contradictory to elementary logic and to all artistic experience that an Indian could depict in a masterly way the head of a Negro or of a white person without missing a single racial characteristic, unless he had seen such a person." Other pieces of evidence support the Afro-Phoenicians’ presence in Mexico, in addition to the statues. During several trades, spears were given to Columbus by Native Americans. (Van Sertima, 1976) When archaeologists discovered these spears, they found

that they were made using guanine, a metal mixture that matched exactly to the spears found in Africa. (Van Sertima, 1976) While it is commonly challenged, there is substantial evidence supporting that Chinese were in America before Columbus. Only a century before Columbus came across the Americas from Europe, another culture was exploring the area.

These peoples came from the other side of Eurasia, in China. In the 1400s, during the Ming dynasty, (China, 1400–1600 A.D., n.d.) China was celebrating the opening of a new capital city.

(Menzies, 2003) The Emperor of China, commonly referred to as Emperor Yongle, wanted to expand the shipbuilding and exploration industry of China, and sent out a fleet of 100 ships with the sole intent of observation and discovery. (Hucker, 2018) Led by Zheng He, the flotilla is hypothesized to have landed on the west coast of America in 1421. (Hucker, 2018) Substantial evidence has been found to back up Zheng He’s arrival in America.

One of many Native American statues showing the Afro-Phoenicians’ likeness. https://goo.gl/xrTMYn

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Brodie Snyder

Off of the coast of California, shipwrecks were found that were believed to have been Chinese. After a recent testing of the materials they were made out of, it has been found that the ships were made of a type of wood from a tree only grown in China, and that it was from the 1400s. (Menzies, 2003) In addition to shipwrecks, medals, sculptures, and even animals were found that belonged to the Chinese. (Menzies, 2003) For example, the Asiatic chicken was indigenous to China, but was found in America by European voyagers. (Menzies, 2003) These recent discoveries confirm that there was Chinese presence in North America, but why do we never hear about it?

While the voyagers were overseas, Emperor Yongle fell sick on a Mongolian campaign, and passed away. (Hucker, 2018) The Hongxi Emperor took over the throne and prohibited further voyages, as he believed they would destroy China’s great wealth and resources.

(Menzies, 2003) When the voyagers returned, unrest and disagreement flooded China. It is largely speculated that knowledge and records of Zheng He’s voyages to certain areas were destroyed or hidden, in order to deter from further exploration. (Menzies, 2003) The three examples, in the Vikings, AfroPhoenicians, and Chinese, all, without a doubt, prove that Columbus was not the first to ‘Discover the Americas for the Old World.’ Along with not actually discovering the Americas, Columbus was almost entirely responsible for the mass enslavement of an entire peoples, and what is referred to as the most massive act of genocide in World History. Columbus was a sailor and mapmaker from Italy, who was sponsored by Spain to find a new route to India. (History.com Staff, 2009) Upon arrival in what he thought was India, but was actually the Americas, Columbus

took advantage of the indigenous peoples with unfair trades, such as exchanging small pieces of glass and rocks for valuable weaponry, cloth, water, and foodstuffs. (Boone & Houston, 2010) In addition, Columbus saw the natives as uncivilized and barbaric, and took their land and resources because of it. (Boone & Houston, 2010) He believed that the indigenous peoples he came across would make good slaves, and wrote: They took all, and gave what they had with good will…

They neither carry nor know anything of arms…

They are all of fair stature and size, with good faces, and well made…

They should be good servants…

The people are very docile ... with fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them.

(Markham, 1893)

After enslaving much of the population, and returning to Spain with riches and fame, Columbus was appointed as governor of the Islands he found. (History.com Staff, 2009) With this new title, he ordered all inhabitants to collect valuables of the island, such as gold. (History.com Staff, 2009) If they couldn’t gather enough, they were brutally punished and often times killed.

(History.com Staff, 2009) The conquered lands were stripped dry of natural resources, which led to the extinction of local plants and flora. (Boone & Houston, 2010) Columbus was even punished and imprisoned by his own sponsors, the Spanish government, for his tyranny over Caribbean islands. (Boone & Houston, 2010)

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Brodie Snyder

So despite all of this, why is Columbus still celebrated? Put simply, Columbus may not have been the first, but he was the first that mattered. Ignoring the casualties he caused to the Caribbean ecosystem, Columbus did kick-start Atlantic world trade, and helped make it accessible. (Boone & Houston, 2010) In the case of the Vikings, their discovery didn’t influence European trade, and the Americas just served as a temporary home for them. When the Chinese returned home from the Americas, the political climate was too unstable to send further voyages, and the new Emperor was against exploration.

The Afro-Phoenicians came across similar parts of the Americas as Columbus, but didn’t have the resources or technology to act upon it. These other discoveries can be put down to be unimportant in the bigger picture of world history. Columbus’s discovery happened at the right time in technological human history, with

enough resources backing him up, so that he and fellow Europeans soon after could act upon his discovery.

So, should Columbus day be celebrated?

That depends on the way you look at what he did, and how you weigh his pros and cons. On one hand, he was responsible for an environmental destruction and genocide of an entire people; but, he did ignite a spark in future cross-Atlantic trade, that is still alive and prosperous today. Out of a survey done at the Montclair Kimberley Academy Middle School, 95.5% of 8th graders who answered think that someone responsible for a mass genocide should either not be celebrated in a holiday, or they are not sure. Along with the horrible acts put on the native people, Columbus didn’t discover America, or even come in second place. Perhaps, it’s time to ask if participation awards should be given to all all explorers, ‘successful’ or not.

15th Century Chinese map, showing the Americas in great detail. https://goo.gl/BqadNL

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Preemptive Physical Therapy

By Emma Burd Medical breakthrough: scientists are beginning to figure out why using physical therapy as a way to prevent athletic injuries produces better results.

You may only know of Olympic athletes whose careers have ended due to injuries, but according to Stanford Children’s Health in an article about sports injury statistics (https://goo.gl/QV7ZUd), more than 3.5 million kids under the age of 14 have been pulled from athletics for this reason. Experts in the field are beginning to say that therapy is the best way to prevent these injuries. In the past, it was commonly thought that physical therapy was best used only for rehabilitation purposes. Now, with new discoveries being made every day, specialists are beginning to realize that therapy is more effective used proactively.

One of these experts, Dennis Gutierrez, is a Neuro-Developmental pediatric physical therapist at Saint Barnabas Hospital in New Jersey. He believes that age is a huge factor in receiving therapy. It isn’t widely known that therapy is not only about retraining muscles, but also about retraining the brain.

Gutierrez stresses the importance of the fact that physical therapy can be a way to prevent injuries rather than as a way of repair.

There’s a good chance that you never thought about seeing a physical therapist if you didn’t have to. Michael Sokolove, the author of the book Warrior Girls, shares an anecdote of an athlete’s immediate reaction to suffering from an injury. He reports that their “response is to rehab as quickly as

possible and get back on the field.” (Simon and Schuster, 2008) Notice how the athletes didn’t even consider therapy as a way to prevent the injury; only as a way to fix it.

Physical therapy has actually been proven several times to be most effective when used preemptively.

For example, http://www.cimlasvegas.com/physical-therapy/how-youngathletes-can-benefit-from-physical-therapy/ this would mean that a soccer player is much less likely to get an injury in the first place if they use therapy before they hurt themselves; however, this information is not widely known.

Having a private session or going to a physical therapist isn’t always necessary either. If coaches are professionally taught how to retrain their athletes’ brains to land or run differently, the amount of injuries that happen would drop drastically. According to Brian Schiff, a licensed physical therapist and fitness professional, in an article called “Prehab is Performance Enhancement Training” (https://goo.gl/JzoUFn), there is a problem with this logic. “In a team setting, it is virtually impossible for coaches to individualize the training stimuli according to a certain athlete’s specific needs.

Additionally, most of them lack the knowledge and experience . . . Now I am the first to recognize that as a physical therapist and strength coach, I have strong opinions about how athletes should train in regard to preventing injury.” This means that, even though having a coach who is trained in

methods of preventive care is better than nothing, it is optimal to have a physical therapist because of how much more specific it is for the patient. In addition, when using the technique of therapy, it is much easier to retrain a younger brain rather than an older one. This means that a girl who is in college playing lacrosse will have a much harder time learning to run differently compared to a middle school-aged girl who plays the same sport. In reality, all of these ideas stem from psychology.

Because the https://newgradphysicaltherapy.com/value-physical-therapy/ college level girl has been playing for longer, she has most likely become accustomed to playing sports in the way she was initially taught.

The longer the patient has had that connection between their brain and their body when playing sports, the harder it is to make any sort of change.

One of the main differences in a physical therapy treatment is the patient. In addition to age, gender is a very important factor to understand when trying to prevent athletic injuries. First off, boys and girls are built very differently, which generally makes them fit for different types of sports.

“Boys tend to excel more in sports that would require endurance...because males have a greater lung capacity compared to females. The same token, girls tend to excel

better in sports that would require balance and precision because of the female's skeletal makeup,” Gutierrez continues thoughtfully. This shows that both age and gender are crucial to consider before commencing any sort of treatment for the patient. A good therapist will take everything into consideration and tailor it to the patient’s needs.

It is not uncommon for parents to be hesitant to put their athletic child through therapy, even after their kid has suffered through a serious accident. To them, their child has a strict agenda: high school, college and, for some, Olympic or professional level sports. Sometimes, the athlete is the one who doesn’t want to take a break from playing the sport they love to become a patient. The part that these parents and kids don’t realize, however, is that the therapy could keep them from getting injured in the first place. Even taking just a session a week or having an instructor that is trained in a better way, athletic careers could be saved. Gutierrez thinks that more openminded children and parents are more likely to accept the idea of physical therapy. “I think this is about perception. If the parents/kids think that the PT will help improve whatever skills they have, they tend to be more receptive to it… highly motivated and sports-minded kids with highly motivated and supportive parents are the most receptive and compliant to PT.” Usually, parents who are more concerned for their child’s well-being and happiness are more open to trying anything they can to keep their kid safe. In the long run, this will

save both the parents and the patients a lot of physical and emotional stress.

Avoiding physical therapy can be one of the worst things that an athlete can do. According to the Loudoun Sports Therapy Center (https://goo.gl/4bGY7g), injuries due to athletics that affect the knees, shoulders, lower back, and hips are sometimes irreparable after a certain period of time if the athlete doesn’t reach out for help. “Many general lower back and lower body “Physical therapy is a way to injuries can prevent injuries rather than as a be way of repair.” prevented by maintaining good strength in some key muscle groups. Shoulder pain will also likely limit an athlete’s ability to lift or carry a weighted object…Forget throwing a pitch, serving a ball or swimming! Needless to say, shoulder pain… can really limit an athlete’s normal routine and become a serious problem if it’s not addressed early on.” The good thing in the end is that with the help of therapy, these serious issues can be resolved and even avoided.

Despite the time it might take out of a busy schedule, physical therapy proves to be most effective for athletes before an injury. Since sports have a lot to do with connecting athletes’ brains with their movement, therapy works even better if it is started at a young age. The less time an athlete spends with the wrong form, the easier it is to fix. The most important part of all of this, however, is conveying this message to the parents and athletes who need it.

Natalia Espinosa Dice ‘22 “Gender Roles in Colonial America” Gender inequality is a prevalent issue that negatively affects the lives of thousands of women every day and has been a point of contention for many generations. For centuries women such as Susan B. Anthony and Gloria Steinem and fought for women’s rights. Even today, important women such as Hillary Clinton work to break through remaining gender barriers. It is unfortunate but important to note the many impediments that women still face today including expectations to behave a certain way, dress a certain way, marry and give up occupations for children. Sexism can be traced back to times as early as Colonial America. A mere thirty percent of women could read in New England in Colonial America, and in the South, only one percent of women in slavery were literate.1 The Colonial period lasted from the mid 1500s to 1776 when the United States of America officially became a country. The thirteen original colonies were located in the eastern region of America. In Colonial America, men and women had certain roles they were expected to fulfill, and these roles were dependent on their gender. Gender affected many aspects of women’s daily lives in Colonial America especially family life, education and legal rights.

Gender affected a woman’s role and responsibilities in Colonial American family life. A wife was expected to handle the household, comply to her husband’s orders and bear children.2 Colonial men thought that women belonged cooking and cleaning in their homes. Household tasks included baking, making alcohol, spinning yarn, producing soap and making candles.3 Women made soap by boiling potash. They then isolated the potassium carbonate from it and added animal fat to it.4 Cultivating foods from gardens and using natural remedies to treat sick family members were also the wives’ responsibilities.5 Women had to wash and dry clothes by hand every few days without the assistance of electronic machines.6 Women also had to produce clothes from scratch, sew or knit quilts for colder days and preserve large amounts of food ahead of time for the winter.7 These foods included pears, plums, quinces, berries and peaches, which were preserved in giant crocks. They could also be boiled into jams or marmalades. Apples were 1 “Colonial Women,” Gale Virtual Reference Library, accessed September 18, 2017, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i. do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tmka_ca&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3425300032&asid=d2c035721278b8f375b9d7ba8346ccc4.

2 “Colonial Women.”

3 “Colonial Women.”

4 “Colonial Women.”

5 Stuart A. Kallen, Life during the American Revolution (San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2002), 64.

6 “Colonial Women.”

7 Nardo, Daily Life, 24.

peeled, sliced and hung up to dry so that they could later be used for pies. They were also made into applesauce or apple butters.8 Meat and fish were preserved by being smoked or salted. They were then packed into barrels.9 A housewife usually made pickles and relishes as well.10 Women were also expected to hand make cheese and butter. Women made cheese by letting it curdle, removing water from it and then pressing it flat into wheels.11 Women made butter using a plunger and disk until 1760 when a barrel churn was developed. This new method still took three hours of stirring even though only a few pounds were made.12 In addition, women were expected to cook meals daily because it couldn’t be stored in refrigerated conditions. All of these tasks meant that a woman’s work would often never stop unless they could employ servants or slaves, which meant that another woman would be enlisted to complete endless, strenuous tasks.13 Middle and upper-class women who married and could afford help often had an easier life than poor wives. They spent their lives supervising the household instead of physically completing each task, but they usually could hire help to assist them through this process.14 Wealthy women would have individual appointments with gardeners, cooks, servants, children’s tutors and even the children themselves to ensure that life was running efficiently.15 On the other hand, less affluent women completed the work by hand without help.16 Either way, these arduous daily household tasks often became the center of a woman’s daily work. Along with completing household tasks, women also had to take care of children. Since the infant death rate was extremely high, women often had fifteen or more children. This ongoing sequence of children often made life even more demanding and taxing for women.17 Therefore, women in colonial America had to be organized and productive at running their homes. They were often very useful to their spouses, parents and society as a whole.

