Monthly Archives: November 2013

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin

29 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by in Art, Literature

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 001 
 
Uncle Tom and Little Eva, by Edwin Longsden Long R. A. (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891), a children’s edition
(Photo credit: Project Gutenberg [EBook #11171])
 
Edwin Longsden Long R. A. (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891)
 

Two Classics: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus

Both Harriet Beecher Stowe and Joel Chandler Harris were criticized for creating or perpetuating stereotypes concerning the Black in America. Yet, Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, made the evils of slavery known to millions of readers. As for Joel Chandler Harris‘ Uncle Remus stories, they were trickster stories that fascinate folklorists in that they were told by Uncle Remus but do not originate in African tales. Africans brought Anansi to the United States. These stories are spider tales and may be  ancestors to Spider-man.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s (14 June 1811 – 1 July 1896) is the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly. When President Abraham Lincoln (12 February 1809 – 15 April 1865) met Mrs Stowe, he exclaimed: “so you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” (See Harriet Beecher Stowe, Wikipedia.) This was an exaggeration, but not by much.[i] According to the Oxford Companion to American Literature (sixth edition, 1995), Harriet Beecher Stowe was not an abolitionist, but it would be my opinion that Mrs Stowe played too significant a role in the abolition of slavery not to have been or become an abolitionist at heart.

In 1832, Harriet Beecher, Lyman Beecher‘s daughter, left Litchfield, Connecticut, where she was born and raised. She followed her family to Cincinnati Ohio and started to work as a teacher. While living in Cincinnati, Harriet Beecher took refuge in Washington, Kentucky because Cincinnati was afflicted with a serious cholera epidemic. There were slaves in Kentucky, chattel slaves mainly. During that visit to Kentucky, Harriet Beecher was taken to see a slave auction. This was her first exposure to slavery.  However, in 1836, she married Calvin Eliss Stowe (6 April 1802 – 22 August 1886), an American Biblical scholar who taught at Harriet’s father’s theological seminary, Lane, and was an ardent and active opponent of slavery. Mrs Stowe died in Hartford, Connecticut, her home for 23 years.

The Treatment of Slaves: the facts

“The treatment of slaves in the United States varied widely depending on conditions, times and places. Treatment was generally characterized by brutality, degradation, and inhumanity. Whippings, executions, and rapes were commonplace. According to Adalberto Aguirre,[ii] there were 1,161 slaves executed in the U.S. between the 1790s and 1850s. Exceptions existed to virtually every generalization; for instance, there were slaves who employed white workers, slave doctors who treated upper-class white patients, and slaves who rented out their labor. After 1820 [in the US, the slave trade was abolished in 1807], in response to the inability to import new slaves from Africa, some slaveholders improved the living conditions of their slaves, to influence them not to attempt escape.” (See Slavery, Wikipedia.)

Harriet Beecher Stowe & William Still

The Underground Railroad

Calvin Eliss Stowe, Harriet’s husband, was associated with The Underground Railroad, a movement founded by William Still (7 October 1821 – 14 July 1902), “The Father of the Underground Railroad” and a writer. Still’s Underground Railroad is a Project Gutenberg publication [EBook #15263].[iii] Members of this movement provided safe houses and protected slaves fleeing north from slave-hunters, a form of witch-hunting.[iv] For instance, individuals dressed as policemen, were catching slaves travelling to Canada. Members of the Underground Railroad asked Bostonians to protect the beleaguered Black population. (See the image at the foot of this post, c 1851.)

Initially, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), the best-selling novel of the 19th century, was serialized in the National Era (1851-1852), serialization was common practice in the 19th century, but it appeared in book form in 1852, selling 300,000 copies. Stowe was famous. Mrs Stowe was influenced by a Slave Narrative: The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself (1849) a work by Josiah Henson (15 June 1789 – 5 May 1883). Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an eloquent response to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

722px-Brooklyn_Museum_-_A_Ride_for_Liberty_--_The_Fugitive_Slaves_-_Eastman_Johnson_-_overall
 767px-Eastman_Johnson_-_Negro_Life_at_the_South_-_ejb_-_fig_67_-_pg_120

 Eastman Johnson (29 July 1824 – 5 April 1906)

A Ride for Liberty 
Negro Life at the South

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: an Instrument of Change

As for Stowe, the novelist, after reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin, many among her world-wide  “audience,” became abolitionists or were endeared to the cause of abolition. Literature and the arts in general, not to mention a good education, are powerful instruments of change. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an instrument of abolition. It was a “story” with characters one could relate to and start loving. It spoke to the heart and was both a moment of grace and an instance of defiance.

Knowingly or unknowlingly, Harriet Beecher Stowe did join her husband who, as a member of The Underground Railroad, also defied the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a continuation of the Fugitive Act of 1793. There was a price to pay. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s father, a staunch conservative, came under attack because of his daughter’s book. However, there was praise. Stowe was received by President Abraham Lincoln (25 November 1862), three years before the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and one year before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (1st January, 1863). She was also received by Queen Victoria. Besides, whatever her perception of herself, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) opposed, in no uncertain terms, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin summarized

It’s a simple story. Uncle Tom is a slave who “belongs” to the Shelby family, who are ‘good’ slave owners.  Due to financial difficulties, the Shelbys are about to sell their slaves. Uncle Tom helps the mulatto girl Eliza and her child cross the frozen Ohio River. But he stays behind out of loyalty to his owners. He is sold to a slave trader and separated from his family. But young George Shelby vows to redeem him.

Going down the Mississippi, Tom saves young Eva’s life and her family, the St Clares, are  most grateful to Tom. They buy him and he becomes their servant in New Orleans. For two years, Tom is happy with Eva and her rather naughty Black friend Topsy.

