Women and oppression
The idea of oppression of women has two dimensions. First, before the advent of the working economy when women were pressured to work, they undertook roles within the family set up that promoted subservience to men. On the other hand, men worked hard to provide for the woman and their families. One view about this would be that women were relegated to the second position in the power chain in the family and society, while men were the overall power holders. On the other hand, when the working economy came into place, circumstances pushed women to join formal employment, a sector that was dominated by men. A different kind of oppression emerged where women were given the low cadre jobs, and sometimes, no jobs at all, bringing up a completely different kind of oppression. It means that women were oppressed in both eras, only differently.
Lives led by women in 17th and 18th century
Poor and rich white women faced several problems. First, the period was characterized by plague and sickness, and they would give birth to dead babies. Secondly, upon marriage, a lady became the property of the man, and all earnings of her labor were turned to the husband. I may more truly, farre away, say to a married woman, Her new self is her superior; her companion, her master. These laws applied to all white women, poor and rich, as the rules were borrowed from the colonialists using Christian literature and the Bible. The lack of privilege on the white women made life difficult, and their survival during the migrations depended on personal strength and determination.
Chapter 7 major theme
The main theme in chapter 7 is the displacement of Indians by the white people who were moving towards the west and claiming thousands of hectares of land. The natives of those lands (Indians and Creeks) fought back to reclaim their land, and the tussles led to thousands of casualties. Particularly, the whites were getting many victories on the war zone, and their numbers helped in decimating the Indians and Creeks. In one incident, in 1814, the Battle of Horseshoe Bend resulted in the death of 800 Creeks out of 1000 fighters, and the leader for the whites, Mr. Jackson was declared a war hero for achieving such feat.
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the son in law to the state surveyor, John Donelson. He was the most vicious and outspoken hater of the Indians, and he progressed in his career as a slave trader, merchant, and land speculator. He was involved in the efforts to drive out Indians and other people from their land, as the increased demand for agricultural land resulted in closely fought wars. He led the white people to battles against the Red Indians and the Creeks, and his victories brought glory to him in the 19th century, making him a national hero. He conquered the Seminole and claimed the modern day Florida from the Indians and Indian-blacks, then installed himself as the governor. The capturing of Florida to become part of the Unites States appears on papers as a land purchase, but the truth of the matter is that it was forcefully grabbed from red Indians. He was later elected president in 1828, bringing his anti-Indian policies to the Congress.
Seminole and Cherokee
The experience of Seminole and Cherokee at the hands of the United States was similar in the aspect that land was grabbed, and villages burned ‘Here were all the necessary grounds for burning villages and uprooting natives, Cherokee and Seminole.. .’ In both situations, the government used force. However, the situation was worse in Seminole as Andrew Jackson used force and military strength to drive away the Indians and other people in the region. The villages were taken over completely by the whites, and the Indians were not given land for replacement. Instead, Andrew Jackson encouraged the keeping of slaves and selling them to other whites. In Cherokee, the discovery of gold led to the invasion of the land by the whites (despite the fact that the Indians had been given the land to establish settlements). Andrew Jackson requested all the people to leave the place, both whites, and Indians, then allowed the whites to return to mine the gold.
Lack of support and enthusiasm for the conquest of Mexico
The opinions on occupancy of Mexico were not consistent among the local and national leaders. It was taking too long for the declaration to attack Mexico to come from Washington, and it was only after the killing of Colonel Cross that the go ahead was given to General Taylor to wage war on Mexico. The Mexicans had fired the first shot. But they had done what the American government wanted, according to Colonel Hitchcock. In the Congress, there was a division between the Democratic majority and the Whigs on the Mexican war. The Democrats endorsed attack and a declaration of war as recommended by the president, while the Whigs preferred a soft approach to expansion that would have ensured that there was no war in Mexico. The Whig party was presumably against the war in Mexico, but it was not against expansion.
How economy of slavery led to the building of the Nation
Slavery was the preferred source of labor, mainly because it came cheap in a time when there was an acute shortage of workers. The period experienced great agricultural and manufacturing expansion, and the slaves provided the much-needed labor capital to increase production. As a result, production rose exponentially during the 18th and 19th century, and the United States of America gained traction as an economic powerhouse in the western hemisphere. Labor from slavery was free and continuous, and it made it possible for the farmers and factory owners to make big profit margins that contributed to the strength of America as a nation.
Works Cited
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2010. Print.