Some women even ran the family business while their spouses were away.18 In 1757, Benjamin Franklin wrote to his wife, “I leave home and undertake this long voyage [to Europe] more cheerful, as I can rely on your prudence in the management of my affairs, and [the] education of my dear 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Nardo, Daily Life, 24-25.

“Colonial Women.”

Nardo, Daily Life, 25.

“Colonial Women.”

“Colonial Women.”

“Colonial Women.”

Kallen, Life during the American Revolution, 65.

Bill Drewbry, interview, Williamsburg, VA, October 25,

16 17 18

Drewbry, interview.

Nardo, Daily Life, 26.

Nardo, Daily Life, 22.

2017.

child.”19 This shows that while some women were viewed as inferior to men, they often successfully took care of their husbands’ businesses while also continuing to take care of their families and homes. Even so, the limitations placed on women in Colonial America is evident when Winthrop writes: ‘The woman’s own choice makes such a man her husband, ye being so chosen, he is her lord and she is to be subject to him, yet in a way of liberty, not of bondage, and a true wife accounts her subjection, her honor, and freedom, and would not think her condition safe and free but in her subjection to her husband’s authority. Such is the liberty of the church under the authority of Christ, her king and husband. His yoke is so easy and sweet to her as a bride’s ornaments. And if through forwardness and wantonness, etc., she shake it off at any time, she is at no rest in her spirit until she takes it up again. And whether her lord smiles upon her and embraces her in his arms, or rebukes or smites her, she apprehends the sweetness of his love.’20 Winthrop states that a husband is a woman’s “lord,” and she is under his control. While he notes that a husband should be kind, he refers to any act of independence shown by women as morally wrong. Winthrop considers any punishment that a husband deems necessary to be acceptable including striking the wife. This shows just how much control husbands had over women and how low men considered them to be. Gender roles often created an expectation for women to work in their homes; as a result, they were unable to hold an occupation. This was because they had so many tasks to complete every day that they couldn’t run a business. Therefore, there was no seen value of having an education if their sole purpose in life was to serve their husbands, cook and clean.

Additionally, gender roles in Colonial America afBenjamin Franklin, “Letter to Deborah Franklin from Benjamin Franklin,” Letter, 1757.

20 John Winthrop, “Daily Life in Colonial America,” John Winthrop’s Journal about Women.

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fected a woman’s education. The majority of women were illiterate.21 Girls mainly did not receive an education until the 1750s unless their families were religious or wealthy.

For example, the Puritans believed that all children had to learn to read so that they could read the Bible. While boys had to learn reading, writing and math, girls only learned to read for religious purposes along with embroidery.22 In rural or Southern areas, a lack of a religious incentive to read the Bible limited the girls’ education even further.23 As for the rest of the population, most parents wanted their children to receive an education, but there was a very wide gap between what their sons learned versus their daughters. Boys learned arithmetic, science, languages, business and sometimes navigation. Girls’ curriculums consisted more of art, music, dancing, sewing and embroidery than of actual academics.24 So while some girls did receive an education, it was incomplete compared to the much more elaborate male educations. Most girls did not go to college; in comparison, men either went to Europe to study or went to the eight universities that were available in America by 1770.25 Women were not expected to be well-educated because the majority of men did not think they should work outside of their homes. In some cases, men even looked down upon women having an education. John Winthrop, a government official of Massachusetts, accused a woman of interfering into men’s businesses to become literate in 1645, which he considered to be a crime.26 The feeling of not being worthy enough for an education might have an impact on a girl’s confidence and self-worth. To succeed as a woman in Colonial America was difficult. It required a strength of character that most girls did not have, especially if society believed they were not important enough to have a proper education. This lack of a strong education combined with frequent reminders that, in Colonial American society, they were second to men prevented them from being able to pursue most lines of works outside the house.

Second-rate education often led to less opportunities for jobs in the lives of women in Colonial America. Most young adults learned about potential occupations through apprenticeships. An apprentice was generally obligated by an indenture to work for a business owner for five to eight years in return for food, a room and training. Afterwards, they would have enough experience to start their

own businesses.27 Potential occupations for women usually included midwifery or dressmaking.28 Women also had many options in terms of crafts and trades because they did not require a collegiate education.29 These possibilities included going into cabinetry, carpentry, blacksmithing and silversmithing and working at printing presses, millineries and farms.30 Women ran about fifteen percent of Philadelphian retail shops, and twenty percent of tavern keepers were female. Women also ran coffeehouses, boardinghouses, restaurants, hotels and more. Women in Boston made knives, beer and saddles. Some women even became gunsmiths, shipwrights, tanners and shoemakers.31 On the other hand, women could not become doctors, lawyers, or clergymen because they did not have access to a university level education.32 Women also could not work in apothecaries because they could not read the Latin words that named each medicine.33 While women did have some occupations available to them, there were limitations placed on them because of their gender. Women in general received less money than men. In addition, their jobs were of lower quality.34 A woman’s ability to hold an occupation was further reduced because of the expectation to work in the homes if they were married. Therefore, married women rarely held jobs. While many women were unable to provide for themselves, some widowed, single or driven women did manage their own businesses in Colonial America. Middle-class women often assisted in managing family businesses, especially when their husbands were away.35 Even so, these small breakthroughs in gender barriers did little to impact the general perspective of women in Colonial America.

The majority of women remained locked in household jobs with an inadequate education where they served men and preserved the viewpoints held on women. This created a vicious cycle that gave women little freedom to create a better life. A woman’s education was substandard because society viewed her as too insignificant to require a good education, which in turn created substandard job opportunities.

Both household expectations and a disadvantageous education contributed to inequality between men and women, but legal rights were perhaps the most significant contributor. Gender roles applied major restrictions to a woman’s legal status, especially when concerning marriage.

Therefore, it was hard to create a better life for themselves

D. Thorp, ed., Stono Rebellion-Zenger, Peter, vol. 10, Colonial America (Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Educational, 1998), 784-785.

22 “Colonial Women.”

23 “Colonial Women.”

24 Kathryn Hinds, Colonial Life: Daily Living (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008), 40.

25 Hinds, Colonial Life, 40.

26 Nardo, Daily Life, 23.

27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

21

Hinds, Colonial Life, 41-42.

“Colonial Women.”

Drewbry, interview.

Drewbry, interview.

Kallen, Life during the American Revolution, 67.

Drewbry, interview.

Drewbry, interview.

Kallen, Life during the American Revolution, 67.

Kallen, Life during the American Revolution, 67.

when women could not vote, hold a government position or serve on juries.36 Women could not hold a prestigious religious position or participate in the militia as well.37 If a woman remained unmarried, she was considered a feme soul, who had more rights than a married woman but still less than a man.38 A feme soul or a widow could make a will, buy or sell property, act as a guardian, sue and be sued.39 Feme souls were rare because most women felt obligated to marry. A feme covert was a married woman who was under the coverture of their husband.40 A married woman’s legal, economical political and social statuses became dependent on those of her husband. Any belongings a woman had entering a marriage along with any property left in a will for her was owned by her husband.41 Fathers held possession over their children. Married women were restricted from creating a will without her husband’s approval and assistance, buying property, making a contract and either suing or being sued.42 Women had no way of avoiding this loss of rights because women were expected to marry. A single woman or man was seen as unnatural and possibly hazardous.43 Women who remained unmarried by thirty were called thornbacks. People believed that because a woman was unmarried, God did not think she was a good person or candidate for marriage.44 Marriage often caused women to have fewer rights in society because of their gender.

Furthermore, women had few ways to escape bad marriages. Men were recognized as the dominant member of their family and were responsible for providing for and ensuring the proper behavior of their wives and family.45 Men had to teach their wives discipline and could do this in any way needed. If a man caused a woman serious bodily harm, she could file for a divorce or separation, but this was an expensive and complicated effort that the majority of women chose not to engage in. A few women fled from cruel husbands, but both divorce and flight meant women were no longer entitled to their property or children.46 Women were only allowed divorces if there were serious threats to her life and if she showed proficient competence at providing for herself. Courts generally viewed a single, “Colonial Women,” Land of the Brave, https://www.landofthebrave.info/colonial-women.htm.

37 “Colonial Women.”

38 Drewbry, interview.

39 “Colonial Women,” Land of the Brave.

40 Drewbry, interview.

41 “Colonial Women,” Land of the Brave.

42 “Colonial Women,” Land of the Brave.

43 Marriage,” in Colonial America (Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Educational, 1998), 6:404.

44 “Marriage,” 404.

45 “Marriage,” 406.

46 “Colonial Women.”

36

independent woman as an encumbrance on the community, so divorces were rare. Since most governmental and legal officials were male, they often denied grants, even if that meant leaving a mistreated wife with her abusive husband.47 This could have an effect on a woman’s self-worth because officials essentially valued fewer complications over a woman’s health. Similarly, widows were also seen as simply a useless and incompetent remainder from a marriage. It was often thought that a woman could not handle her own money, land and life, so men usually took control of the estate.48 A widow did have the right to inherit a third of the goods and income from her previous husband’s lands until she married again.49 Widowhood allowed women to run their own lives, so not remarrying allowed freedom and independence that was otherwise granted in few other cases.50 Most widows remarried, and those that did not usually stayed in their grown children’s homes. There, they helped with household tasks.51 Some widows were able to support themselves by finding an occupation, but the majority of women were unable to break free of the binding gender expectations. They became stuck in an endless cycle of prejudice, adversity and disadvantages.

There was also prejudice against women in some aspects of laws and resulting punishments in Colonial America. For example, if a woman had an affair, she was charged with the crime of adultery. The Puritans developed a law that forced any woman who had committed adultery to have to wear a red badge that had an “A” on it until she died. If a woman became pregnant because of adultery, punishments could include public whippings or standing on a gallow. On the other hand, if a man had an affair, he was not punished and it was simply thought that he had extramarital relations.

He was not accused of cheating.52 This shows how little freedom women had in Colonial America. Even a man who was proven to have been unethical would be seen in a better light than a woman who obeyed the laws. This is because society could and chose to overlook a man’s sins. A man’s sins might reduce him to the same level as women, which in turn might upset and confuse roles in Colonial America.

As long as society pretended men had not sunk to the same level of immorality as a woman, they could keep their facade up. The punishments placed upon a woman because of broken laws was harsher than those placed upon men because of gender roles in Colonial America.

A woman’s role in the household, education, occupational opportunities and legal status was different than a 47 48 49 50 51 52

“Colonial Women.”

Nardo, Daily Life, 30.

Nardo, Daily Life, 30.

Nardo, Daily Life, 30.

Nardo, Daily Life, 30.

“Colonial Women.”

man’s because of her gender. Gender decided these aspects of a daily life in Colonial America because men viewed women as inferior. This set the stage for America for centuries until women began to fight for their rights. Even in the modern world today, women still strive to create equal opportunities for both genders. If it were not for gender roles in Colonial America, society today would not have to overcome these issues. History shaped modern day America into a sexist world. While it is important to remember the past, women cannot continue to be recognized as second class to men. Society must see the mistakes of the past and evolve from them. Just like the driven single women who made lives for themselves in Colonial America, women today must fight alongside heroines such as Gloria Steinem and Hillary Clinton for equal rights in order to improve America. Women must obtain the rights that evaded Colonial American women in order to truly progress into a modern and advanced society.

Annotated Bibliography

“Colonial Women.” Gale Virtual Reference Library. Accessed September 18, 2017. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i. do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tmka_ca&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3425300032&asid=d2c035721278b8f375b9d7ba8346ccc4.

This source is credible because it comes from a libguide link, and the sources listed at the bottom are authentic and factually accurate. This will be useful because it focuses on the daily lives of women in Colonial America, which is a topic not covered in great detail in many other sources. It also has tons of other information on various topics. In particular, the paragraphs under the headings Daily Toil, No Relief in Sight, Literacy and Education, Legal Status, Duties and Status in Marriage, Escaping a Bad Marriage and Widowhood will be useful.

“Colonial Women.” Land of the Brave. https://www.landofthebrave.info/colonial-women.htm.

This site has a lot of information on the laws and legal rights of women. It will be very helpful for that paragraph. It also has some basic information on the daily lives of women.

I know this book is a credible source because its facts match the ones in other books. It also has a reputable publisher. This book has some good information on my topic. Pages 39-40 mentions literacy levels, pages 42-44 mentions marriage, page 57 mentions household responsibilities, pages 59-64 mentions clothing, pages 64-65 mention laundry, pages 72-73 mention cooking responsibilities and page 82 mentions jobs.

Kallen, Stuart A. Life during the American Revolution. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2002.

I know that this book is credible because it includes bibliographical references and also is a legitimate book with accurate facts.

This book will help me to gather more information on my topic because there is lots of information about daily household life.

It also mentions what life was like before the revolution so if for some reason I am not focusing on during the revolution, it will still be useful.

“Marriage.” In Colonial America. Vol. 6. Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Educational, 1998.

I know the author of this book is credible because it is part of an Encyclopedia and also is an imprint of Scholastic Library Publishing, which is an authentic publisher. I don’t think this is for a certain specific audience. From pages 404-407, there is a lot of information about marriage and how a woman’s role changes after marriage. It also mentions and defines gender roles during the marriage. It also mentions social and economic positions of women before and after marriage.

Nardo, Don. Daily Life in Colonial America. Detroit: Lucent Books, 2010.

This book is credible because the facts are accurate and legitimate. This book will be useful because it has a lot of information in chapter two and four. Chapter two focuses on women, courtship and marriage. Chapter four focuses on occupations.

Chapter one might have some information on home life.

Thorp, D., ed. Stono Rebellion-Zenger, Peter. Vol. 10 of Colonial America. Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Educational, 1998.

This book is credible because it is a legitimate encyclopedia that has lots of information on various topics. This book has a specific heading called Women’s Rights which will have tons of information on my topic. I can find out all about the differences Drewbry, Bill. Interview. Williamsburg, VA. October 25, 2017. between men and women. Specific topics include proper roles, This interview has realistic expectations because Bill Drewbry changing roles, home and work, worship and children. Many of worked at Colonial Williamsburg. The information will be usethese topics answer my thick and thin questions. ful to me because he talks about legal rights, daily lives and occupation possibiliites.