However, happiness is short-lived. Eva is frail and dies. Then her father is killed accidentally. So Uncle Tom is auctioned off to the Legree family, ‘bad’ slave owners. Simon Legree is a brutal man who drinks to excess. However, he has found in Uncle Tom a forgiving slave and becomes more lenient, which makes him fear his slaves. Two of them make believe they have run away. Uncle Tom will not reveal Cassie’s and Emmaline’s whereabouts. In a fit of rage, Simon Legree has Uncle Tom flogged to death. 

Uncle Tom still has a friend in George Shelby, but George arrives as Tom is dying. Unable to save Uncle Tom, George swears to devote his life to the abolition of slavery. He is true to the promise he made to redeem Uncle Tom.

Eva and Topsy

Eva and Topsy[v]

Topsy (left) and Little Eva, characters from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1851–52); lithograph by Louisa Corbaux, 1852. Louisa Corbaux/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZC4-2974)
(Photo credit: The Encyclopædia Britannica)
This picture is available on the internet.  Please refrain from associating it to my blog.
 

A Successful Plot

There may be ‘bad’ slave owners, but there are ‘good’ ones. The readers need only identify with the Shelbys and, particularly, with George who keeps his promise to redeem Uncle Tom. The readers may also identify with little Eva whose friend Topsy is a Black child. Although Eva is the daughter of a slave trader, she loves uncle Tom and plays with Topsy. There is, therefore, inherent goodness in Uncle Tom. He is a human being, endowed with moral superiority. He is loyal to the Shelbys and he tries to help Simon Legree. Moreover, although George Shelby arrives too late, George Shelby, who is good, knows that Tom is a fine man.  Had Uncle Tom not been dying, he would have been redeemed by his former owners. But the timing is wrong and one cannot fault timing. Bad timing is an accident and creates suspense, a favourite device in fiction. Uncle Tom dies, but it is one person’s fault, Legree, not a community nor the readers, except that slavery has made this horrifying death possible.

So there is an indictment of slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; an unambiguous indictment. In this respect, Mrs Stowe does not waver. Uncle Tom is consistently at the mercy of “owners.” If a slave is purchased by a ‘bad’ slave owner, his or her fate can be an unjust and painful death. However, we can count on George to be victorious. He is a saviour figure. Mrs Stowe’s account of the plight of slaves is therefore nuancé. In fact, fate is portrayed as unkind, whatever the colour of one’s skin. The Shelbys are impoverished and little Eva’s health is so fragile that she dies.

In other words, Uncle Tom’s story is very sad and there is one very ‘bad’ man whose skin is white.[vi] So, despite gradations and many happy moments, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is about the wrongs of slavery. Uncle Tom is sold and he is killed as though his life meant nothing, which was precisely the case. In the days of slavery, the life of a slave meant nothing, which was and remains an infamy.

I will therefore close by repeating Abraham Lincoln’s words: “so you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” (See Harriet Beecher Stowe, Wikipedia.)

Sources:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a Gutenberg Project publication [EBook #11171]
The Underground Railroad is a Gutenberg Project publication [EBook #15263]
Wikipedia (as indicated, a quotation at a time)
The Oxford Companion to American Literature (1995)
The Encyclopædia Britannica.[iv]
                                                
______________________________
[i] A. Aguirre, Jr., “Slave executions in the United States,” The Social Science Journal, vol. 36, issue 1 (1999), pp. 1–31. (Quoted in Slavery in  the United States, Wikipedia.)
[ii] Anti-Slavery Society: http://anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/hus-utc.htm
[iii] The Underground Railroad is a Project Gutenberg publication [EBook #15263] 
[iv] A large number of fugitive slaves were transported to Liberia.
[v] “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/614067/Uncle-Toms-Cabin>. 
[vi] There were exceptions, but nearly all slave owners in America had white skin.
 
Kidnap Poster, c 1851

Kidnap Poster,   1851

© Micheline Walker
November 29, 2013
WordPress

La Paimpolaise: Music & Lyrics

28 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Art

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Charles_cottet_douarnenez
Douarnenez, Charles Cottet, 1905-1907
(Photo credit [all images]: Wikipedia)
Singer: Hervé David (Site : www.hervedavid.fr)
 

