I Think I'll Go to Boston

I recently went to Boston, Massachusettes for a day trip.  Now, there are a lot of wonderful historical sites to see in Boston, so how could I possibly do them all in one day?  The Freedom Trail is how!

The Freedom Trail is free, and it has 16 historical sites on it.  You start off in Boston Commons (which is like Boston's "Central Park").  You can pay to have a tour guide, or you can tour yourself for free.  There is a red line that you follow throughout the city.  The last stop is the Bunker Hill Monument.

To see all the famous sites of the Revolutionary War that I have studied in history books was wonderful.  I saw the site of the Boston Massacre, The Old North Church (where Paul Revere placed the lanterns to warn about the British), Paul Revere's house, places where the meetings took place that lead to the Boston Tea Party.  The oldest remaining pub in America is in Boston, and along the Freedom Trail are many historical pubs.  If I go there another day, I'll do the "Pub Crawl," but this time, I just went to one pub for lunch.  I had the New England Clam Chowder (since I was in New England).

However, my absolute favorite thing that I saw was the Granary Burial Grounds, in which the most recent grave is from 1826, which means it is an incredibly well preserved historical burying ground.  Samuel Adams and John Hancock are buried there as well as Benjamin Franklin's family.  It was amazing to stand over the corpses of great men. 

If you remember in my blog, Get Away! I mentioned that not all trips have to be incredibly expensive.  Look for places that have free attractions, such as the Freedom Trail in Boston.  St. Louis is another fun city to go to that has tons of free attractions.  So, continue to get out and have fun without spending a ton of money!

Massachusettes State House, which is on the freedom trail.  Also famously pictured in the movie The Departed

Granary Burying Ground, where the youngest grave is from 1826.

Nesting

This is the reason I haven't posted a Project of the Day  in a long time:

I have been working on this blanket for my son, Peter (due in November) for months.  It's one of those things that I pick up from time to time, work on it, then forget about it for a while.  However, lately, I've gotten more into working on it, so I hope to finish it soon.  In the middle, there will be another blue stripe, and then at the end, there will be another blue corner. 

If you would like to see a finished version of my baby blanket, go to this entry to view one that I made for a friend's child.  Also click on that link to see how the blanket was made.

If you are pregnant, I would definitely advocate making things for your baby.  It will be a special keep-sake for them in the future.  I intend to make Peter some baby socks as well.  I also feel like knitting Peter his blanket is a bonding time for me and the baby.  I listen to music I want him to hear and knit and talk to him.  Pregnant women go through a period of "nesting" which is a natural, instincful process of getting ready for the baby. Knitting is a wonderful way to release that "nesting" energy. 

My aunt is also talking about us making a quilt for Peter.  If you know me, you know quilting is not my thing, unless it's on a potholder, which is small.  So we'll see if I end up doing that.  :-)

Poor Whites

I really enjoyed my Jacksonian America class this summer.  I did my book review for the class on a book called Poor Whites of the Antebellum South.  I realized how little people know about poor whites in Antebellum times because history books focus on plantation owners and slaves.  So I am posting my entire book review on here (It was only 4 pages), behind the cut.  It is important for history not to ignore entire groups of people.

Southern Culture of Honor

I recently reviewed an article for a class on the Southern culture of honor and found it very interesting.  Most of you probably saw the Hatfields and McCoys series on the history channel.  Many of you are also aware of the male egotism that has been especially notable in the South.  I wrote a paper on this subject based on an article, and thought I would share an exerpt with you if you are interested in Southern chivalric society.

"The article "Andrew Jackson's Honor" by Bertram Wyatt-Brown focuses on a side of Andrew Jackson most historians do not focus on, which is the concept of Jackson making decisions in his life based on defending his honor an the honor of those close to him. In the Old South, many Southerners believed themselves to be heirs to the Middle Ages custom of chivalry, which emphasizes honor, societal standing, and allows a man to defend his honor through violence when it is brought into question. This tradition was extremely prevalent throughout the South and brought many Southern men, especially lawyers, to actual duels. Wyatt-Brown offers the notion of honor as the main reason behind many of Jackson's important life and presidential decisions.

Wyatt-Brown notes how easy it is for modern students of Jacksonian history to focus in on Jackson's faults, such as Indian Removal and also when Jackson tried to prohibit the delivery of anti-slavery materials by law. However, he argues that even those things could be representative of Jackson defending his honor. After he took so much land from the Creek Indians, Jackson said it was because the Creeks didn't respect the American's strength since they sided with the British. Jackson also believed in the sovereignty of the American government and true abolitionists could cause a rift, so even that was threatening to his honor.

Wyatt-Brown also discusses how the desire for honor was a very typical reflection of the American South culture. Customs such as dueling were prevalent in this South as a result of this cultural desire for honor and dignity. In the American South, many Southerners felt they were heirs to European chilvalric times such as the Middle Ages. Thus, there was a tradition of code duello in which a man could defend his honor if it was question, even through violent means. Jackson was in several duels in his lifetime.

Wyatt-Brown recalls the time that Jackson killed Charles Dickinson, and notes that Jackson was the only American president to kill a man in a duel. Jackson preferred to handle his conflict with Dickinson over a horse gambling debt (and also insults toward Jackson's wife) in a "gentlemanly" way, by having a "proper" duel. To Jackson, the only thing worse than someone offending his honor was offending the honor of a woman. He staunchly defended the honor of his wife, which was repeatedly questioned since she had married Jackson without having been divorced from her first husband. Jackson thought that it was extremely inappropriate and appalling how men insulted his wife throughout her lifetime and even blamed one of her insulters, Henry Clay, for her death.

However, Wyatt-Brown also points out that many men went into these duels hoping their honor would be restored to them by winning, but much of the time the duels ended up having negative consequences to the victor's reputation. For instance, Wyatt Brown notes that Aaron Burr's career was damaged by killing Alexander Hamilton. Also, Jackson would not have been able to win an elected position in the years following the duel. Not until his victory in the Battle of New Orleans was Jackson's reputation restored."