Winthrop, John. “Daily Life in Colonial America.” John Winthrop’s Journal about Women, 27.

Franklin, Benjamin. “Letter to Deborah Franklin from Benjamin This primary source is credible because it is from John WinFranklin.” Letter, 1757. throp’s journal. It will be useful to backup my ideas with eviThis primary source is useful because it shows how some womdence, and I can use it in the family life body paragraph or posen were allowed to run family businesses while husbands were sibly legal status. away. Since a primary source is required, I can use this to back up my ideas with evidence.

Hinds, Kathryn. Colonial Life: Daily Living. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008.

Evelyn Maxwell ‘22 During the colonial era, changes in the production of cloth and the progression of laws created a new era of style causing an evolution of day-to-day fashions, regardless of social class, gender, and age. Cloth became increasingly accessible, eventually ending in milliners and weavers having ready access to cloth at all times. At the same time, laws controlled what citizens could and could not wear, and placed embargoes and bans on importation of certain fabrics. These factors caused the heavily European and French based style that the Colonial Americans wore to slowly transform into their own unique style. As laws and social expectations regarding fashion became stricter and cloth production evolved, colonial American society, economics and politics were altered to fit to a new era of fashion concentrated on style.

The strenuous cloth making process during the colonial era contained many steps; because of this meticulous process, society, economics, and politics were changed to fit a lifestyle where there was time for this production. Many people in the family helped out with making cloth and all the steps along the way; however, not everyone made cloth themselves. Often, mothers made the most cloth, but children, as well as grandmothers, helped out.1 Children were taught at young ages how to weave cloth, starting with fouryear-olds, typically girls, who became particularly skilled.2 In short, the process of producing cloth from wool consisted of gathering the wool from the sheep, turning the wool into skeins of thread, weaving it into cloth, then sewing the items.3Although the process may seem simple, producing clothing could take anywhere from weeks to years from the start to end, including creating the article of clothing. The process was complicated and there were even preparation steps. For example, removing dirt and carding the fibers was something that the grandmothers would do to prep for spinning. Spinning was a process in which the weaver would turn the “walking wheel� and walk back and forth to create the string. After completing the spinning process, the strands were wound into skeins, or lengths of coiled thread. If the weaver were a good spinner, she could produce around six skeins of material a day. This would mean walking more than a dozen miles.4 Fibers could be immediately wrapped, whereas wool and flax were washed after spinning. The flax was bleached with several possible bleaches, some of which were ashes and hot-water, buttermilk, and limestone. The wool was sometimes dyed before 1

Sally Senzell Isaacs, Life in a Colonial Town (Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2001), [Page 24].

2

Rebecca Stefoff et al., Colonial Life (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe,

3 4

Isaacs, Life in a Colonial, 24.

2008), 60.

Stefoff et al., Colonial Life, [Page 59].

spinning. The next step was weaving or knitting the string.

Most women and some girls could independently complete this; however, those who did not own looms brought material to typically male weavers to weave/knit for them.5 After the weaving was complete, the housewife could finally make her clothing. This long technique for producing cloth was relatively common during the beginning of this era and began to slowly fade out as weavers, tailors, and milliners became more known.

The new professions of this era that related to fashion had a direct social and economic impact because they eliminated the hassle of creating clothing for women, men, and children throughout the colonies. Weavers wove and spun the material that was sent or given to them. They created fabric that was later sent to tailors or seamstresses. Essentially, they would do the same things that at-home weavers would do: beginning with carding the fibers and removing seeds, spinning the yarn, and then using the loom to create fabric. Weavers became more common during the mid-18th century, because they could eliminate the long process for households. Typically, they would make a yard of fabric an hour. The process was noticeably faster than the novices in households, but it still took sixteen hours to set up the loom with the yarn. After the weavers finished their fabric, they would sell it to merchants. The merchant could then sell the material to citizens or tailors.6 Over at the millinery, women would come in and look at the new items that were available. The millinery would have accessories such as caps, handkerchiefs, aprons, bows, jewelry, hair clips, shoes, underwear, and other small things that were not full clothing articles. The seamstress was the woman who would make full gowns and clothing for people. Women who went to get fitted would get a custom dress for their exact measurements.7 The wide array of fashion-related jobs that began to appear over the colonial era had a direct impact on the economy and society.

The different dyes and materials used to personalize and design clothing and accessories resulted in new styles and fashions, but these changes also came with high cost. When seamstresses would be brought fabric and told to make clothing for the customer, the main cost was not the production of the fashion piece but the purchase of the fabric.8 There were many different fabrics used during this time. Five of the most common materials were (from cheapest to most expensive) osnaburg, which is something that slaves would use, leather, wool, linen, cotton, and silk.

Wool was used for almost everything, similar to multi-fi5 6

Stefoff et al., Colonial Life, [Page 60].

Weaver Interpreter, interview, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, November 26, 2017.

7 Milliner Interpreter, interview, Colonial Williamsburg, VA, November 25, 2017.

8 Weaver, interview.

ber fabrics, especially clothing during the winter-time since it helped keep people warm. On the other hand, linen was used for shirts, caps, kerchiefs, undergarments, sheets, tablecloths, and handkerchiefs.9 Often the more time-consuming the production, the more expensive the material was. According to Jefferson, there was a wide variety in the spinning time for different materials. One pound of wool took thirteen hours, linen took twenty-four, and cotton took forty hours alone just to remove the seeds, coming in at a total of one hundred hours to card, remove dirt, and spin.

In terms of dyes, there were many different possible dyes that were collected from natural substances such as flowers, herbs, berries, nuts, and clay. A wide range of colors were available. One of the pricier dyes from a cochineal bug with a vibrant red pigment was imported from Britain.10 A very popular blue dye was from the indigo plant, grown by many Southern plantations, and peddlers often traveled through the colonies and sold them to make money.11 These different dyes and cloths caused many changes in both economy and society as they helped create a new style.

Since designing and making clothing took so much time, money, and created so much income, society and economy were shaped to accommodate this production. Although it was time-consuming, it was essential to produce cloth often in order to fit the strict “dress code” of the colonial era. The little cloth that was accessible early on was expensive. Although, once the trade began to thrive and colonial cities grew, there was a larger and more affordable supply. Because of this development, people began to dress with a more complex style in the 18th century.12 The British North American colonies were affected by the rapidly growing importation industry, which grew the wealth of cities.

On the other hand, colonies that weren’t in the North East did not share in this wealth.13 Inter-colonial trade was not very developed, whereas trade across the Atlantic was increasing. Luxurious fabrics and wools were imported from Europe. The dyes used were also always exported to Britain, regardless of where they were coming from, then imported back into America so that the British, as well as the Americans, could get their sizable profits.14 During the mid 18th century while the Revolutionary War was going on, there was a cloth embargo which caused the next years of fashion to be heavily influenced by France.15 Whereas pre9 10 11 12 13

Stefoff et al., Colonial Life, [Page 59-60].

Weaver, interview.

Stefoff et al., Colonial Life, 61 Stefoff et al., Colonial Life, 59.

Kate Haulman, “Clothing and Fashion in the 18th Century,” American History, last modified 2014, http://online.infobase.com/ HRC/Search/Details/358090?q=colonial%20fashion.

14 Weaver, interview 15 Colonial America (Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Educational, 1998), [Page 113]

viously, citizens would get the trend “updates” from letters and newspapers coming from England, the people became reliant and followers of solely French fashion.16 Over time though, it was apparent that the colonists developed their own unique style.17 Cloth was visibly one of many things that was influential to the three aspects of colonial times: politics, society, and economy.

English settlers were not as concerned about fashion or appearance, but the evolution of fashion strictness is notable over the colonial era, and many political changes caused the strictness to increase. Especially in Massachusetts, politics began revolving around fashion, and laws were passed telling people what they could and could not wear throughout the 18th century. The production and wear of fancy materials such as things made with lace, ruffles, and embroidered cloth could not be continued for colonists, except for those of the upper classes. Citizens commonly disobeyed laws, despite the large fines.18 They did this because of their large concern with appearance. There were also small restrictions and details such as the ban from having more than one slash in each sleeve, or that bright colors must be concealed with more plain pigments such as brown or grey.19 This was a large contrast from the previous, lenient, style of the settlers during the earlier period, which contained no laws stating what people could or could not wear.

Consequential from these huge economic and political changes relating to fashion, society’s standards of appearance were rapidly changing. While men’s style was simple, women had to layer many pieces to become equipped for days of cooking and work. For both men and women, the first layer typically consisted of stockings and a shirt. Women’s shirts, also referred to as shifts or chemises, were long and reached to their ankles. The neckline was often versatile with something like a drawstring to pull down while breastfeeding. Over the shift, women, or young children of both genders, would wear a stay. Boys often stopped wearing them once they reached adulthood, however women continued to wear the constricting corsets. Stays are stiff metal or whalebone undergarments used to achieve good posture, provide support, and form a fine figure.20 These were a very important part of clothing and had a very large effect on society. The painting, Tight Lacing or Fashion Before Ease (see appendix A), shows the extent reached to fit in with the rest of society. The image shows how the small and tight clothing piece shaped standards. The painting shows not one but two people pulling at the stay to tighten 16 17 18 19 20

Milliner, interview Colonial America, [Page 10].

Stefoff et al., Colonial Life, [Page 63] Colonial America, [Page 110].

Stefoff et al., Colonial Life, 61.

it and give the illusion of a form figure, leaving the woman uncomfortable so that she could fit in with the others. There is a notable, large contrast between the looser fashion of the early English settlers to the stringent style of the 18th century. The last layers of clothing were petticoats, underskirts, caps, bodices, and aprons for women.21 Evidently, society’s standards grew over the time to create a strict dress code regardless of age, gender, social class, or religion.

Changes in fashion and the economy during the colonial era reflected the colonists’ increasing concern with their appearance. In the early years of the colonial era, cloth production was common in households, regardless of the time and effort that was required. As years passed, the household production became less common and there was a growth in jobs related to this process, such as seamstresses, milliners, tailors, and weavers. In order to produce all of this clothing, there were many different dyes and fabrics of all costs used to personalize the clothing. The importation of these dyes and fabrics was common, and the colonies got their clothing inspiration from England, where the materials were coming from. However, the cloth embargo decreased this supply, and the next few years of fashion were heavily influenced

by France. As social restrictions and expectations regarding fashion became less lenient and cloth production changed, colonial American society, economics and politics changed to create a unique era of style.

21

Stefoff et al., Colonial Life, 61.

John Collet, Tight Lacing, or Fashion before Ease, 1770-1775, Collections of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, http://www.history. org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume6/may08/primsource.cfm.

Appendix A “Tight Lacing, or Fashion before Ease,” by Bowles and Carver Bibliography Collet, John. Tight Lacing, or Fashion before Ease. 1770-1775. Collections of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. http://www.history.org/ history/teaching/enewsletter/volume6/may08/primsource.cfm.

Colonial America. Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Educational, 1998.

Hall, Jill M. “Clothing and Fashion in the 17th Century.” American History. Last modified 2014. http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/358077?q=colonial%20fashion.

Haulman, Kate. “Clothing and Fashion in the 18th Century.” American History. Last modified 2014. http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/ Details/358090?q=colonial%20fashion.

Interpreter, Miliner. Interview. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. November 25, 2017.

Interpreter, Weaver. Interview. Colonial Williamsburg, VA. November 26, 2017.

Isaacs, Sally Senzell. Life in a Colonial Town. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2001.

Kallen, Stuart A. Life during the American Revolution. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books, 2002.

Stefoff, Rebecca, Linda Jacobs Altman, Kathryn Hinds, Martin Kelly, and Melissa Kelly. Colonial Life. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2008.

Taylor, Deborah C. “Clothing in the Colonial Period.” American History. Last modified 2009. http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/207797?q=colonial%20fashion.

Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Priscilla Hemmings Display. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

Noah Weinberg ‘22 “The Foundation of American Higher Education” The higher education system in America is a backbone for the economy and the democracy of the country. In America, higher education is a daunting, complex system, with many institutions offering different vibes, sizes, and courses. However, it is vital for the prosperity of the republic for its residents to be well-educated, informed, and knowledgeable, especially during the current turbulent political times. Only then will they realize the freedoms and rights that must be protected and cherished. Even though applying toollege is a stressful experience of standardized tests, essays, and waiting, it serves everyone justice, improving life for all. Each person is a piece of the puzzle of society, and the more informed and well-versed each corner is, the better off the entire picture will appear. Nowadays, students often apply to college with a list of choices based on a plethora of factors. Back in the colonial era, colleges were differentiated by their Christian denomination and geographic location. It was Presbyterianism in New Jersey or Baptism in Rhode Island, Puritanism in Boston or Anglicanism in Williamsburg, and later on even secularity in Philadelphia. Colleges also mainly accepted affluent white males to become prominent religious leaders.1 Higher education first came to be in the New World because of the dire shortage of Christian ministers and an urge to spread the Bible’s teachings, then evolved to be more secular in its operation during the 1730s and 40s, but was unable to transition to a fully secular system.

Harvard University was founded because Puritans wanted to have educated ministers after their current generation died. The colony of Massachusetts worried about the future of ministry and the scarcity of religious leaders in the New World. Due to their troubles, they founded Harvard University in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. John Harvard, an affluent clergyman, gave away part of his estate to construct the original institution.2 In its early days, Harvard successfully trained ministers and increased the population of clergy in the New World. From 1642 to 1689, 180 ministers were trained at Harvard, about half the number of graduates.3 In addition to creating the college, John Harvard enhanced its education through the building of a library. He gifted his books and a generous amount of money to erect the first library at a higher-educational institution. By 1790, the library grew in size and variety to almost 10,000 pieces of writing in religion as well as math, history, law, and medicine.4 Through their accomplishments, Puritans passed down their religious beliefs to the next generation of ministers by offering the rarity that was a quality academic and religious education.

The curriculum at Harvard was expertly designed to educate competent young men to be the leaders of the col-

onies and prepare them to be multifarious ministers. Logic, physics, disputations, argument, and debate were all essential aspects of the curriculum. “Wednesdays were for Greek studies, Thursdays for Hebrew, Fridays for rhetoric and the analysis of literature, and Saturdays for Christian studies and practice”.5 The commonplace book, a strategic element of the education at Harvard, was kept to remember information for later discussion and argument.6 Teachers taught the liberal arts: grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. The classes, six days a week, also contained information on humanism, revived from the Renaissance, and reformation, the idea that education should only exist to teach Puritan values.7 Overall, Harvard produced intelligent, curious graduates to serve on the clergy and influence the New World, helping to turn it into a professionally self-sufficient region.

