Hawthorne, Salem, Puritans, and how their roots remain.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a Puritan in Salem during the early 1800s. His family was involved with the witch trials and he was ashamed of them so he added the 'w' to his name. He was previously Nathaniel Hathorne. His father died of Yellow Sea Fever when he was only four and his mother thought he should pursue an isolated career. Because of this he loved books and all things related. He graduated from Bowdoin college and his first book was FANSHAWE.....it was unsuccessful though. Years later, he earned enough money from writing to marry a woman named Sophia Peabody and move to the Manse in Concord. He wrote many other books and novels and on May 19th 1864 in New Hampshire, he passed away.

The Puritan Church held the most power over the state. It was the greatest influence and was in-charge. In my opinion, it is ironic how the Puritans had left England to become more free and independent, but they did not give the freedom of religion at all! As we all know [because we have read the Crucible] during this time, the Salem witch trials were going on. This was a major part of their life considering so many met their  death because of vengeful [fake] accusations. But I have also found that there may be another reason for this. Ergot poisoning is in rye bread. Rye bread was eaten because wheat was too expensive. The symptoms of this are: hallucination, choking, violent fits, and itchiness. I personally doubt it to be this, but it could have been the cause.

Salem as whole was expected to be very disciplinary and controlled. The children, as the adults, did chores, attended church, etc. Also, you were not supposed to show emotion, which is TOTALLY crazy. Emotionless. Children learned to read, but everybody was only allowed to own the Bible.

Puritan roots are still in our world today. During the witch trials, hardly anyone questioned the girls that were throwing the accusations around. They believed that children never lied. They believed they were innocent and pure.....It's sad to say that some parents still think that about their children. They are thought of as to never lie, and against another person's word, they are always the truth-tellers, of course I know that children and teenagers are not! I mean, I am one, and I have my perspective. We aren't innocent. I'm sure we've all lied before. Adults just don't see it.

Also, adultery is a big issue. Some states want to repeal the adultery laws that were from old Puritans, but others still have the perspective that it is a sin. In many states their is controversey about whether or not to repeal these laws.

The Moment I knew I was an American

I would make the guess that the moment I realized I was an American was when I as in kindergarden or first grade. And I guess Christopher Columbus was included. So basically at my old elementary school from about kindergarden-5th grade, Christopher Columbus was portrayed as a heroic explorer that founded America and made peace with the Native Americans. And in the illustrations everybody was all smiles. Him, the Native Americans, the pilgrims, etc. We all know pretty much the full story now. Now that we can handle it, they start teaching us little by little how he was a murderer. They build on year after year. Until this year where we read his actual journals or whatever in American Lit. Now we know it all.

So anyways, we talked about it in  kindergarden and that was probably when I realized I was an American. We talked about how he came from Europe to America, except he thought he was in Asia(India). We talked about how he was the reason for us being here today. How he was nothing but good to the Native Americans. How he brought them new food, and corn, etc. We didn't talk about his downsides......such as mass murder, disease, etc. We talked about how he is the founder of this country. How he is the reason we live here and are proud to call ourselves Americans. But if he was the reason we are called Americans I'd rather not be called one because of all his horrible actions. I would not like to be called an American if it is solely because this man 'founded' our country. I want to be called an American because I live in this country, because I respect and am loyal to it.

Us vs. Them

There are many ways to interpret this...
It's very general. But one example of a situation of this is the time I had friends over for our annual block party...
It all happened this summer and the drama that followed still partially continues.
It was a nice sunny day when my school friends arrived, we were swimming, eating cotton candy and just having a good time. Then I explained my evil plot. The night before a girl was saying rude stuff about people. So, to set her straight I planned to throw water balloons at her :) but then, since she's 3 years old at heart, she tattle to her dad.....one thing you should know about him, is that he is rarely NOT drunk. So of course when he came over to yell he reeked of beer... But he continued...an we almost lost our tempers at him, but that wouldn't have been good at all. The girl, had friends that were mine but I haven't talked to them since, which I honestly don't mind at all. I have a life and proved I don't need them. To this day it remains: Us vs. Them.
The end.