The Birthmark- Historian Question

When was the text written? What was happening, historically, at the time of its writing?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9515118-the-birthmark Nathaniel Hawthorne published his short story, The Birthmark, in 1843. In this story, Hawthorne shows us that no one is perfect physically, and the only way to become perfect in the spiritual sense is through death. This can parallel with Christian beliefs, especially so close to Easter, in the sense that everyone is born into sin, which is an imperfection. But, if one chooses to turn his life around and accept the gift of Christ, he can spiritually become clean and live eternally. http://ezinearticles.com/?An-Analysis-of-the-Birth-Mark-by-Nathaniel-Hawthorne&id=1295421

On a more historical note, the year 1843 was rather boring, in the sense that there were no major wars going on or anything like that. Operas such as Wagner's "Der Fliegende Hollander" (Dresden) and Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" (Paris) premiered in the early part of January. In February, United States and British settlers choose government committee in Oregon Country and "I Lombardi" premieres in Milan. March brought Congress appropriating $30,000 "to test the practicability of establishing a system of electromagnetic telegraphs"; the first Catholic governor taking office in Maine, Boston conducted its first town meeting at Faneuil Hall, and finally Massachusetts preacher William Miller predicts that the world will end today (March 21). On May 4, Great Britain annexed Natal. The United Free Church of Scotland formed on May 18. On May 22, the first wagon train departed from Independence, Missouri for Oregon, carrying over one thousand people.

 

In June, a rare snowfall came to Buffalo and Rochester, New York and in Cleveland, Ohio; Sojourner Truth left New York to become an antislavery activist; and Vincenzo Soliva declared that no Jew could live outside of the ghetto in Italy. In July, an alligator falls from the sky during a thunderstorm in Charleston, South Carolina; Mormon leader Joseph Smith claims that God says that polygamy is okay. August brought the patent of the typewriter, the National Black Convention in Buffalo, New York, and the first black participation in the Liberty Party.

On November 13, Mount Rainier in Washington erupted. In December of 1843, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is published and over six thousand copies are sold, and the first theatre matinee is opened in New York City (the Olympic Theatre).

Many other things happened in this time, but the most noteworthy made the "This Year in History" section. http://www.brainyhistory.com/years/1843.html 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Beauty is an outward gift, which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused." http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ralph_waldo_emerson_2.html As soon as I read this I thought of the people who have been affected by cancer, severely burned, or even born with physical deformities. Most people look at those with physical deformities as someone with a deadly disease or sheer pity. This makes me really sad, because everyone is beautiful in their own way. This quote spoke to me because I immediately thought of the new Mattel Barbie that would support cancer awareness. These Barbies will debut in the near future, and with every purchase, the MGA will donate $1 to the California-based City of Hope for cancer research. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/story/2012-04-04/bald-Barbie-cancer-patients/53999288/1 This quote really spoke to me, proving the point that everyone is beautiful in her own way.

Edgar Allan Poe's Mental Health Issues, Home Life, and His Writings

How did Edgar Allan Poe's mental health issues and his home life affect his writings?
Edgar Allan Poe is thought to be one of the most controversial and famous writers. According to http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/17841865/lit/poe.htm and http://www.eapoe.org/papers/psbbooks/pb19871c.htm, Poe led a very tortured life, which may explain some of his writings. His father abandoned the family while he was a baby, and his mother died of TB before Edgar was three. Poe also married his COUSIN when she was only thirteen. Those things, along with his fascination of gory and Gothic themes allowed him to become a prominent writer, mastering the Gothic genre. Poe is thought to have had an unusually potent right cerebral hemisphere, which normally plays a part in visual imagery, music, emotions, reverie, and self-destructive urges. In one of his works, Rufus Griswold ruined Poe's reputation by misquoting his writings and overplaying his drinking problems. In all reality, Poe was probably just a "one beer wonder" who could not hold his alcohol. Poe's probable mental illness was manic-depressive, which greatly influenced him because of the fact that Poe wrote about dark things like death. He had an apparent fascination with the death of women, but that could be the cause of him seeing so many deaths of women close to him, like his mother and his young cousin-wife.
   (The second picture is the different cerebral hemispheres.)

Why did Washington Irving use pen-names?