The establishment of William and Mary as the second college in the colonies spread a component of higher education to the Anglican’s hands, allowing the sector to address its similar shortage of ministers through a diverse curriculum centered around its traditional beliefs. The founding of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia helped the New World produce more ministers, particularly for the Anglican branch. James Blair, a Scottish churchgoer, gained a royal charter for the College of William and Mary in 1693 to train ministers for the Bible-loving population of the colonies.8 Eighteen board members led the school from its inception.9 James adopted some Scottish practices, like off-campus housing for students and the time requirements for degree completion, and banned the notable English practice of faculty receiving fees from students.10 The practice of living off campus lives on today and is an essential part of the college experience for many university attendees. Even though its religious affiliation was different, the curriculum at William and Mary closely resembled its northern counterparts, with a variety of courses and offerings. At the school, a student received a bachelor’s degree after two years and a master’s degree after four. The school offered three schools, one of divinity, one of grammar, and one of philosophy.11 From the start, there was focus on the sciences and the liberal arts.12 By the second decade of the 18th century, the college taught law and medicine to interested students.13 Students learned Greek and Latin, on top of theological and philosophical work.14 Clearly, the education offered at William and Mary in the colonial era was very similar to the academics one receives at a multitude of universities today. In conclusion, the Church of England and its supporters were essential in the construction, maintenance, and mission of William and Mary.

At William and Mary, the colonists implemented their plan to Christianize the native people of the Americas. The Brafferton School was a charity school that taught young Indian men the Christian way. The school did not

work in its intended manner to Christianize the native people and ended up floundering for many years. The Indians thought that it was unfair that the colonists took their young men, and they could not take the colonists’ men. The Indians basically said: “If you take our sons, we’ll take yours.”

The Indians were angry that the colonists wanted to convert their younger generations to Christianity, so they refused to send all of their men to the Brafferton School. Instead, they sent a few to learn the official way of conducting business and legal affairs, but they withheld many young men from the Christianization occurring at the school.15 However, this conflicted with the colonists’ view of the school and its mission. The initial statement of the College of William and Mary included “that the Christian faith may be propagated amongst the Western Indians, to the glory of Almighty God…” The Brafferton, the second oldest building at the institution, was constructed as the place to educate the Indians in Christian manners. In 1706, the Brafferton School began classes, but they were held in other temporary situations until the Brafferton building was completed. According to The Present State of Virginia in 1724, the Brafferton was perfect for teaching the Indians and serving as a home for the master and his students. After some time, the Christian colonists realized that the school was ineffective, and it struggled to continue operating throughout the 18th century.16 Trying to convert a group of people with a deeply instilled culture does not work well, as is proven time and time again over the course of human history. Even though the British failed in their futile effort to convert the Indians, they still did manage to fill the Brafferton, at least during some times. Colonists forced up to 24 Indian men to enroll in William and Mary during periods of war. They believed this insulated them from Indian opposition and conflict.17 Overall, the colonists failed in their initial vision to fully convert the Indians, but they still enrolled some Native men in William and Mary.

William and Mary was created as the second college in the colonies, but it still holds the distinction of first place in myriad achievements. In theory, it was the first college in the United States with its proposal in 1619, prior to Harvard’s conceptualization. However, the Massachusetts Puritans opened their institution first, rendering William and Mary as the second operational college in the country.18 Even if William and Mary did not open its classrooms first, it still retains many impressive accomplishments. It was the first college to receive a royal charter under the Seal of the Privy Council; the first college to receive a Coat-of-Arms from the College of Heralds; the first college to have a complete faculty fit for the modern world; the first college to award prizes of medal; the first college to have a fraternity; and the first college to offer an elective-based curriculum.

The college, which was the first to attain university status upon its recognition in 1779, also led the way in teaching

language, law, politics, and history.19 William and Mary led the way in achieving many of the normalized recognitions of today, and it remained the preeminent college in Virginia until the mid-1700s.

William and Mary, through its educational leadership and proven curriculum, produced many leaders of the American Revolution, which created the United States as a country. Richard Bland, a graduate of the college, was the first man to proclaim that the colonies and England were equals under the crown. Another attendee, Dabney Carr, was Patron of the Resolutions for Committees of Correspondence, which fostered resentment towards British policy in the early stages of the American Revolution. Peyton Randolph, a wealthy plantation owner and a recipient of Thomas Jefferson’s estate, was the Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the leader of the first Continental Congress.

Carter Henry Harrison was the writer of the Resolutions for Cumberland County, which were some of the initial steps towards American independence. George Washington led the Continental Army to victory and then became the first president of the United States. George Wythe, who lived in an upscale house in the heart of Williamsburg, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. John Tyler was the author of the Resolutions in the Virginia Assembly. Edmund Randolph, Peyton’s nephew, was the creator of the Virginia Plan, a set of guidelines for the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.20 With the college’s impressive list of revolutionary leaders and scholarly students, William and Mary clearly had a rigorous academic program and fostered individualism, which led their prominent graduates to support and lead the Patriot’s cause.

Even though William and Mary produced many anti-British men, the motherland’s influence was pivotal in the foundation of William and Mary. This relationship is evidenced by the Sir Christopher Wren Building, which was designed by a British architect. The Sir Christopher Wren Building is actually the oldest edifice at a United States college, older than anything at Harvard. It was conceptualized

by Sir Christopher Wren, a famous British architect, scientist, and professor.21 He is partially responsible for the design of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, as well as 52 other churches in the city. He is considered the premier architect of the English baroque style, with many works to count, including the Greenwich Hospital.22 The structure’s longstanding legacy can be credited to an English man’s vision and Scottish man’s determination. Sir Christopher Wren modeled the building, and James Blair gained the college’s royal charter, which triggered the start of construction on the structure. The higher educational system in the United States, from Harvard’s clerical training to William and Mary’s architecture, owes its roots, literally and figuratively, to the institutions of the British and the Scottish.

Religion was incredibly essential in the foundation and everyday operation of universities so that any deviation from the original mission was viewed as a misdemeanor and disgrace to be acted upon. In 1701, Puritans dissatisfied with the decline of divinity at Harvard, along with many average Connecticut residents, reached the conclusion to open a college in the colony, named Yale. The college was founded due to anger and distress with Harvard for straying from the strictly Puritan curriculum originally implemented.23 Connecticut residents, frustrated by the lack of Puritanism at Harvard, yearned for a college in their colony that followed Puritan principles, like Harvard was supposed to.24 The colony, often seen as a mini-Massachusetts, likely used Yale as a way to improve its reputation and ensure future success.

Yale would provide a place to train ministers for the colony; this helped to partially end their reliance on Harvard to supply religious leaders. Yale progressed after its conception and permanently settled in New Haven, coinciding with the colony-wide shift away from religion. In 1720, Yale landed in New Haven, where it continues to operate. The college was initially created to train ministers, but it eventually became the same as Harvard, with a Puritan mission, yet a more secular curriculum and general vibe.25 The early period of the Great Awakening, a seismic, yet short-lived shift away from religion, influenced culture and colleges in the thirteen colonies during the early 1700s. Church membership and religious care greatly declined among the population in the New World.26 The colonies changed dramatically during the early 1700s because religion became less central to colonists’ lives. The turn towards secularity greatly scared the religious aristocrats because their power was threatened by fewer men attending college to become ministers. Adjusting to the lessening impact of religion on daily life, fewer men attended college to become ministers. This shift terrified the religious elite, and they struggled to regain control over education and societal norms for many years.27 Overall, the Great Awakening partially led colleges away from religious curriculums and missions, and the Church’s elite grew increasingly wary of change that countered their power.

Following the early Great Awakening, the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania established its first college, the College of Philadelphia, in 1753 with less focus on theology and ministry. The College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania, was founded as a secular institution

by Benjamin Franklin, marking a massive deviation from other colleges. Contrary to most colonial colleges, the University of Pennsylvania focused on secularity and viewing academics from an unbiased lens.28 Pennsylvania started a college later than many of the other colonies because Quaker ministers did not need to be specially educated.29 This shows how important the need for ministers was in founding colleges and laying the stones for the modern higher

education system in the United States. The college adopted a liberal curriculum in 1756, with less emphasis on classical learning. It was split into thirds, with one for classical learning, one for science and math, and another for logic, ethics, metaphysics, and rhetoric.30 In addition, a medical school opened at the school in 1765.31 The opening of the College of Philadelphia marked a massive deviation from previous schools, and the expansion and success of the college proved that religion did not need to be ingrained in a university’s mission.

After the values of the brief period of theological decline wore out, a religious revival consisting of the latter part of the Great Awakening pursued. The movement swept over America in the 1730s and 40s and has influenced our education and culture since. The religious revival changed America forever, making religion personal and empowering people to make individual decisions on their beliefs. No longer did the Church decide all of one’s beliefs; people had the internal freedom to follow their own path to redemption.32 This movement likely helped instill the country’s persistent culture of intense Christianity, which still dominates modern-day politics and daily life for many people. Colleges were gravitating away from religion, but they made a sharp left turn back to their original values. As another side effect of the movement, religious colleges sprang up with a newfound vengeance, with five stalwarts founded over a twenty-year period. In 1746, the Presbyterians opened the College of New Jersey, later Princeton. King’s College was erected by 1754 by the Anglicans in New York City, later Columbia. The Baptists created the College of Rhode Island, now Brown, in 1764. Queen’s College, now Rutgers, followed in 1766 when it was established by the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1769, Dartmouth opened as a Congregationalist institution in New Hampshire.33 American colleges were unable to completely shun religious influences, and the middle of the 18th century brought about increased Christian influence on higher education and, quite simply, more colleges in the colonies.

Presbyterians founded The College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, in 1746 as the next generation of the typical log college and a tool to spread Presbyterianism.

Traditional log colleges served as centers of Presbyterian learning, but they did not have the availability of secular courses that a college offered. Reverend William Tennent ran a log college in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania. He taught languages and biblical ideals through a Presbyterian lens.

The New Side Presbyterians, many of Scottish descent, started Princeton in 1746 to teach Evangelical Calvinism and classical education. The Presbyterian denomination established The College of New Jersey as a device to preach their beliefs and expand their reach. Scot Presbyterians wanted to pass on learning and theological beliefs. The leaders of this movement were educated in log colleges

similar to the one in Neshaminy, and they wanted change.34 for our survival as a free people.” The need for an educatPrinceton trained Presbyterian ministers, but the college ac- ed and informed citizenry remains as important now, in the cepted other Christian denominations, even from the start.35 age of Trump, as it was in the liturgical thirteen colonies.

In theory, Princeton was strictly Presbyterian at its start, but Further investigation of the conception of such prestigious like many in its cohort, other denominations grew and be- universities as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton proves fascame normalized at the school. cinating, a demonstration of the American ideology in its During the mid-to-late 1700s, the Middle Colonies nascence. Early colonists created the basis for some of the had many different religious beliefs, and the higher educa- finest education available in the world today. They foundtion available in the New World was directly correlated to ed the Ivy League with Bible in hand, but these institutions the need for ministers. The Middle Colonies contained var- became more secular over time. However, their progress toious Christian denominations, including many that had no wards secularity temporarily stalled in the 1730s and 40s, need for formal ministerial training. Due to their sectorial among the religious revival that captured America. Ameridiversity, the Middle Colonies created higher educational can colleges transitioned from solely educating ministers to institutions later on. The Quakers, a very prominent group instructing modern-day pre-professionals. Society’s needs in Pennsylvania, had no need for formally trained minis- have evolved since the 18th century, but the American higher ters.36 Having no single religion in a colony meant no uni- education remains an essential piece of the country’s econoform system of higher education. In conclusion, the lack my and democracy. The United States owes a big thanks to of a single religion in the Middle Colonies led to colleges its predecessors and must ensure higher education remains being established later there. Christian colleges experienced well-funded and becomes accessible to all. a rapid growth spurt in the mid-1700s that founded many of the top colleges still operating today.

Endnotes King’s College, now Columbia University, was founded as an Anglican institution, but it leaned towards 1 Bill Drewry, interview by the author, Williamsburg, secularity in its curriculum and diversity in the denomina- VA, October 25, 2017. tional variety in its governing body. The university, a hub of New York City from its founding, was at the centerpiece 2 James S. Baugess, “Education in the Colonial and of the discussion of the influences in the city, including the Revolutionary Era,” in Handbook to Life in America: Bereligious growth of the latter parts of the Great Awakening. ginnings to 1783 (n.p.: Facts On File, 2016), http://online.

Columbia University was at the spotlight of the argument infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/396923?q=higher%20 over the Dutch and English influence in the city. Each side education%20in%20colonial. believed in their right to rule the city and create legislation accordingly. In addition, city residents debated the amount 3 American History Online, s.v. “Education of influence the Anglican sect should wield. At this point, Timeline,” http://online.infobase.com/Auth/Indexthe religious revival was shaking the country, and New York ?aid=17980&itemid=WE52&timelineId=5. was certainly no exception.37 Government in the city was turning towards religion as a tactic for votes, and Columbia 4 D. Thorp, Dr., ed., Acadia-Byrd II, William, vol. was, of course, very receptive to changes in the beliefs of 1, Colonial America (Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational, the area’s citizenry. However, the college actually turned 1998), 53. away from religion as the Great Awakening embedded itself in the American culture. Even though the college was 5 Baugess, “Education in the Colonial” required to have an Anglican president by rules established at the founding in 1754, the board was allowed to have 6 Baugess, “Education in the Colonial” members of any denomination. Shortly after the start, the Anglican founders had little control of the religious track of 7 “Colleges,” in American Eras (Detroit: Gale, 1997), King’s College, and the school moved away from its roots 2: accessed September 19, 2017, http://go.galegroup.com/ over time.38 ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tmka_ca&v=2.1&it=r&id=G Higher education initially developed in the New ALE%7CCX2536600282&asid=4c45d67807a2ee40bfae85 World because of the need to train ministers and spread the 4897dddf40.

Christian way, was followed by a period of growing secularity and logical thinking, but a religious revival in the 8 Encyclopedia of American Education, s.v. “College 1730s and 1740s prevented colleges from truly entering a of William and Mary,” by Harlow G. Unger, http://online.inrevolution entirely free of religious grasps. Thomas Jeffer- fobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/201736?q=founding%20 son once said, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite

of%20william%20and%20mary.