 —ooo—

La Paimpolaise , Théodore Botrel

http://www.lyricsmania.com/la_paimpolaise_lyrics_theodore_botrel.html

1.
Quittant ses genêts et sa lande,  (Leaving his ‘broom shrubs‘ and his moorland,)
Quand le Breton se fait marin,  (When the Breton joins the navy,)
En allant aux pêches d’Islande   (Going fishing in Iceland)
Voici quel est le doux refrain  (Here is the gentle refrain)
Que le pauvre gars/gâs  (The poor lad)
Fredonne tout bas :  (Hums to himself:)
“J’aime Paimpol et sa falaise,  (I love Paimpol and its cliff,)
Son église et son Grand Pardon,[i]  (Its church and its Grand Pardon)
J’aime surtout la Paimpolaise  (I love above all the Paimpol girl)
Qui m’attend au pays breton”  (Awaiting me in Brittany)
2. (skip)
Quand leurs bateaux quittent nos rives,  (When their boats leave our shores,)
Le curé leur dit “Mes bons fieux,[ii]  (The parish priest tells them “My dear sons,)
Priez souvent monsieur saint Yves  (Often pray to our Sir Saint Ives)
Qui nous voit, des cieux toujours bleus.”  (Who sees us, from the sky always blue.”)
Et le pauvre gars  (And the poor lad)
Fredonne tout bas:  (Hums to himself;)
À Saint Yvon, notre Patron,  (Forgive me, my patron Ivon,)
“Le ciel est moins bleu, n’en déplaise  (“The sky is less blue)
Que les yeux de ma Paimpolaise  (Than the eyes of my girl from Paimpol)
Qui m’attend au pays breton ! ” (Who awaits me in Brittany!”)
3.
Le brave Islandais, sans murmure,  (The brave Icelander, without muttering,)
Jette la ligne et le harpon;  (Casts the line and the harpoon;)
Puis, dans un relent de saumure,  (Then, in the stench of the brine,)
Il se couche dans l’entrepont…  (He lies down on the deck…)
Et le pauvre gars  (And the poor lad)
Soupire tout bas:  (Sighs quietly)
“Je serions bien mieux à mon aise,  (“I’d be more comfortable,)
Devant un joli feu d’ajonc,  (Sitting by a fire of gorse,)
À côté de la Paimpolaise  (Next to my girl from Paimpol)
Qui m’attend au pays breton !”  (Who awaits me in Brittany!”)
4.
Mais, souvent, l’océan qu’il dompte  (But often the ocean he tames)
Se réveille lâche et cruel,  (Awakes, a coward so cruel,)
Lorsque le soir on se compte,  (When evening comes, and we count ourselves,)
Bien des noms manquent à l’appel…  (Many names are missing at roll call…)
Et le pauvre gars  (And the poor lad)
Fredonne tout bas: (Hums to himself:)
“Pour former la marine française (“To build the French Navy)
Comme il faut plus d’un moussaillon,[iii] (Since more than one ship boy is needed,)
J’en f’rons deux à ma Paimpolaise,  I’ll make two with my girl from Paimpol,)
En rentrant au pays breton !” (When I return to Brittany!”)
5.
Puis, quand la vague le désigne,  (Then, when the wave chooses him,)
L’appelant de sa grosse voix,  (Calling him in its loud voice,)
Le brave Islandais se résigne  (The brave Icelander is resigned)
En faisant un signe de croix…  (Crossing himself…) (the sign of the cross)
Et le pauvre gars  (And the poor lad)
Quand vient le trépas,  (When death comes,)
Serrant la médaille qu’il baise,  (Gripping the medal [tag] he kisses,)
Glisse dans l’océan sans fond  (Slides down a bottomless ocean)
En songeant à la Paimpolaise  (Thinking of his girl from Paimpol)
Qui l’attend au pays breton !  (Awaiting him in Brittany!) (Who awaits)
_________________________
[i] The “Pardon” is a religious feast in Britanny.  It’s a day of atonement rooted in a Hebrew tradition.
[ii]  ‘Sons’ instead of ‘fils’
[iii] Diminutive for ‘mousse:’ ship boy
 
 Charles_cottet_rayons
Rayons du soir, Charles Cottet, 1889
 
Singer: Hervé David 
Site : www.hervedavid.fr
 
rayons-du-soir-1892© Micheline Walker
November 28, 2013
WordPress
 
 
Coucher de soleil sur les voiliers,
Charles Cottet, 1892

Théodore Botrel : “La Paimpolaise”

27 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Art

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rayons-du-soir-1892
Rayons du soir (Evening Rays), Charles Cottet, 1898
or Coucher de soleil sur les voiliers 
 
fishermen-fleeing-the-storm-1893
Fishermen fleeing the storm, Charles Cottet, 1893
(Photo credit: Wikipaintings) 
 

Théodore Botrel

Théodore Botrel (14 September 1868 – 28 July 1925) is the composer of Le Grand Lustucru.  Botrel was born in Brittany.  He spoke the Gallo language, but later learned Breton, a Celtic language.

The Performer Discovered

Botrel was discovered as a singer-songwriter one evening, in 1895, standing in for another performer.  La Paimpolaise (The Paimpol Girl) is named after the fishing village featured in Pierre Loti‘s 1886 Pêcheur d’Islande (An Iceland Fisherman).  Pêcheur d’Islande is a Project Gutenberg publication [EBook #4785].  La Paimpolaise transformed Botrel into a celebrity.

At the height of his career, Théodore Botrel was associated with Aristide Bruant.  He sang at Le Mirliton, his cabaret.  However he performed mainly at the Chat Noir, a cabaret known because of Théophile Steinlen‘s cat posters, and at the Chien-Noir, a club.  This was Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec‘s Montmartre.

After Botrel left his day job, at a railway company, he became the editor of La Bonne Chanson, a journal that published popular verses.  In 1905, he founded the Fête des Fleurs d’Ajonc (Gorse Flower festival) in Pont-Aven, “the first of the music festivals that have since become common in Brittany.”  (See Théodore Botrel, Wikipedia.)  Pont-Aven had become his home.

Botrel’s songs were published as Chansons de chez nous (Songs Bretonnes), in 1898.  However, although Botrel was a patriotic Breton, these chansons are not altogether bretonnes.  They are mostly French chansons.  

World War I

During World War I, having been rejected by two armed forces, he wrote songs for soldiers and patriotic songs.  Patriotic songs were popular at the time.  In 1915, he was named “Bard of the Armies” (Le Chansonnier des Armées), by the government of France.

The Breton Bard

Our singer-songwriter-playwright was proud of his good looks and often dressed in Breton garments.  So did his first wife, Hélène Lugton, known as Léna, a performer who made recordings with her husband.  Léna was not Bretonne but often wore Breton clothes.  She was born in Luxembourg.

Second Marriage

In 1916, Botrel lost his first wife Léna.  They had married in 1891.  In 1918, Botrel married Marie-Élisabeth Schrieber, known as Mailissa.  She is the mother of his two daughters: Léna and Janick.