What is a psuedonym? http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pseudonym defines it as a fictitious name used by an author to conceal his or her identity; pen name. This is what Washington Irving used when writing his short stories. According to http://classiclit.about.com/cs/profileswriters/p/aa_wirving.htm Washington Irving was born April 3, 1783 in New York City, and was the eleventh child to William and Sarah. His most famous works were "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." However, Irving did not use his real name as the author, which sparked my question. Why did Washington Irving use pen-names for his short stories? Irving used names like Dietrich Knickerbocker, Jonathan Oldstyle, and Geoffrey Crayon. I did not actually find a logical answer online for this, but I have some theories. I believe that he used these names in order to make the stories more interesting. I mean, who would rather read a story by Washington Irving than some random person named Dietrich Knickerbocker or Geoffrey Crayon? This way, Irving could read his own works and listen to how others reacted about the stories since they did not actually know who wrote them.
  

Frederick Douglass: The Real Story

Who was Frederick Douglass? According to http://www.who2.com/bio/frederick-douglass and http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/bio.html, Frederick Douglass was born as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in February 1818 in Maryland to a black slave woman and an unknown white male, who was probably his mother's slave master. When he was 20, he escaped to New York to obtain his freedom. In order to keep his freedom, he changed his name from Frederick Bailey to Frederick Douglass. He chose this name from a character in the book from The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott. This way, he was able to keep his freedom and marry a free black woman named Anna Murray in 1838. Frederick and Anna had four children between the years of 1839 and 1844. During these times, Douglass became an aid abolitionist for black suffrage and pushed to end slavery. He wrote What to the Slave is the Fourth of July on July 5, 1852 as a protest to July 4th. Douglass' wife Anna died in 1882, and two years later in 1884 he remarried, this time to his white secretary named Helen Pitts. Douglass' works were used as propaganda for the civil war in order to get African American slaves to fight against the south. Douglass died in 1895 from heart failure. This was the same year that Booker T. Washington became prominent by giving his Atlanta Exposition speech. Douglass is often referred to as one of the South's most famous examples of the region's mixed racial heritage.

Side-note: The year Douglass wrote What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, Phi Mu was founded and publicly announced. I thought that was very cool.

How much was Mary Rowlandson actually ransomed for?

Mary Rowlandson was captured in 1675 by the Wampanoag Indians and held captive for three months. Her husband paid her ransom of 20£. This made me wonder exactly how much she was ransomed for, so that is my question. How much was Rowlandson actually ransomed for? According to http://www.unitconversion.org/currency/british-pounds-to-us-dollars-conversion.html today 20£ would be worth about $31.63 US dollars. Today, however, one US dollar is worth 0.63£. That is not very much considering how much our US dollar has diminished in value over the years. After I found out how much Rowlandson would've been worth today, I began to wonder how much she was really worth in 1675. While I was doing research on that, I realized that there were no US dollars around in 1675. So, I found on http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_value_of_a_1675_British_Penny that a 1675 British Penny would be worth 12-100£ today, and that would equal about $18.98-$158.13. I am not sure exactly what that means about how much she was really ransomed for, but a 1675 British penny would be worth a lot today! So, what I found was Rowlandson's husband paid the equivalent of $31.63 to get his wife back.
 

Necessary Evils

Thomas Paine stated in Common Sense "Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." With this being said, I began to wonder what other things would be considered "necessary evils." So my question is just that, What are some things that are considered "necessary evils" today? According to http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6084.html, conducting layoffs at work places are necessary evils. Sometimes there are too many people and not enough money to go around, so the managers just have to do it. A really interesting quote I found on that website was "We define a necessary evil as a work-related task that requires a person to cause physical, emotional, or material harm to another human being in order to advance a perceived greater good." This article was really interesting because it talked about how we tend to focus on the emotions of the person being laid off and not so much on the person who is having to carry it out. To put a necessary evil into easier terms to understand, I found the definition at http://www.englishclub.com/ref/esl/Idioms/N/a_necessary_evil_208.htm. According to that website, a necessary evil is defined as something you do not necessarily like but you understand that is has to be accepted sometimes or it has to exist. The example they used was "Sandra says money is a necessary evil. She thinks it causes many problems, but she can't imagine how the world could work without it." One thing I found particularly funny was an article from Marie Claire magazine entitled "5 Necessary Evils to Compete in the Dating World." http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/men/necessary-evils-dating-world This article was talking to men about how to find a girl. The necessary evils were 1. Going to the gym, 2. Cleanliness and hygiene, 3. Intelligence, 4. Income, and 5. Effort. This was funny because those are things you should probably do on a regular basis! In general, this blog probably has nothing to do with Thomas Paine other than what he said about necessary evils, but I took that and looked more into it.