University Press, 2004), http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/ detail/detail?vid=2&sid=ce268780-13ac-4f97-8663-145cc 9 “Colleges,” 2: d251359%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3 QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=khh&AN=85551433&anchor= 10 Encyclopedia of American, s.v. “College of Wil- AN0085551433-4. liam.”

23 “Education,” 2 11 Encyclopedia of American, s.v. “College of William.”

24 Baugess, “Education in the Colonial” 12 Baugess, “Education in the Colonial”

25 “Education,” 2

13 “Education,” in Colonial America Reference Library, ed. Peggy Saari and Julie L. Carnagie (Detroit: UXL, 2000), accessed September 19, 2017, http:// go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tmka_ ca&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3425300034&asid=f3174c926dcce6fae9748bb190f0aff8.

26 Faith Jaycox, “The English Colonies at the Middle of the 18th Century: 1730-1750,” in Colonial Era (n.p.: Facts on File, 2002), http://online.infobase.com/HRC/ Search/Details/194713?q=secular%20college%20in%20 the%20colonies.

14 “Colleges,” 2 15 Drewry, interview by the author.

27 Jaycox, “The English” 28 Baugess, “Education in the Colonial”

29 D. Thorp, Dr., ed., New France-Pennsylvania, vol.

16 The Brafferton, written, illustrated momento, Col- 7, Colonial America (Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational, lege of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. 1998), 551.

17 Catherine Reef, “’That Our Schools May Flour- 30 Baugess, “Education in the Colonial” ish’: Education in Colonial America,” in American History Online, http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/ 31 Thorp, New France-Pennsylvania, 551.

Details/211066?q=that%20our%20schools%20may%20 flourish.

32 Jaycox, “The English” 18 Colonial Capital Branch of The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Priorities of the College of William and Mary, 1914, engraved plaque, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.

33 Gerald F. Moran, “Education in the 18th Century,” in American History Online, http://online.infobase.com/ HRC/Search/Details/358094?q=colonial new jersey education.

19 Colonial Capital Branch of The Association for the 34 Baugess, “Education in the Colonial” Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Priorities of the College.

35 Thorp, New France-Pennsylvania, 494.

20 Colonial Capital Branch of The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Alumni of the College of William and Mary Prominent in Establishing the American Union, 1916, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.

36 “Education,” 2 37 Encyclopedia of American History, s.v. “King’s College,” by George W. Boudreau, http://online.infobase. com/HRC/Search/Details/211525?q=founding%20of%20 yale%20university.

21 John D. Rockefeller, Sir Christopher Wren Building, 1931, engraved plaque, College of William and Mary, 38 Baugess, “Education in the Colonial” Williamsburg, VA. 22 The Columbia Encyclopedia (New York: Columbia

Joseph Bejjani ‘22 “The Causes of the American Revolution”

The end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 marked the separation of the thirteen colonies of North America from Great Britain and led to the foundation of the independent country known as the United States of America. However, the reasons behind the colonies’ determination to split from the powerful British Empire originated from over a century of political disputes and other conflicts between the mother-country and her colonies. In fact, conflict was inevitable from the very foundation of the colonies because Britain and the colonists had differing views on what rights the colonists had and how the colonies could be regulated and governed. In the decade following the end of the French and Indian war in 1763, negative sentiments began to build up between the colonies and Britain as Britain relentlessly forced its rule over the colonies and contravened their rights. American colonists protested against the policies that Britain imposed on them after the French and Indian War because they felt barred from their natural expansion, they did not have representation in Parliament, and they felt that Britain was taking away their colonial liberties and controlling their lives out of self-interest; therefore, the tensions and resentment that arose from colonial protests and Britain’s unrelenting infringement on colonists’ rights led to the American Revolution.

As a part of the British Empire, the colonists believed they were Englishmen, and that although they lived abroad, they had certain rights that came from a long history of struggle between the people of Britain, Parliament, and the king. British rights were established in Britain’s unwritten constitution, which consists of multiple fundamental documents. In 1215, an army led by English barons forced King John to sign a document called Magna Carta, or Great Charter. This document was written as a response to increasing oppression and excessive taxation by the monarchy. The main purpose of Magna Carta was to limit the power of Britain’s monarch over the empire. Magna Carta also guaranteed economic, political, and travel rights to Englishmen, providing the base for what the colonists later believed to be their liberties. Clause thirty-nine of Magna Carta states that “No freeman shall be arrested, or detained in prison, or deprived of his freedom, or outlawed ... unless by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land.” This implied the essential right to trial by jury, which the colonists felt was being violated by the policies of Parliament over five centuries later. Clause twelve of Magna Carta states that the king could only impose taxes on his people “with the common council of the realm.” This clause meant that the king could not levy taxes without the consent of a council made up of English citizens, later leading to the foundation of Parliament, and contributing to the future

colonial stance on taxation without representation. After the signing of Magna Carta, Parliament was first held and therefore founded. Parliament was England’s legislative body and was made up of two houses, one being the “common council” made up of elected representatives of the people. In 1688, an event known as the Glorious Revolution took place in England. Parliament forced the despised King James II off of the throne and offered it to William III of Orange and his wife only if they accepted a document called the English Bill of Rights. The purpose of this fundamental document was to grant Parliament supreme authority over the empire and limit the king’s power to interfere with Parliament. It stated that the power to impose taxes and laws only belonged to the people’s elected representatives in Parliament. It also restricted raising an army in a time of peace.

This bill, passed in 1689, also included a list of English rights. These rights prohibited cruel and unusual punishments and excessive bails or fines. They also defended freedom of speech and granted the right to trial by jury, which was later very important in the establishment of the colonies and their government. When the first English settlers moved into what became the colony of Virginia, Parliament issued a royal charter that laid out the rights and boundaries of the colonists and clarified the relationship of the colony to the crown. The first charter was passed in 1606 and stated that the colonists and their descendants “shall have and enjoy all Liberties, Franchises, and Immunities … as if they had been abiding and born, within this our Realm of England.…” This meant that the colonists were entitled to all of the rights of England’s natural-born citizens even though they lived abroad. They had equal rights to those living in England and were protected from tyranny with the provisions of Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. Both the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights were essential to the foundation of English liberties and the end to tyrannical rule. They would also become extremely important later on, when the king and Parliament began to infringe on the rights colonists had as Englishmen, leading to a resistance movement that caused the American Revolution.

In 1763, Britain emerged victorious from the French and Indian War with a large amount of land in North America and an enormous national debt. The pressures on how to pay their war debt and how to manage the vast new territory taken from France caused Britain to turn its attention back to the American colonies. Before the French and Indian War, the colonies managed most of their own affairs, except for some trade regulations that Britain passed in the mid-1600s.

The colonies prospered, expanded, and became self-sufficient without the interference of their mother-country.

When conflict arose between Britain, France, and the Native Americans over the Western territory of North America, Britain used its army to gain control of the land and protect the colonies. After winning the war, Britain’s territory

included Canada and all of the North American land up to the Mississippi River. The British government, or Parliament, needed to decide what to do with all of this fur-rich land that the Native Americans and the colonists laid claim to. Parliament’s answer was the Proclamation of 1763. This law created a border, known as the Proclamation line, along the Appalachian mountains. It separated the colonists from the Western territory and gave the Native Americans control in that region. The law forbade the colonists from settling and hunting in the land beyond the Proclamation line, and it stated that any colonists already living there had to return to the East Coast. The Proclamation’s purpose was to prevent further conflict between the settlers and the Native Americans and to give Britain more control over the quickly expanding colonies. Britain also decided to build forts along the Proclamation line and to send in 10,000 of their soldiers to patrol the border. This was done to manage affairs with the Native Americans, protect the colonists, and maintain control over the Western territories. The cost of these defenses added to the debt Britain was already in because of the French and Indian War. The colonists were outraged by the Proclamation of 1763. They felt that Parliament had sided with the Native Americans against the interests of the colonies. They believed that westward expansion was the right of the colonies, and that Parliament was taking away this right by restricting their natural growth. In response, the Americans just ignored the law, which was very difficult to enforce, and moved to the Western territory. This was one of the first sparks of American protest to unjust British rule and policy. The drastic increase of British territory in North America and Britain’s crippling national war debt turned Parliament’s attention back to its wealthy American colonies, caused the passage of the Proclamation of 1763, and triggered a series of British policies and colonial protests against British rule.

Parliament decided that it would make the colonies cover the cost of the new defenses in Britain’s territory and pay a significant share of the debt from the French and Indian War. Parliament believed that because Britain protected the colonies in the war, they should pay for it. Parliament also believed that as British citizens, the colonists should contribute to maintaining the empire by paying taxes. The first attempt to produce more revenue off of the colonies after the French and Indian War was through the Sugar Act of 1764. This act placed taxes on imports and exports of goods such as refined sugar, coffee, wine, silk, linen, indigo, iron, hides and many others. The act was a clear attempt

by Parliament to raise money to pay its debt and assert its power over the colonies, which had become self-sufficient and comfortable with their liberties. Up until the Sugar Act, the colonies had passed their own laws and levied their own taxes which were voted on by the elected representatives of the colonists. The colonies argued that they had not agreed

to the taxes of the Sugar Act, and as a part of the British Empire they had the right to tax themselves by electing representatives for their own government. The violation of the colonists’ rights through the Sugar Act led to the first, but not the last, outcry of the phrase “No taxation without representation” by the colonists. In response to the Sugar Act, American merchants ignored the taxes on the variety of imports and exports and illegally smuggled these goods without the added expense. However, the British government responded to colonial smuggling and found ways to enforce the Sugar Act. The Royal Navy used its ships to patrol colonial ports. Parliament hired more commissioners to collect the duties imposed by the Sugar Act. When a British official suspected an American merchant for smuggling taxed goods, they took him for a trial in the court of the British Navy. There was no jury in these trials and the merchant was almost always found guilty. The colonists believed that Britain was trying to take more important rights away from them: the freedom from false arrest and the right to trial by jury. Parliament’s passage of the Sugar Act was its first attempt to further exploit the colonies after the French and Indian War. Furthermore, colonial protest against taxation and British response to resistance began to build tensions between the colonies and Britain.

Englishmen, living in the mother-country and abroad, treasured the right to be represented in their government. This representation in government essentially allowed Englishmen to be taxed only with their consent.

Citizens living in England elected representatives for Parliament’s House of Commons, and citizens of the colonies elected representatives for their local governments. Parliament imposed taxes and created laws for their people, and colonial governments did the same for colonists. Whether the colonists were represented in Parliament, however, became a point of serious conflict, especially when Parliament began taxing the colonists. In England, Parliament “virtually” represented the people. Each elected member of Parliament represented the British Empire as whole, not specific constituencies. They supposedly took into account the interests of the entire empire, not only the people who elected them. The colonies, however, believed in and practiced “direct” or “actual” representation in their legislative bodies. In the colonies, elected representatives reflected the interests of a specific geographic region including the people who voted for them. Parliament’s “virtual” representation led its members to believe that they represented the colonies, and therefore had the right to tax them. Colonists believed that they could not be represented in Parliament without an official in Parliament elected by citizens of the American colonies. There were no actual colonists in Parliament directly representing the colonies, and the colonists were not allowed to vote for the members of Parliament.

Colonists did not believe in “virtual” representation, and

they were not directly represented in Parliament. So, when Parliament began taxing the colonies to pay for Britain’s debts, the colonists protested, voicing the phrase “No taxation without representation.” This essentially meant that Parliament could not tax the colonists because they were not represented in that government. They felt that their constitutional right to only be taxed by consent through their elected representatives was being infringed upon. The colonists asserted that only their local colonial governments could tax them because they were directly represented in them. Taxation without representation became one of the primary causes of colonial protest to British policy and rule, and ultimately, the American Revolution.

To make even more money from the colonies, Parliament passed the extremely controversial Stamp Act of 1765. Opposition to this taxation in the form of political assemblies, violent mobs, and boycotts grew quickly and voiced the key phrase “No taxation without representation.” The Stamp Act was the first internal tax Parliament imposed on the colonies. The Stamp Act required that paper products such as official documents, newspapers, ships’ papers, almanacs, insurance policies, playing cards, dice, and other goods had a stamp on them bought from appointed British stamp agents and offices. The Stamp Act essentially taxed all paper goods. Without these stamps, the products and documents were considered worthless. Tavern owners, ship captains, merchants, lawyers, printers and many others were affected by the taxed stamps. Because the Stamp Act affected such a wide range of colonists, the protest against the tax was very strong and came in a wide range of forms.

Newspapers, pamphlets, and lectures immediately demonstrated objection towards the Stamp Act. In 1765 in the colony of Virginia, a man named Patrick Henry spoke in front of the House of Burgesses, a branch of Virginian government made up of elected representatives. In his famous speech, he voiced colonial opposition to Parliament’s Stamp Act. He declared that the right to tax the colonies only belonged to the colonies, and any attempts to take this right away posed a threat to their freedom. This statement, and many more, made their way into the five Virginia Resolutions, which were passed by the House of Burgesses and spread throughout the colonies. The second of these resolutions returned to the first Virginia Charter: “Resolved, That by two royal Charters granted by King James the First, the Colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all Liberties, Privileges, and Immunities of Denizens and natural Subjects, to all Intents and Purposes, as if they had been abiding and born within the Realm of England.” Patrick Henry asserted that all colonists, although living abroad, had equal rights to those living in England. He then explained the right of a people to tax themselves through representatives in their own government: “Resolved, That the Taxation of the People by themselves, or by Persons chosen by themselves to

represent them, who can only know what Taxes the People are able to bear, or the easiest Method of raising them ... is the only Security against a burthensome Taxation, and the distinguishing Characteristick of British Freedom, without which the ancient Constitution cannot exist.” These two resolutions and the other three provided the basis for protest against the Stamp Act, because they restated the rights of the colonists as Englishmen and demonstrated how they were being infringed upon by the Stamp Act. James Otis, a lawyer in Massachusetts, brought together leaders from eight of the colonies and formed the Stamp Act Congress. The Stamp Act Congress resulted in the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which, like the Virginia Resolutions, asserted the colonists’ rights and protested against taxation without representation. Not all protest to Parliament’s taxation was peaceful, however. A group of radical anti-British colonists, called the Sons of Liberty, was formed in 1765 in response to the Stamp Act. A man named Samuel Adams led the group in Boston. They assembled in mobs and protested using violent and destructive methods. They burned court records, ransacked homes of British tax collectors, and destroyed the property of law enforcement officials. The Sons of Liberty tarred and feathered British officers as well.