Botrel died in 1925.  His daughter Léna completed her father’s unfinished autobiography: Souvenirs d’un barde errant (Memories of a Wandering Bard).

Some of Botrel’s songs were translated by G. E. Morrison and Edgar Preston as Songs of Brittany, an online publication.

—ooo—

Artist Charles Cottet

Charles Cottet (1863–1925) was a post-Impressionist French artist.  Born at Le Puy-en-Velay (Auvergne), he was trained in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian.  He is best known as the leader of the 1890s Bande noire.  Members included  Lucien Simon and André Dauchez, who had been influenced by the dark colours of Courbet.  In fact, Cottet’s paintings often reflect considerable sadness.  I think he had a beautiful soul.

Song, by Botrel, 1895

La Paimpolaise is the best-known Breton song, especially in Quebec.  Botrel wrote 900 songs, from Brittany songs to songs about the monarchy (he was a monarchist): “the small handkershief from cholet,” “rise fellows,” “the wolf hunt,” “small Gégroire,” etc. During World War I, he wrote songs for soldiers standing in the middle of battlefields.

Charles_cottet_douarnenez
Douarnenez, Charles Cottet, 1905-1907
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 
La Paimpolaise (The Girl from Paimpol)
 
Quittant ses genêts et sa lande, (Leaving his ‘broom shrubs‘ and his moorland)
Quand le Breton se fait marin, (When the Breton joins the navy)
En allant aux pêches d’Islande (To go fishing in Iceland)
Voici quel est le doux refrain (Here is the gentle refrain)
Que le pauvre gâs (The poor fellow)
Fredonne tout bas : (Hums quiety [to himself])
 
“J’aime Paimpol et sa falaise, (I love Paimpol and its cliff [there’s no cliff, except a ‘poetical’ one])
Son église et son Grand Pardon,[i] (Its church and is grand Pardon [the day of atonement])
J’aime surtout ma Paimpolaise  (I love, most of all, my girl from Paimpol]
Qui m’attend au pays Breton.” (Who waits for me in Brittany)
 
http://www.lyricsmania.com/la_paimpolaise_lyrics_theodore_botrel.html 

N.B. My next post is a complete translation of this song.

_________________________
[i] The “Pardon” (a day of atonement) is a religious feast in Britanny.  It is rooted in a Hebrew tradition.
 

—ooo—

 
“Lamentation des femmes de Camaret autour de la chapelle brûlée de Roch’-Amadour,”
(Lamentation of Camaret women around the burnt chapel of Roch’- Amadour)
Charles Cottet, 1911
(Photo credit: Wikipaintings)
lamentation-of-women-camaret-around-the-chapel-of-burnt-roch-amadour-1911 
 
Hervé David performs La Paimpolaise
Théodore Botrel
Site : www.hervedavid.fr
 
 
 
Charles_cotter_sailors© Micheline Walker
November 27, 2013
WordPress
 
Bateaux (1900-1910),
Charles Cottet
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Théodore Botrel : “Le Grand Lustucru”

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Here comes the Bogey man Que viene el coco Francisco de Goya
Here comes the Bogeyman
¿Que viene el coco?
Francisco Goya, c. 1797
(Photo credit: [all images] Wikipedia)
 
Francisco Goya (30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828)
487PX-~1
Portrait of Francisco Goya,
by Vicente López y Portaña
(1826)
Oil on canvas, 93 × 75 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
 

Le Grand Lustucru

Please start the Video now.  Lustucru is the second song.

Lustukru (Lustucru) is a croquemitaine (a bogeyman), a folkloric and transcultural figure who eats up children still awake past bedtime.  Lustucru is el coco depicted by Francisco Goya, whose Tres de mayo 1808 (May Third 1808), 1814, and Desastres de la guerra, Los (The Disasters of War) constitute a haunting depiction of the horrors of war.

Théodore Botrel (14 September 1868 – 28 July 1925) is the composer of Le Grand Lustucru.  His greatest success was La Paimpolaise (The Girl from Paimpol).  At the height of his career, Théodore Botrel was associated with Aristide Bruant.  He sang in his cabaret, Le Mirliton.  However he performed mainly at the Chat Noir, a cabaret known because of Théophile Steinlen‘s cat posters, and at the Chien-Noir, a club.

This was Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec‘s Montmartre.

The translation of Le Grand Lustukru or Lustucru is mine.

1. Entendez-vous dans la plaine (Do you year in the plain)
Ce bruit venant jusqu’à nous ? (A noise reaching us?)
On dirait un bruit de chaîne (It seems the noise of a chain)
Se traînant sur les cailloux (Dragging itself over pebbles)
 
2. C’est le grand Lustukru qui passe (T’is tall Lustukru passing by)
Qui repasse et s’en ira (Passing by and will go away)
Emportant dans sa besace* (Taking away in his bag)
Tous les petits gars (All the little fellows)
Qui ne dorment pas (Who are not asleep)
Lon lon la, lon lon la
Lon lon la lire la lon la
*(besace: a bag often worn like a sporran) 
 
3. Quelle est cette voix démente (What is this demented voice)
Qui traverse nos volets ? (Piercing through our shutters?)
Non ce n’est pas la tourmente (No, t’is not a storm)
Qui joue avec les galets (Playing with the pebbles) 
 
4. C’est le grand Lustukru qui gronde (T’is tall Lustukru growling)
Qui gronde et bientôt rira (Growling and soon will laugh)
En ramassant à la ronde (Rounding up and picking up)
Tous les petits gars (All the little boys)
Qui ne dorment pas (Who are not asleep)…/Refrain
 
5. Qui donc gémit de la sorte (Who is moaning this way)
Dans l’enclos, tout près d’ici ? (In the enclosure [enclosed area] nearby)
Faudra-t-il donc que je sorte (Will I have to go out)
Pour voir qui soupire ainsi ? (To see who is sighing thus?)
 
6. C’est le grand Lustukru qui pleure (T’is tall Lustukru who weeps)
Il a faim et mangera (He is hungry and will eat)
Crus, tout vifs, sans pain ni beurre (Raw, alive, without bread or butter)
Tous les petits gars (All the little boys)
Qui ne dorment pas (Who are not asleep)…/Refrain
 
7. Qui voulez vous que je mette (Whom do you want me to put)
Dans le sac au vilain vieux ? (In the nasty old man’s bag?)
Mon Dorik and ma Jeannette (My Dorik and my Jeannette)
Viennent de fermer les yeux (Have just closed their eyes) 
 
8. Allez-vous en méchant homme (Go away bad man)
Quérir ailleurs vos repas ! (Get your meals elsewhere!)
Puisqu‘ils font leur petit somme (Since they’re napping)
Non vous n’aurez pas (No you won’t have)
Mes deux petits gars… (My two little boys)…/Refrain
 
426PX-~1
 
Source
http://www.lyricsmania.com/le_grand_lustukru_lyrics_theodore_botrel.html
 

—οοο—

Berceuses françaises, Colette Magny (French Lullabies)

1 (0:00) Toutouic 2’40
2 (2:42) Le Grand Lustukru (Théodore Botrel) 3’13
3 (5:57) Le P’tit Quinquin (Alexandre Desrousseaux) 3’06
4 (9:05) Le Pardon de Ploërmel (Meyerbeer) 0’54
 
Botrel© Micheline Walker
November 26, 2013 
WordPress
 
 
 
Théodore Botrel
in Breton clothes

Childhood Remembered

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in Art, Sharing

≈ 16 Comments

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file.2

Living in Colour, Cathy Bluteau

About my father

Childhood

My father was born to a poor family in Cookshire, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.  He had a French-speaking mother and an English-speaking father.  The two divorced when my grandfather decided to move to Massachusetts, where he could earn a living.  He could not find work in Canada.  That period in Canadian history is called l’Exode.  Nearly a million French-Canadians and Acadians moved to the United States.

During that same period in the history of Quebec, the Church was very powerful.  It made sure gifted children were educated, but not the son of a divorcée.  So my father was entirely self-taught.  He started working in a restaurant as cook and factotum at an early age.

Sherbrooke

When he reached adulthood, my father left his village to find employment in Sherbrooke, the nearest city.  He was hired by the radio stations: the French radio station and its English-language counterpart.  My mother, a singer, had her own radio programme.  She presented the music of famous composers.  At first, my father was her assistant.  He chose records for her and returned them to the proper shelf.

The Lake & Opening Soon, Cathy Bluteau

file.5.4

World War II

However, my father was soon needed elsewhere.  World War II had begun and he had been studying intensively and extensively.  He was named chief engineer for both radio stations.  They were understaffed, so father was also a speaker and he wrote radio dramas.  He loved it.

Love & Marriage

Meanwhile, my mother had fallen in love with the young man from Cookshire.  Some members of her family opposed their marriage.  He was the son of a divorcée and had been raised in poverty.  But my maternal grandmother had liked my father from the moment she met him.  She was a strong woman, a widow.  After her husband’s premature death, she had run the family business, flour mills, with my grandfather’s partner.  She sold her shares when she realized she and her children were financially secure.

When my father’s employers learned that he was marrying into my mother’s family, they raised his salary substantially and housed the young couple where the transmitters were located.  We lived in a large brick house.  It was a very old house, but it was home.  It was destroyed after we left Quebec.

.7

Comfort, Cathy Bluteau

The Children Died

My parents wanted children, but my father was diagnosed with a congenital blood disease.  A few of their children were born healthy, but most died.  A cure was found so my father’s life was saved, as well as my sister Thérèse’s life.  She is now deceased.  Every year, we were burying yet another brother or sister.  These were the bad old days when one had to buy health-insurance from an insurance company.  The company soon refused to pay our medical bills, but my father’s employers were very generous.  So life was nevertheless good.

Home Sweet Home, Cathy Bluteau

file.11The 1950s

We had dear friends: a Belgian couple, in particular.  We shared a summer home with them near the Benedictine monastery at Saint-Benoît-du-Lac.  The arrival in Quebec of a large number of Europeans, French Jews, members of the Vichy government and people who wanted to live in a peaceful country, changed Quebec for the better.

As a sound engineer, my father had built a high fidelity system and aficionados gathered at our house.  He also built systems for friends, but he was not comfortable with the latest technologies.  He therefore went to visit a friend in Victoria, British Columbia, loved Victoria, found employment, and the family moved.

But that’s another chapter.

file8

Sweet, Cathy Bluteau

My father died as he wished to die, peacefully and painlessly.   He had left precise instructions as to how he wanted to die and had paid his final expenses, including a fine dinner.  I saw cousins I had not seen in decades.

I hope my father is in a better world.  I’ll miss him.

I will conclude here.

_________________________
Cathy Bluteau
http://www.artistsincanada.com/homepage/?id=14155
 
 
Berceuses françaises, Colette Magny (French Lullabies)
 
1 (0:00) Toutouic 2’40
2 (2:42) Le Grand Lustukru (Théodore Botrel) 3’13
3 (5:57) Le P’tit Quinquin (Alexandre Desrousseaux) 3’06
4 (9:05) Le Pardon de Ploërmel (Meyerbeer) 0’54
.4© Micheline Walker
November 24, 2013
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The Old Plantation

18 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in Art

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The Old Plantation, attributed to Rose
The Old Plantation, attributed to John Rose (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Old Plantation, attributed to John Rose, possibly 1785-1795, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

Slaves and serfs made up around three-quarters of the world’s population at the beginning of the 19th century. (See Slavery, Wikipedia) 

Slavery: Resistance

I used this watercolor in a post dated 10 November 2013. From an artistic point of view, it is a lovely painting. Moreover, according to Wikipedia, “it is the only known painting of its era that depicts African-Americans by themselves, concerned only with each other.” (See The Old Plantation, Wikipedia.)