Stamp Act tax collectors quit their jobs out of fear. The Sons of Liberty built tensions in the colonies and spread ideas of becoming independent from Britain. Colonial merchants also rebelled against the Stamp Act. They boycotted British importations by refusing to accept goods brought from Britain to the colonies. They did this in hopes of weakening the mother-country’s economy and pressuring Parliament into repealing the dreaded Stamp Act. Patrick Henry’s speech and his five resolutions, James Otis’ Stamp Act Congress and the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, the Sons of Liberty and their violent actions, and the merchants’ boycotts were all forms of protest against Parliament’s taxation of the colonies through the Stamp Act. Furthermore, resentment grew towards Britain as colonists cried for the repeal of the Stamp Act. All of the pressures from colonial assemblies, merchants, and radical groups led to Parliament’s repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766, only six months after it was passed. The colonists learned that if they resisted quickly and strongly enough, Parliament would be forced to back down. With the repeal of the Stamp Act, however, came the passage of the Declaratory Act, and later, the Townshend Acts. Parliament issued the Declaratory Act in 1766 to assert Britain’s authority over the colonies. The Declaratory Act revealed that Britain had not given up when it repealed the Stamp Act and would continue to force its rule over the colonists, even if it meant infringing on their rights. The Declaratory Act stated that Parliament had the “full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the

crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.” In this act, Parliament affirmed that it held the constitutional right to impose taxes and create laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever,” because they were subjects of Britain. On the contrary, the colonists believed that because they were subjects of Britain, they had the rights of Englishmen and could not be taxed without direct representation in Parliament. The Declaratory Act also proclaimed that “all resolutions, votes, orders and proceedings” that went against Parliament’s authority to legislate for the colonies were “utterly null and void.” The Declaratory Act was an attempt to take away the colonists’ control over their local government, and it became the basis for future unjust taxation of the colonies. The Declaratory Act demonstrated Britain’s increasingly tyrannical rule over the colonies. In 1767, one year after the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts to replace the Stamp Act and raise revenue from the colonies to pay for Britain’s debts. Parliament was not only determined to enforce its power over the colonies, but also to drain their resources. The Townshend Acts increased duties on imported tea, glass, lead, paint, paper and other goods. The Townshend Acts were another instance of taxation without representation, and they caused protest to swiftly rise in the colonies. The Sons of Liberty abused tax-collecting officials, and merchants held boycotts against the taxed British imports. In order to protect the tax-collectors and enforce the Townshend Acts, Britain sent troops to Boston. Previously, soldiers were only sent to the colonies to protect the colonists. In 1768, the troops, known as the Boston Garrison, were sent to enforce policies that hurt the colonies. The citizens of Boston viewed the Garrison as a standing army in a time of peace as well as proof of the gradual destruction of their rights as colonists. They expressed their hatred towards the British occupying force in various ways, hoping to pressure Parliament into withdrawing the troops. Eventually, the tensions between the Boston Garrison and the residents of Boston reached the breaking point and led to the Boston Massacre. In 1770, a mob of Bostonians began to torment a British guard. More soldiers arrived as the mob turned into a crowd and the aggression grew. The soldiers were provoked into firing their weapons and killing five members of the crowd. Through propaganda, this event was blown up into a “massacre” by colonial radicals. The British troops were portrayed as ruthless killers and immense outrage and feelings of hatred towards the British army and British rule diffused throughout the colonies, leading to further tensions. Meanwhile, the boycotts against British imports were hurting the value of the goods and damaging the mother-country’s economy. This led to the repeal of all of the taxes levied by the Townshend Acts, except for the one on tea. Overall, the statements of the Declaratory Act, the taxes of the Townshend Acts, and the arrival of the Boston Garrison demonstrated Britain’s

self-interest and increasingly tyrannical rule over the colonies, which became a primary cause of the American Revolution.

Parliament’s decision to leave the duty on tea after the repeal of the Townshend Acts in 1770 led to the passage of the Tea Act in 1773. The small tax on tea provoked unforeseen rebellion in the colonies and a shocking act of defiance in Boston. In 1773, the East India Company, a powerful British trading company, was undergoing financial troubles. In order to support the East India Company, Parliament turned to the colonies and passed the Tea Act. The Tea Act declared that the colonies could only purchase tea from the East India Company. Britain set the tea’s price very low, making it cheaper, even with its tax, than the colonies’ smuggled tea. Parliament hoped that this would encourage the colonists to buy the cheaper tea. This would not only support the East India Company, but raise money for Britain through the tax on the tea that was left from the Townshend Acts. The smuggling of goods was a huge business among American merchants. The merchants saw the Tea Act as a huge threat to their business because the East India Company’s tea was cheaper than their smuggled tea.

The British tea also still carried the despised tea tax. The merchants believed that Britain’s move to make their tea so cheap was a trick to make the colonists pay the tax. And although the tax was small, it was still an instance of taxation without representation. The merchants became determined to prevent Parliament from controlling the American tea trade, for it might be a step in a tyrannical campaign to take over all American trade. While most colonies protested against the Tea Act by leaving the tea to rot in warehouses without paying the tax, or refusing to allow the tea to be unloaded from English ships, a group in Boston took more severe actions. The Governor of Massachusetts, a supporter of British policy and authority, ordered the tea ships to remain in the Boston Harbor until the tax was paid. A group of Bostonians retaliated in response to the governor’s actions.

This retaliation came to be known as the Boston Tea Party, which was organized by Samuel Adams. On a December night of 1773, an armed band of Boston rebels dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded three of the English ships docked in the Boston harbor. They dumped 342 chests of tea, equal to over 90,000 pounds or one million present-day dollars, into the Boston Harbor. This mass destruction of British property was seen by Parliament as an outrageous illegal action. The Boston Tea Party was the final drop of water in the glass of colonial rebellion and disrespect of the crown, and it caused an overflow of harsh British punishment of Boston. This punishment came in the form of a series of proposals passed in Parliament’s Coercive Acts of 1774.

The first of these acts, known as the Intolerable Acts by the colonists, shut down all trading and shipping activities in the Boston Harbor until the residents of Boston payed the

East India Company for the dumped tea. The oppressive Boston Port Act would essentially starve the city’s citizens into paying for the tea. The Massachusetts Government Act was also passed. This act took power away from the democratic parts of Massachusetts’ government and gave it to royal authorities. The Massachusetts Government Act abrogated the Massachusetts charter, which was essentially the foundation of the colony’s self-government. The act also gave the king power to appoint members of the Massachusetts council, which was previously done by the Massachusetts General Court. The king could also appoint judges and officials, while a royal official would select juries. The Massachusetts Government Act also changed the town meeting system in Massachusetts. Previously, town meetings were a way for residents of the colony to participate in the decisions made about their city. But now, the royal governor had full control over the town meetings. Through the Massachusetts Government Act, Parliament could change and influence Massachusetts’ government however it pleased.

The Massachusetts Government Act violated what colonists believed to be their right of self-government. Several other laws and policies were issued as a part of the Intolerable Acts. They all infringed on the colonists’ rights and built tensions between the colonies and Britain. The American colonies all united in response to the distress caused by the Intolerable Acts. They sent food, supplies, and compassion to the residents of Boston, who were suffering from the Boston Port Act. They once again boycotted British goods. The colonies formed committees of correspondence in order to pass resolutions against the Intolerable Acts. The First Continental Congress, a unified assembly of the colonies, was held in 1774 to discuss future actions. Overall, the Tea Act of 1773 was met with bold, unexpected rebellion, but led to a punishing series of acts that could not be tolerated for their iniquitous measures. The events of the early 1770s were the tipping point of tensions between Britain and its colonies, leading to the outbreak of war in 1775.

The end of the French and Indian War marked the beginning of a decade of British policy, colonial protest, and building tensions between Britain and its colonies as a result. Through the Proclamation of 1765, Britain restricted the colonies from natural expansion. Through the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act, Parliament attempted to raise revenue off of the colonies to pay for Britain’s massive war debt, but in the process also violated the colonists’ right as Englishmen to only be taxed through representation. Colonial protest in the form of boycotts, political assemblies, speeches, radical mobs, and others such as the Boston Tea Party, resulted from tyrannical British rule and Parliament’s infringement on the colonists’ rights through its policies. Colonial unrest and resistance caused the passage of the cruel and intolerable Coercive Acts, which further eroded the colonists’ rights,

enkindled outrage, and triggered a newfound American unity across the East Coast. The Revolutionary War broke out, and the united colonists and their desire for liberty and independence paved the way to an American victory and the foundation of the United States of America.

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Dhruv Jetley ‘22 “Slavery and the Founding Fathers” Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery,” asserted Thomas Jefferson. This quote exemplifies the founding of America. An abundance of American people fought, struggled, and died in order to secure freedom and independence from the tyrannical British crown. The American people were impelled merely by their convictions, and those convictions – of liberty, self-government, equality, individualism, diversity, and unity – were and still are essential principles of the American nation. Yet, at the same time, slavery remained a prevalent, legal, and accepted practice.

Many argue that the founding fathers were hypocritical because the institution of slavery contradicted the founding ideals of America, but a closer look at slavery during the founding era reveals that several founding fathers – specifically Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton – actually objected to its practice and indirectly or directly took action to abolish it. Ignoring the fact that some founding founders owned slaves, a closer look at primary documents shows that they favored the abolition of slavery, but they did not want to risk their popularity or authority, which is why their disapproval of slavery is inconspicuous.

Several of the founding fathers’ – especially Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton – public and political objections to slavery engendered a shift in perception of the institution, impact, and ethics of slavery and directly laid the foundation for the abolition of slavery in America.

The most salient and essential principle presented in the Declaration of Independence is that “all men are created equal.” This dictum has been substantially modified and progressed over time according to varying economic, political, social, and legal conditions. It is crucial to consider that the meaning of this principle is ambiguous and variable, there is no “right” way to interpret it, and the exact and deliberate meaning of this principle at the time of its pronouncement is unknown. In 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence’s ratification, the public believed that “all men are created equal” had a vast range of implications and potential meanings including equal liberty, equal opportunity, and equal political rights. There is an abundance of inconsistency in the meaning of “equality,” and different people had different ideas about its meaning. One idea about equality was that all men were created equal and endowed with certain rights from birth, but, if this principle was accurate, then all men would be free of subjugation, which was not the case.1 The second paragraph of the Declaration of Inde1

Pauline Maier, “The Strange History of ‘All Men Are Created Equal,’” in (NA), 883, previously published in Washington and Lee Law Review 56, no. 3 (June 1, 1999), accessed September 26,

pendence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”2 According to the Declaration of Independence, the definition of equality is that all men are accorded the same rights, and these unalienable rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. At the time, the original interpretation of the Declaration of Independence were that it was purposefully designed to develop a written standard for an established society that could be implemented anywhere and for anything.3 In addition, the most vital and controversial figure of the document is apparent in the opening lines: that “all men are created equal.” This statement is contradictory because black people at the time were not entitled to the same rights and were not regarded as equals to white people.4 Furthermore, although he did not directly assert that the revolutionaries had unequivocally and self-evidently accorded all men of all colors in the United States equal rights, Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, asserted that the fathers intended to set a standard of living for the future. The following quote demonstrates his perception of this issue; the signers intended to set an agenda for the future to: declare the right so that the enforcement of it might follow as fast as the circumstances should permit.

They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society, which could be familiar to all, and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence, and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere.5

This reference shows that the purpose of the Declaration was to set a criterion for the future in order to affirm people’s rights, which would change with time and varying conditions, and the founding fathers intended for the criteria in the Declaration to be applied to denounce and abolish slavery. The pronounced principles would, undoubtedly, never be perfectly adopted and maintained, but they should constantly be referred to and modified according to different conditions. And, if the Declaration is continually approximated according to disparate time periods, then happiness and beliefs in life’s worth will be prevalent among all groups of people.6 This excerpt demonstrates the purpose of the Declaration of Independence and the sig2017, http://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1547&context=wlulr.

2 Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 885.

3 Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 883.

4 Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 883.

5 Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 866.

6 Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 886.

nificance and objective of the principle that “all men are created equal.” Essentially, nearly a century before Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, several of the key founding fathers’ opposition to slavery and ambitions for equality, as shown by these writings in the Declaration, set a standard for life and led to the abolition of slavery.

Although the principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence, especially “all men are created equal,” were entrenched in the foundation of the nation, the ideas of equality and rights were never anticipated to be so complicated and burdensome to institute and be universally accepted, and the difficulty of implementing equality is shown by the practice of slavery. The process of implementing the promised rights in the Declaration is extremely arduous because circumstances, provisions, and laws change and new conflicts and issues emerge and diminish over time.

Additionally, the proclamation of all-inclusive human equality and equitable rights for all classes of people, defined in the Declaration of Independence, corroborated the argument that the American colonies engaged in the Revolutionary War for personal rights or the “individual rights of man.” One of the purposes of the Declaration was to elucidate Congress’ position on the purpose of a democratic form of government. This was more appealing to the people because it emphasized a government by the people, as opposed to a monarchy.

The American form of government was centered on individual rights as opposed to governmental dominance and highly concentrated power, which also ties into the philosophy of “all men are created equal.”7 According to the Declaration, governments are instituted to ascertain that basic rights are executed properly for all citizens. The American people are permitted to organize the government’s powers to their satisfaction in order to ensure their safety and happiness.8 Simply, as shown by the meaning of “all men are created equal” and purpose of government, the Declaration mandated the abolition of slavery, but it did not promulgate or explicitly indicate any social, political, or economic equality for slaves. The Declaration was a pre-established plan that outlined how the country should be governed and laid out basic principles that became and have remained essential principles of the country.9 Society and political leaders were also profoundly influenced by the writings in the Declaration of Independence, so many people endeavored to implement the revolutionary principles 7 8 9

Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 886.

Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 883.

Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 888.

into their daily lives.10 However, though the notion that “all men are created equal” and the principles mentioned in the Declaration of Independence were not commonplace and effectual during the founding era, they laid the foundation and established a vision for the abolition of slavery nearly a century later and inspired a shift in the perception of this issue on the public and political spectrum.