John Rose, the apparent and probable artist, was a Virginia slave owner who depicted not only “African Americans concerned only with each other,” but also enslaved human beings “resisting” their unfortunate condition. In other words, he portrayed resilience.

“Jumping the Broom”

It is difficult to tell with certainty what John Rose depicted in his “Old Plantation,” but it may be a traditional African marriage practice called jumping the broom. His painting shows slaves trying to have a life of their own. They were slaves, but they built a community, danced, played music, and kept their customs alive.

In other words, slavery was despicable, but many slaves rose above it.

Slavery 

It is not possible to exaggerate the wrongs of slavery in general and North-American slavery, in particular. For instance, if the plantation owner’s wife had a “headache,” she could be replaced. Slave owners often believed they owned the bodies of their slaves. In fact, some slave owners considered the Black they purchased as members of an inferior race. The Black were not altogether “human.”

466px-Remember_Your_Weekly_Pledge_Massachusetts_Anti-Slavey_Society_collection_box
Remember your Weekly Pledge
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 

History

The history of slavery is a very complex topic. There have been many forms of slaves and slaves of many colors and, although serfdom, an international plight,  and slavery in North-America have been obliterated, [h]uman trafficking hasn’t. According to Wikipedia “[h]uman trafficking is primarily used for forcing women and children into sex industries.” In fact, debt-bondage  also remains a form of slavery and it has nothing to do with the color of one’s skin.  

The Wikipedia entry on slavery is extremely informative. There was chattel slavery and  indentured servants, persons who had borrowed money to move to the Americas, but were made to pay for a lifetime. There were children used as soldiers and forced to work. Surrogacy is yet another form of slavery as is the theft of organs and tissues, perhaps the latest form of human trafficking.

To simplify, however, we can reduce enslavement to three areas: forced labor, the sex industry and debt-bondage (poverty).  Also, we are looking at North-American enslavement mainly.

504px-Slaveshipposter-contrast
Slave Ship (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 

Slavery in North-America

North-American slaves were Black and they were used mainly as free and forced labor. They were captured in Africa, mostly West Africa, shipped like sardines to the Americas. They were sold mostly to plantation owners who made them work endless hours and often to death.

The condition of slaves differed from plantation to plantation, but all were human beings bought by human beings who had complete control over their lives and bodies. They were beasts of burden.

According to Wikipedia, “[a]n estimated 12 million Africans arrived in the Americas from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Of these, an estimated 645,000 were brought to what is now the United States. The usual estimate is that about 15% of slaves died during the voyage, with mortality rates considerably higher in Africa itself in the process of capturing and transporting indigenous people to the ships. Approximately 6 million black Africans were killed by others in tribal wars.” (See Slavery, Wikipedia.)

Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (Photo credit: Virginia Historical Society)

The Declaration of Independence

The case of slavery in North-America is particularly sad.  Owning slaves, which had been deemed acceptable since settlers started to come to America, was suddenly in violation of the American Declaration of Independence (4 July 1776).

“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.”

The American Declaration of Independence  remains an ideal—there is no equality, but if “all men are created equal,”  enslavement could not be justified. In other words, federation could not be achieved unless slavery was abolished, which entailed the economic collapse of the Slave States.[i]

As a result, the Slave States, the South, confederated and started a war to preserve their economy, but although the Union, the North, won the war, ending slavery, a Union victory did impoverish former Slave States and, since  they had owned slaves, former slave owners felt their privileged lifestyle could not be taken away. I should think that many knew slavery was unacceptable, but it had been accepted and had made the plantation owner a wealthy man in a land that promised wealth. King Cotton!

Therefore, although Thomas Jefferson[ii] was able to pass the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves of 1807 (2nd March 1807) the year England passed the Slave Trade Act, in 1807, the abolition of slavery itself occurred later and incurred a war.

In England, 26 years separate the Slave Trade  Act of 1807 and the abolition of slavery, in 1833, but in North-America, the gap is longer: 58 years. Given new moral imperatives, rooted in the Age Enlightenment (the primacy of reason), the French Revolution (liberté, égalité, fraternité), and Romanticism (the primacy of sentiment or feelings), slavery had to be abolished.

800px-King_Cotton

— King Cotton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Civil War

Consequently, the Slave States confederated, won the battle of Fort Sumter (12 -14 April 1861), but lost the war (9 April 1865). Confederacy General Robert E. Lee (19 January 1807 – 12 October 1870) surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant (27 April 1822 – 23 July 1885) at Appomattox Courthouse on 9 April 1865, six days before President-elect Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, on 15 April 1865. Slavery had been abolished, but the state of the Union was fragile. Robert E. Lee is as much a hero to Americans as Ulysses S. Grant. But slavery was an evil. One’s life and body belong to oneself.    

From Slavery to Racism, but…

The Emancipation Proclamation (1863), signed by President Lincoln on 1st January 1863, gave their freedom to the slaves inhabiting the Slave States (11) and the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) would eradicate slavery, but the Union’s victory fueled racism and led to segregation.  The Ku Klux Klan has not closed shop, there have been too many cases of lynching, and there are voter purges.  No “Act” can do away with racism.