Although Thomas Jefferson was a prolific slave owner, his opposition to slavery is manifested by his numerous writings and documents, especially the Declaration of Independence, which created a foundation for abolitionists and challengers of slavery. One may argue that Jefferson – the author of the Declaration of Independence, founder of University of Virginia, and an advocate of freedom of religion – possessed conflicting views on the institution of slavery because his writings contradicted the reality that he owned slaves. However, Jefferson’s writings in the Declaration of Independence and other primary documents imply that he was opposed to slavery and aspired to build a foundation for its abolition, but it was uneconomical for him to publicize his opinions on this issue due to its contentiousness and fear of public and political dissent.11 During the colonial and founding era, slave labor was the backbone of the American economy because the slaves generated substantial income and profit. This reliance on slavery made its abolition implausible, and, because slaves provided a multitude of economic, social, and political benefits, the abolition of slavery was just uneconomical and not in the interest of those who depended on it. In addition, advocacy for slavery was especially vehement and formidable in the southern states. Therefore, it was uneconomical for Jefferson to publicize antislavery views because its popularity would only provoke dissent and had the potential to divide the country, and slavery was entrenched in the American economy, which made its abolition even more improbable.12 For those reasons, it was uneconomical for Jefferson to denounce or attempt to abolish slavery, so it is not obvious that he opposed slavery.

Although Jefferson’s objections to slavery are inconspicuous, many primary sources demonstrate Jefferson’s opposition to slavery. On February 11, 1788, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Brissot de Warville: “You know that nobody wishes more ardently to see an abolition not only of the trade but of the condition of slavery: and certainly nobody will be more willing to en10 11

Maier, “The Strange,” in (NA), 890.

Larry E. Hudson, Jr., “Slavery: Overview,” in Encyclopedia of the New American Nation, ed. Paul Finkelman (Detroit: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2006), 3:183, accessed November 13, 2017, http://go.galegroup.com/ ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tmka_ca&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3446700593&asid=deb730199dce274647f10e3e75a503ba.

12 Henry Wiencek, “Slavery and the Founding Generation,” in Encyclopedia of the New American Nation, ed. Paul Finkelman (Detroit: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2006), 3:199, accessed November 13, 2017, http://go. galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tmka_ca&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3446700598&asid=a917c54fce95ac05dee6fd2d9b945c92.

counter every sacrifice for that object.”13 As demonstrated by this letter, Thomas Jefferson aspired to the abolition of the slave trade and slavery in general, but, while still firmly believing in the injustice of slavery, Jefferson remained publicly and politically silent. After the Revolutionary War and the foundation of America, conflict naturally emerged between the ideals of equality stated in the Declaration of Independence and the common demands of some groups of people to preserve the practice of slavery.14 However, the Declaration, a document written by Jefferson, clearly did not support slavery, and it provided a philosophical basis for antislavery thought and argument. The fundamental premises denoted in this document, especially “all men are created equal,” challenged the morality and constitutionality of exercising slavery. Specifically, the philosophy of endowed, natural, and unalienable rights, which were described and established in the Declaration, engendered ideas of freedom, equality, and liberty. Therefore, the Declaration of Independence neither directly supported slavery nor directly opposed it, but the ideas laid out by Jefferson in the Declaration provided a basis for public and political objection to slavery without exactly interdicting it because that would be uneconomical.

In the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson denounced the practice of slavery, which sparked debates, but this antislavery clause was omitted in the final draft. The first draft of the Declaration stated: “He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it’s most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere.”15 This clause shows Jefferson condemning slavery because he is accusing the British monarch of promoting slavery and the slave trade. Jefferson describes slavery as an invasion of natural human rights such as life and liberty, deeming it an unacceptable practice. In the first draft, Jefferson continues on the subject of slavery. He discusses the immorality of engaging in a market for the sale and purchase of human beings, and he states that slavery is a “crime committed 13

“From Thomas Jefferson to Brissot de Warville, 11 February 1788.” Thomas Jefferson to Brissot de Warville. February 11, 1788.

14 Paul Finkelman, “Proslavery Thought,” in Encyclopedia of the New American Nation (Detroit: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2006), 3:54, accessed November 13, 2017, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i. do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tmka_ca&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3446700526&asid=5ab189e23ae5eaea47d9f9040054d0ec.

15 Thomas Jefferson, “Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents Jefferson’s ‘original Rough draught’ of the Declaration of Independence,” Jefferson’s “original Rough draught” of the Declaration of Independence - Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents | Exhibitions - Library of Congress, last modified July 4, 1995, accessed November 14, 2017, https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/ ruffdrft.html.

against the liberties of one people.”16 In Notes on Debates in Congress, Jefferson communicates that the motive for omitting this clause in the final version was “in complaisance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who on the contrary still wished to continue it.”17 Jefferson held South Carolina and George culpable for the elimination of the clauses regarding slavery because they were still involved in the slave trade. The first draft of the Declaration of Independence demonstrates Jefferson’s wish to abolish slavery and his recognition that slavery was a crime against the unalienable right of liberty, and other laws Jefferson enacted or attempted to enact also establish his antislavery views, influences, and wish to abolish slavery.

In addition to the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, the laws enacted are an accurate representation of the founding fathers’ perception of slavery because the founding fathers are the people that imposed the laws.

Throughout his life, Jefferson attempted multiple times to abolish slavery through legislative, especially congressional, action. His hope to abolish slavery is demonstrated by the following letter to Edward Coles: I had always hoped that the younger generation receiving their early impressions after the flame of liberty had been kindled in every breast… and above the suggestions of avarice, would have sympathized with oppression wherever found, and proved their love of liberty beyond their own share of it.18

Jefferson’s love of liberty was reflected by the laws he passed, which inhibited the expansion of slavery and attempted to outlaw it entirely. In 1784, Jefferson wrote a congressional ordinance outlawing slavery and protecting civil liberties in the western American territories after the year 1800, but this proposal was rejected by one vote.19 In 1787, Jefferson pronounced the Northwest Ordinance, which outlawed the practice of slavery and involuntary servitude in the northwestern territories.20 In 1778, Jefferson drafted a bill that forbade the importation of slaves to Virginia; in Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson introduced a grad16

Jefferson, “Declaring Independence,” Jefferson’s “original Rough draught” of the Declaration of Independence - Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents | Exhibitions - Library of Congress.

17 Jefferson, Thomas. “Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Debates in Congress.” Equality. 2000. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://presspubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch15s18.html.

18 “To Edward Coles, Monticello, August 25, 1814.” To Edward Coles, Monticello, August 25, 1814 < The Letters of Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 < Thomas Jefferson < Presidents < American History From Revolution To Reconstruction and beyond. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl232.php 19 William W. Freehling, “The Founding Fathers and Slavery,” The American Historical Review 77, no. 1 (February 1972): 86, accessed November 14, 2017, doi:10.2307/1856595.

20 Freehling, “The Founding,” 88.

ual plan for emancipation.21 However, during the entirety of his life, Jefferson maintained that slavery would eventually be abolished through democratic processes, and he hoped that future generations – equipped with the moral foundations and public and political support – could prove their love of liberty beyond their own share of it by abolishing slavery.

Many of Jefferson’s letters state that he considered slavery morally incorrect and was, in theory, opposed to its practice. In a letter to Thomas Cooper, Jefferson described slavery as a “moral and political depravity.”22 In a letter to William Short, Jefferson described slavery as a “hideous blot.”23 In a letter to John Holmes, Jefferson stated: I can say with conscious truth that there is not a man on earth who would sacrifice more than I would, to relieve us from this heavy reproach, in any practicable way. the cession of that kind of property, for it is so misnamed, is a bagatelle which would not cost me a second thought, if, in that way, a general emancipation and expatriation could be effected: and, gradually, and with due sacrifices, I think it might be. but, as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go.24

In Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson states: “And can the liberties of a nation be through secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?”25 All of these letters demonstrate a unifying theme: Jefferson comprehends the egregious moral nature of slavery but also recognizes the economic and social necessity of it. He describes slavery as holding a wolf by the ears: he does not like it, but he cannot let it go. He understands that slavery contradicted the laws of nature and principles of equality and liberty, yet the practice was so prevalent and popular that its abolition was implausible. In essence, Jefferson was opposed to slavery, but he could not directly do anything to resolve it. All Jefferson could do was merely hope for its gradual abolition. He did, however, create the cornerstones for the abolition of slavery by writing the Declaration of Independence and multiple laws to set a “standard maxim for society.” Jefferson took the first steps to create equality and abolish slavery, and the impacts he had on the institution of slavery were also crucial to its abolition.

Jefferson’s clear opposition to slavery caused an abundance of antislavery action and affected public and po21 22

Jefferson, Notes on the State, (n.p.).

“Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 10 September 1814.”

Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper. September 10, 1814.

23 “From Thomas Jefferson to William Short, 8 September 1823.” Thomas Jefferson to William Short. September 8, 1823.

24 “Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes.” Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes. April 1820, 22.

25 Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Raleigh, N.C.: Alex Catalogue, 199-), 170.

litical views of this issue at the time. Antislavery religious, political, and social opposition emerged during the Revolutionary Era as a result of the new ideals that Jefferson described in the Declaration. Advocates of slavery, in their self-interest, were slaveholders who believed that slavery was entrenched in the economic, political, social, and racial environment at the time, so abolishing slavery would be uneconomical, adverse, disadvantageous, and otherwise unnecessary.26 Slavery was still legal, but antislavery supporters, taking into consideration the ideals presented in the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, deemed the practice unethical.27 Essentially, the ideas that Jefferson presented allowed other groups of people to counter slavery, even though Jefferson did not directly show his opposition to slavery. One impact of his writings was religious opposition. Religious opposition, especially that of the Quakers, combined with revolutionary ideals provided a moral foundation for more influential antislavery arguments to be built upon and spread.28 The Quakers were a religious society and one of the first groups to publicly challenge slavery.

The majority of people in the Quaker society were originally slave owners, but they gradually grew in opposition to it and eventually began to protest in the early 1700s. In the mid-1700s, Quakers criticized people who purchased slaves, and, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, Quakers officially established themselves as an antislavery religious sect, and they associated owning slaves to dealing in stolen merchandise, an illicit and unethical act.29 The primary belief of Quakers opposed to slavery was that “holding other persons in bondage was in violation of God’s law,” and God’s law guaranteed the equality of all men, no matter their race or socioeconomic status.30 This shows the Quakers’ role in antislavery and how the Declaration of Independence was the basis of their antislavery action. Therefore, without Jefferson, religious opposition to slavery would not have existed. In addition, antislavery views also commonly existed among freed slaves. Individuals and communities in this demographic challenged the political system of slavery throughout its existence, and they fostered and supported others to openly challenge slavery 26

Richard B. Bernstein, The Founding Fathers: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 71-72, digital file.

27 James G. Basker, Susan F. Saidenberg, and Nicole A. Seary, comps., Slavery in the Founding Era: Literacy Contexts (New York, NY: Gilder Lehrman Institute, 2005), 6.

28 Hudson, “Slavery: Overview,” 3:184.

29 A. B. Wilkinson, “Antislavery Arguments: An Overview,” in Gale Library of Daily Life: Slavery in America, ed. Orville Vernon Burton (Detroit: Gale, 2008), 2:156, accessed November 13, 2017, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tmka_ ca&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3057200233&asid=a29ba2368f0f8488313ec5d06c81bfec.

30 Wilkinson, “Antislavery Arguments,” 2:157.

as well.31 This demographic of people considered slavery to be an economic and moral issue: they took issue with a political system that stringently compelled them to labor with no pay, destitute living conditions, and no power or rights. Slaves were considered nothing more than the property of their owners, and property was an inherent, inviolable right.32 However, this perception began to change during the Revolutionary era as objections to slavery emerged, but nobody would have been able to develop ways to challenge slavery if Jefferson did not provide the moral foundation for antislavery views to permeate. The Revolution, specifically Jefferson’s documents, presented an opportunity for freed slaves and other colonists to publicly express antislavery views and challenge slavery for the first time because the Declaration of Independence laid the moral foundation for the abolition of slavery. Jefferson’s rhetoric of individual liberty, equality, and unalienable rights engendered a change in the public and political perception of slavery by providing a moral foundation for antislavery action.

Although Jefferson’s attempts to abolish slavery were predominantly ineffective at the time, his objections to slavery are evident, and he directly laid the path to the abolition of slavery by engendering a public and political ideological shift in perception of the institution, impact, and ethics of slavery through an abundance of antislavery laws, rhetoric, and the Declaration of Independence.

Similar to Jefferson, George Washington did not publicize his opposition to slavery or directly take a considerable amount of action against it. Washington’s motive for public silence was that he understood the necessity of preserving national unity outweighed the risk of separating a newly-founded nation on slavery. Another reason why Washington did not directly take action for the abolition of slavery was because he believed that it would be rescinded naturally over time when the circumstances would allow it.

He believed that the process of emancipation would be legally accepted and approved by an antislavery majority opinion among whites.33 In addition, Washington regretted the presence of slavery and aspired to abolish it, but he feared that challenges would emerge if others disagreed with his views, which would divide public and political opinion on slavery.

In many private letters, Washington expressed his fear of the public and political ramifications that would emerge if he freed his slaves. For example, Washington secretly, in order to avoid public and political consequences, arranged to free his family’s slaves, and he hoped this action could potentially exhibit a positive example for others.34 Again, this demonstrates Washington’s evident to slavery because

he endeavored to alter people’s perception by setting a positive example. However, publicizing his opposition to slavery would negatively influence him politically, socially, and economically, so it was not in his self-interest to attempt to abolish slavery. For those reasons, Washington’s objections to slavery are not obvious because it was not in his self-interest or in the interest of the country to candidly attempt to abolish slavery, but his opposition and changed perceptions on the institution of slavery – as a result of the American Revolution – are established by many primary documents.

George Washington’s perception of slavery changed over time with the Revolution, and his objections to slavery affected its ethics and impact at the time, especially during and proceeding the American Revolution. Enslaved people served through the entirety of the Revolutionary War. Initially, when Washington took command of the American army, he deprecated governing black people and held conventional views on slavery – such as the beliefs that slaves were property, inherently inferior, and generated a commercial enterprise – and he was raised in a society in which slavery was an acceptable and prevalent practice.35 George Washington was a prolific slaveowner. From a young age, Washington was instilled with proslavery notions and believed slavery was an indispensable aspect of politics, culture, the economy, and social life. However, after the American Revolution, Washington’s perceptions were significantly altered as he was profoundly influenced by the central ideas of liberty and equality that he experienced during the Revolution.36 The reason for Washington’s changed perception on the ethics, impact, and implication of slavery can definitely be attributed to his realization that the ideals he was leading the fight for were contrary to slavery. In other words, the revolutionary ideals that Washington apparently embraced were the impetus for his changed perception of slavery. Washington supported a system in which slaves were emancipated and the owners were compensated because that system mitigated the issue of a lack of manpower in the war. Nonetheless, he considered the Revolutionary War an opportunity to emancipate slaves, and advocated emancipation through a method to give the slaves “their freedom with their muskets.”37 Washington’s proposition for freedom with muskets was approved by the Continental Congress, which accounted for one part of the gradual abolition of slavery in America.38 George Washington indirectly affected the ethics and institution of slavery because, by leading the American Revolution, he inspired ideas of liberty and equality that were contradictory to slavery. As his views on slavery were radically altered, the American

31 32 33 34

35 36 37 38

Wilkinson, “Antislavery Arguments,” 2:158.