Slavery and segregation have ended in the eyes of the law: but a de jure victory is not necessarily a de facto victory. Yet, President Obama, an African-American, is the duly elected President of the United States and that is a fact. Moreover, although the Affordable Care Act is imperfect, Affordable Care has begun. It may have to be taken out of the hands of Insurance Companies, except for the little extras, but it exists.   

Conclusion

Humankind’s resilience and its wish to be happy are such that victims themselves seek and find little pleasures. Even in the days of slavery, there were fine friendships, and even love, between the Black and the White, not to mention the slave owner and the slave. Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) may contain stereotypes, but it shows immense sympathy toward the Black. Joel Chandler Harris, the author of Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings (1880) and other Uncle Remus stories, was influenced by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. These books are testimonials. 

The painting at the top of this post is not a lie. There had to be an “Old Plantation” and there is.

The new slave is the son or daughter who cannot afford the house in which he or she was raised.        

_________________________
[i] The Confederacy included South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. After the Confederacy’s victory at Fort Sumter, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina seceded from the United States or the “Union.”  
[ii] Although Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves, he was an abolitionist.
 
 
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© Micheline Walker
November 17, 2013
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The Abolition of Slavery

15 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

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The 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention, London, England
The 1840 Anti-Slavery Convention, by Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1841, London, England (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Abolitionism

Exeter Hall
 
Exeter Hall (1840 Anti-Slavery Convention)
(Caption and photo credit: Wikipedia) 

“Thomas Clarkson[i] (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846), was an English abolitionist. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, formed on 22 May 1787, and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves. In 1840, he was the key speaker at the Anti-Slavery Society (today known as Anti-Slavery International) conference in London, which campaigned to end slavery in other countries.”

The Abolition of Slave Trade (Britain 1807)

Thomas Clarkson (Britain)
William Wilberforce (Britain)
Anthony Benezet (US)
British Abolitionists (list)
 

The Slave Trade Act of 1807 did not abolish slavery, but it paved the way for the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire, the Empire on which the sun never se[t]. It helped foster awareness of the ignominy of owning another human being, which was soon recognized. Previously, slavery had seemed a “right” and, in the case of the Americas, several members of Africa’s Black population participated in the very lucrative slave trade. (See Slavery and Atlantic Slave Trade, Wikipedia.)

The Slave Trade Act of 1807 (Britain)

THOMAS CLARKSON AND WILLIAM WILBERFORCE

Other than Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846), prominent abolitionists included Britain’s William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833), Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813), African Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780). As indicated in Wikipedia, Wilberforce “headed the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for twenty-six years until the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807.” (See William Wilberforce, Wikipedia.)

The Abolition of Slave Trade of (America 1807)

Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 (2nd March), (America)

ANTHONY BENEZET (AMERICA)

Among American abolitionists was French-born American educator Anthony Benezet, or Antoine Bénézet (31 January 1713 – 3 May 1784). Bénézet’s Calvinist Protestant[ii] family had been persecuted as a result of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

However, when he moved to America and settled in Philadelphia, Benezet joined the Religious Society of Friends.[iii] In other words, he became a Quaker. Benezet is the founder the first anti-slavery society of the world’s history, the Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage and his legacy. Seventeen of the 24 members of the Society were Quakers. Slave trade was abolished in America shortly thereafter, on March 2, 1807. (See the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves of 1807.)

The Abolition of Slavery

Britain (1833)
France (1848)
America (1865)

The culmination of the work of British abolitionists, Thomas Clarkson, a Quaker, and others, eventually led to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, in Britain. Certain areas of the British Empire did not free their slaves in 1833, but the motivation to free slaves, a motivation rooted in the Age of Enlightenment, the 18th century, was growing into a moral imperative.

The French Revolution did away with slavery, but it resurfaced and was not eradicated in France until 1848.

The American Civil War and the Abolition of Slavery

the Civil War: 12 April 1861 – 10 May 1865
the Confederacy: eleven Slave States 
the Union: 20 Free States
Onset: The Battle of Fort Sumter, 12-14 April 1861 (a Confederate victory)
End: Union victory
Emancipation Proclamation: 1st January 1863 (eleven Slave States)
Thirteenth Amendment: 18 December 1865 (the United States)
 

However, in America, slavery was not abolished until 1865, under the terms of the Thirteenth Amendment to the US constitution, effective beginning on 18 December 1865. In 1863, when seven states seceded and four more would later join these Slave States. In 1861, they constituted the self-proclaimed Confederacy. Secession from the Union was illegal.

The Civil War began in 1861 when the Confederate States attacked Fort Sumter (12-14 April 1861). It was a Confederate victory. Consequently, four more states joined the Confederacy, now comprising a total of 11 Slave States.

On 1st January 1863, President Abraham Lincoln (12 February 1809 – 15 April 1865; by gun) issued an Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in the 11 Slave States. It was an Executive Order, a direct order from the President of the United States.

Conclusion

To a large extent, those who opposed the abolition of slavery stood to lose free labor and, in many cases, faced poverty and destitution. It could well be that in the United States opposition to taxation is rooted in a form “exceptionalism” or, perhaps, in a form of reversed entitlement. Many extremist Republicans live in former Slave States and many are as wealthy as their ancestors were in the days of slavery. However, given the loss of nearly free labor, they perhaps wonder why they should pay taxes, thereby contributing to the implementation of social programs that protect everyone, but which they, personally, do not need. They are rich and they can therefore look after themselves. In fact, it is possible for such individuals to view taxes as a form of enslavement.

However, it is also entirely possible for people who benefit from social programs to feel they are entitled to the services provided by the government. That is the prevailing definition of entitlement. They may therefore oppose cuts. In fact, the Quebec students who opposed a slight raise in tuition fee ended up asking the Quebec government to provide them with a free education. In their opinion, they were entitled to a free education. Therefore, when their tuition fees were raised by a very small amount, many felt they had been betrayed by the system.