Finkelman, “Proslavery Thought,” 3:55.

Freehling, “The Founding,” 89.

Wiencek, “Slavery and the Founding,” 3:201.

Wiencek, “Slavery and the Founding,” 3:198.

Wiencek, “Slavery and the Founding,” 3:198-199.

Wiencek, “Slavery and the Founding,” 3:198-199.

Wiencek, “Slavery and the Founding,” 3:199.

Revolution also influenced society, abolitionists, and antislavery supporters. Washington’s objections to slavery and the public and political impacts he engendered are shown by multiple primary sources, and, although Washington took no official position on the issue of slavery, his antislavery notions and support are established by his private letters and other primary documents.

In a letter to John F. Mercer, Washington wrote: “With respect to the first, I never mean (unless some particular circumstances should compel me to it) to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by [inserted: The Legislature by] which slavery in this Country may be abolished by slow, sure, and imperceptible degrees.”39 This letter shows Washington’s criticism of the institution of slavery and his awareness that slavery contradicts the ideals of liberty and equality on which the American nation was founded. In this letter, Washington assures that he will never own another slave, and he aspires for the abolition of slavery in imperceptible degrees. The wish that a plan for abolition is formulated on imperceptible degrees evidences his awareness that publicly disclosing views on the issue of slavery could politically and socially divide the country, so the plans for abolition must be imperceptible. Furthermore, in a letter to Alexander Spotswood, Washington stated: “Were it not then, that I am principled [against] selling negros, as you would do cattle in the market, I would not, in twelve months from this date, be possessed of one, as a slave.”40 Also, in a letter to Robert Morris, Washington wrote:

I hope it will not be conceived from these observations, that it is my wish to hold the unhappy people who are the subject of this letter, in slavery. I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it—but there is only one proper and effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, & that is by Legislative authority: and this, as far as my suffrage will go, shall never be wanting.”

In another letter to John F. Mercer, Washington wrote: “It is as much against my own inclination as it can be against your’s, to hurt the feelings of those unhappy people by a separation of man and wife, or of families.”41 These three letters portray a common theme: Washington’s opposition to slavery. In the first letter, he equates selling slaves to selling cattle in the market, which suggests his consideration that the sale of slaves is utterly dehumanizing and unjusti39

fied, and he affirms that he will no longer participate in the sale of slaves. The second letter demonstrates Washington’s ambition for the eradication of slavery through Legislative authority. In the third letter, Washington states another reason for his disapproval. He believes that separating families is unjustifiable and morally repugnant. Along with illustrating his changed conceptions – from a slavery advocate to a vehement supporter of liberty, equality, and abolition – these letters also indicate Washington’s impacts on slavery.

One may argue that Washington’s prolific slave ownership implies support of slavery, but these primary documents show that, even though his impacts were indirect, Washington positively influenced antislavery causes and contributed to the abolition of slavery. As the preeminent leader of the American Revolution and the American epitome of freedom, Washington’s main impact on slavery was that he set a positive standard for others to abide by. Essentially, George Washington – through the American Revolution and his commitment to the cause of American Revolution – manifested the true meanings of revolutionary ideals such as liberty and equality, which significantly influenced other antislavery supporters, but he never publicly revealed his antipathy towards the institution of slavery because doing so would be unwise. Throughout his life, Washington merely hoped for the gradual abolition of slavery through Legislative authority.

In his will, George Washington decided to emancipate all the slaves he owned. Specifically, Washington wrote: “Upon the decease of my wife, it is my Will & desire that all the Slaves which I hold in my own right, shall receive their freedom.”42 Washington’s will shows his commitment to liberty and equality, and the emancipation of his slaves epitomizes his embrace of the Revolutionary ideals he fought for. Washington’s will is the ideal example of his objection to slavery. Although Washington did not take advantage of his bully pulpit to explicitly denounce or abolish slavery, he used the bully pulpit to exemplify the founding principles of liberty and equality and to establish an American government based on individual rights and human freedom.

Similar to Jefferson, Washington laid a foundation for the abolition of slavery after his lifetime. Both of these founding fathers influenced public and political opinion about slavery, impacted the ethics and institution of slavery, inspired and encouraged people to take antislavery action, and equipped future generations with the requisite tools and moral foundations in order to abolish slavery. Also, Jefferson and Washington were both totally opposed to slavery.

However, these two founding fathers were not the only political leaders from the time period to challenge and influ-

“From George Washington to John Francis Mercer, 9 September 1786.” George Washington to John Francis Mercer. September 9, 1786.

40 “”That Species of Property”: Washington’s Role in the Controversy Over Slavery.” The Washington Papers. Accessed November 13, 2017. http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/history/articles/species/.

41 “From George Washington to John Francis Mercer, 24 No42 Washington, George. “A Last Word on Slavery: Washingvember 1786.” George Washington to John Francis Mercer. November ton’s Will.” The Papers of George Washington. Accessed November 24, 1786.

13, 2017. http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/education/life/quest11.html.

ence the practice of slavery. Another notable challenger of slavery included Alexander Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton – a prominent founding father, an author of the Federalist Papers, and a member of the Continental Congress – was an ardent challenger of slavery, and his writings significantly influenced public and political opinion about slavery. Hamilton markedly adhered to American revolutionary principles by disapproving of the institution of slavery, which is evidenced mainly by his documents. Unlike Washington and Jefferson, Hamilton took action to abolish slavery as opposed to merely hoping that it would gradually be abolished. In A Full Vindication of the Congress, written by Hamilton preceding the Revolution, he stated:

entire human race, so that right could not be deprived. He associated the right to individual liberty with a right to humanity, and that right to humanity always superseded right to property. One may argue that when slavery conflicted his personal ambitions, Hamilton chose to follow his ambitions over showing his opposition to slavery; however, these primary documents clearly show Hamilton’s objections to slavery and love of liberty, which determine that argument implausible.

Evidently, Hamilton considered slavery morally atrocious and contemptible, but, additionally, his vehement objection to slavery extended to taking action against it in order to put it on the path to extinction. Hamilton supported providing slaves “freedom with their muskets,” as shown “All men have one common original: they participate by the following letter to John Jay regarding equality: in one common nature, and consequently have one common right. No reason can be assigned why one man should exercise any power, or pre-eminence over his fellow creatures more than another; unless they have voluntarily vested him with it.”43

The ideas that all men have one common right and that no man has power over another without permission illustrate Hamilton’s objection to slavery. Slavery, by definition, is a practice in which one group of people considers itself superior to another. By stating that no man can exercise power over another, Hamilton established his antislavery stance.

Also, in A Full Vindication of the Congress, Hamilton wrote: “No person, that has enjoyed the sweets of liberty, can be insensible of its infinite value, or can reflect on its reverse, without horror and detestation.”44 The reverse of the sweets of liberty that Hamilton describes is a reference to slavery, so he is essentially describing slavery as a horrible and detestable practice. In another one of his papers, Hamilton stated: “Such a doctrine would ill suit the principles of the revolution, which taught the inhabitants of this country to risk their lives and fortunes in asserting their liberty… It is that for which we have fought and bled.”45 Basically, Hamilton is explaining the contradiction between the principles of the revolution, which we have fought and bled to establish, and slavery; he is delineating the paradox of liberty. Another unifying theme between the preceding two excerpts is Hamilton’s moral embrace of liberty, which he regarded as the most vital natural human right. He believed that the right of liberty was endowed by the Creator to the 43

Alexander Hamilton, “Founders Online: A Full Vindication of the Measures of the Congress, &c., [15 D ...,” National Archives and Records Administration, last modified December 15, 1774, accessed November 14, 2017, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/ Hamilton/01-01-02-0054.

44 Hamilton, “Founders Online,” National Archives and Records Administration.

45 Alexander Hamilton, “Alexander Hamilton, a Second Letter from Phocion,” The Founders’ Constitution, last modified April 1784, accessed November 14, 2017, http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/print_documents/a1_9_3s6.html.

I have not the least doubt that the negroes will make very excellent soldiers… for their natural faculties are probably as good as ours… an essential part of the plan is to give them their freedom with their muskets.

This will secure their fidelity, animate their courage, and I believe will have a good influence upon those who remain, by opening a door to their emancipation.46

As demonstrated by this letter, Hamilton is encouraging of the enslaved population’s skill and knowledge, a view that was uncommon during the time period. He also believed that earning emancipation by service provided slaves with multiple advantages, including moral improvement and an opportunity to function in society. Another method Hamilton used to advance emancipation was compensation for emancipation, which was a process that rewarded the owners for freeing their slaves. By promoting compensation for emancipation and “freedom with muskets,” Hamilton enabled widespread liberation and affected the institution of slavery.

Similar to Jefferson and Washington, Hamilton feared dividing the country on such a contentious issue, but, by publicly asserting his interpretations of the Constitution in the Federalist Papers, Hamilton provided the federal government with an opportunity to abolish slavery by showing his support for strengthening the central government.47 In Article 4, Section 3 of the Constitution, it is written, “The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.”48 Article 4, Section 3 of the Constitution empowers the federal government 46

Alexander Hamilton, “Equality: Alexander Hamilton to John Jay,” The Founders’ Constitution, last modified March 14, 1779, accessed November 14, 2017, http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/ documents/v1ch15s24.html.

47 Michael D. Chan, “Alexander Hamilton on Slavery,” The Review of Politics 66, no. 2 (Spring 2004): 223, accessed November 14, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1408953?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.

48 Chan, “Alexander Hamilton,” 223.

to disrupt and curtail slave trade between and within states, and it empowers the federal government to ban slavery.

Hamilton’s interpretation of the Constitution, which included a stronger central government to ensure the security of liberty, supplied the federal government with sufficient power to abolish slavery.49 Furthermore, Hamilton introduced and applied other methods to eradicate slavery in America, which included the rise of state abolition societies and providing an economic alternative to slavery. After the American Revolution, an abundance of antislavery abolitionist societies emerged that proposed new policies and pressed for the gradual emancipation of slavery. Hamilton contributed to the New York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves and remained an active member in the society.50 This was crucial because it gradually affected the institution, specifically the ethics, of slavery in New York, and it paved the way for the abolition of slavery in New York.

The society’s determination towards the enslaved population extended not only to securing the freedom of slaves; it guaranteed that free blacks were equipped with the requisite tools to function in society and assured that they were not neglected. Although this only directly contributed to abolition in New York, it indirectly impacted the institution of slavery in other locations by setting a positive example and promoting liberty and equality. Next, Hamilton provided an economic alternative to slavery by introducing a program to make America an industrialized, commerce-based economy as opposed to an agriculture-based economy, which had the benefit of weakening slavery by undermining it. This method for abolition also provided the most economical alternative. Hamilton described the slave trade as “a commerce so repugnant to humanity, and so inconsistent with the liberality and justice which should distinguish a free and enlightened people,” and he prompted for the discontinuation of the slave trade in America.51 In essence, the entirety of these primary documents demonstrate Alexander Hamilton’s objections to slavery, and his antislavery actions engendered a shift in perception of slavery and directly laid the path to the abolition of slavery in America.

Thomas Jefferson’s, George Washington’s, and Alexander Hamilton’s objections to slavery, as shown by primary documents, influenced people’s actions and attitude towards slavery and allowed for its abolition nearly a century later. Specifically, Jefferson’s main contribution was writing the Declaration of Independence; Washington’s main contribution was setting an antislavery example for others through the American Revolution; and Hamilton’s main contributions were his writings in the Federalist Papers and his antislavery support and actions. Although the 49 Chan, “Alexander Hamilton,” 224.

50 Chan, “Alexander Hamilton,” 227.

51 “Memorial to Abolish the Slave Trade, 13 March 1786.” Alexander Hamilton to Legislature of New York State. March 13, 1786.

majority of the founding fathers are discredited for owning slaves despite the fact that it was inconsistent with their convictions, an abundance of primary sources reveals their opposition to slavery. The aggregate of Jefferson’s, Washington’s, Hamilton’s, and other founding fathers’ antislavery actions and influences altered perceptions of slavery during the founding era and allowed for the abolition of slavery nearly a century later. The founding fathers, indisputably, envisaged a nation shaped by convictions of equality, liberty, self-government, democracy, and happiness that protected the God-given, natural rights of all human beings, and they hoped for and envisioned a country without the presence of America’s greatest crime, slavery.

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The moment the new girl walked in a feeling of unease spread throughout the room. The director was beaming at his new find, an eighteen-year-old genius. She’d certainly be a great help with the project at hand.

However, everyone else noticed the slight malice of her demeanor, the way she seemed to be analyzing all of us as if we were opponents on a battlefield. The way she held herself was confident, like a predator certain she’d catch her prey. Similar to her stature, her outfit practically screamed confidence. She had on a tight white blouse and a short, black pencil skirt. I was amazed she was so balanced; on her feet she wore what must be at least six-inch heels, black as night like her skirt.

Both items shone bright in the light of the chandelier, shimmering ever so slightly as she moved, mesmerizing us. Her dark brown hair, pulled up into a tight bun with no loose hairs, had the same effect. Yet nothing was more bewitching than her eyes, menacing voids yet with so much intelligence behind them. They flitted from one of us to another, quickly dismissing each person as if she knew none of us would be any sort of threat to whatever she had planned. When her eyes rested on me, I felt a chill roll down my back and linger there. All I could do was wait for it to go away, but not until she was done with me. We made a split second of eye contact, all I could take, and in that moment it felt as if her eyes were boring through me, right down to my soul. Her heels clicked as she shifted her weight slightly from one foot to another, the first sign of regular human behavior from her. Her eyebrows knitted the slightest bit, something only extremely observant people would’ve picked up on.

So, basically, the entire room. My co-workers glanced over at me for a fraction of a second, confused as to why I was the special one on whom she focused. I glanced up to see her still staring at me, her previously upturned mouth now curved downwards in a tiny frown.

Katherine Lynch ‘23