_________________________ 
[i] Clarkson’s An Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, Particularly the African, Translated from a Latin Dissertation which was honoured with the First Prize in the University of Cambridge, in the year 1785, with Additions, is a Gutenberg Project [EBook #10611] 
[ii] French Calvinist Protestants were called Huguenots.
[iii] Many abolitionists were Quakers.
 
Lincoln: Film Trailer 
Abraham_Lincoln_November_1863© Micheline Walker
November 15, 2013
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Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

A Musical Tribute to my Father

13 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Art, Music, Sharing

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Kiev, Victor Harmann

Plan for a City Gate in Kiev, by Viktor Hartmann (1834 – 1873) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MY FATHER DIED AT NOON TODAY, 12 November 2013

He was 95. We had asked the nurses not to let him suffer and to please allow him to go. So he died peacefully.

My father was very fond of music. It was the love of his life. Modest Mussorgsky‘s (21 March 1839 – 28 Marc 1881) Pictures at an Exhibition (Suite 10, “The Great Gate of Kiev”) was a beloved composition. He introduced me to Mussorgsky when I was very young.

My father’s favourite composer (after Beethoven) was Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869), but it’s too soon for a Requiem: La Grande Messe des morts  (op. 5). My father will never die.

RELATED ARTICLE

Mussorgsky

Modest Mussorgsky, by Ilya Repin (Photo credit: Medici.tv)

 
Modest Mussorgsky–Douglas Gamley 
Pictures at an Exhibition, Suite 10 
“The Great Gate of Kiev,” 
Douglas Gamley (conductor)  
 
Viktor Hartmann

Viktor Hartmann

 
© Micheline Walker
November 12, 2013
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From Manifest Destiny to Exceptionalism

10 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by in United States

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 800px-Emanuel_Leutze_-_Westward_the_Course_of_Empire_Takes_Its_Way_-_CapitolAmerican westward expansion is idealized in Emanuel Leutze‘s famous painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way (1861). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history.” (Caption and photo credit: Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia).  See also the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Sara Carr Upton.

Manifest Destiny

First Description

We have already covered the subject of “Manifest Destiny.” I used one of two descriptions provided by Wikipedia in its entry on “Manifest Destiny.” According to William E. Weeks, Manifest Destiny has the following themes:[i]

  1. the virtue of the American people and their institutions;
  2. the mission to spread these institutions, thereby redeeming and remaking the world in the image of the United States;
  3. the destiny under God to do this work.

This description is the current description of Manifest Destiny, as it has been interpreted, and it is almost synonymous with the currently contested Doctrine of American Exceptionalism.  (See Manifest Destiny and Doctrine of American Exceptionalism, Wikipedia.)

Second Description

The second description, Robert J. Miller‘s, seems an invitation to settle Louisiana, the territory bought from France in 1803 for 15 million dollars. Its three themes are:  

  1. The special virtues of the American people and their institutions;
  2. America’s mission to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America;
  3. An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty.[ii]

Justifying Colonialism

The Doctrine of Discovery (1823)
The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
The Manifest Destiny (1845)
 

Robert J. Miller has linked Manifest Destiny with the Doctrine of Discovery. The Doctrine of Discovery seems an afterthought. It was formulated in 1823 and legitimized colonialism, but that same year, on 2 December 1823, the Monroe Doctrine put an end to any further attempt to colonize America.

Therefore, neither doctrine is particularly edifying. The past, i.e. two to three hundred years of “discovery,” was rationalized by the Doctrine of Discovery, but “discovery” could not be repeated, except by Americans whose “irresistible destiny” was to stretch their boundaries all the way to the Pacific Ocean and, possibly, to the British territories located north of the 49th parallel, the future Canada.

So Manifest Destiny, a term coined by columnist John O’Sullivan in 1845, is perhaps best defined using William E. Weeks , except that Weeks’ three themes make “Manifest Destiny” more or less consistent with the notion of American Exceptionalism.

American Exceptionalism

Alexis de Tocqueville was the first to use the word “exception” with respect to America. For Tocqueville, American democracy was different from other democracies, but he did not suggest that it was superior to other democracies. On the contrary, other democracies were not to emulate democracy in America.

In his Democracy in America  (1835 and 1840), Alexis de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859; aged 53 [tuberculosis]) wrote that “a thousand special causes… have singularly concurred to fix the mind of the American upon purely practical objects[:]”

“The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one. Their strictly Puritanical origin, their exclusively commercial habits, even the country they inhabit, which seems to divert their minds from the pursuit of science, literature, and the arts, the proximity of Europe, which allows them to neglect these pursuits without relapsing into barbarism, a thousand special causes, of which I have only been able to point out the most important, have singularly concurred to fix the mind of the American upon purely practical objects. His passions, his wants, his education, and everything about him seem to unite in drawing the native of the United States earthward; his religion alone bids him turn, from time to time, a transient and distracted glance to heaven. Let us cease, then, to view all democratic nations under the example of the American people.” (See American Exceptionalism, Wikipedia.)

The Ugly American

Doctrine of Discovery
Monroe Doctrine
Manifest Destiny
Doctrine of American Exceptionalism
 

The Doctrine of Discovery, the Monroe Doctrine and the Manifest Destiny all converged to create the concept of American Exceptionalism. According to the Doctrine of American Exceptionalism, America is qualitatively superior to other nations and its mission is as defined in the Manifest Destiny: to remake the world “in the image of the United States.” The concept of Manifest Destiny, which made it the destiny of Americans to conquer and settle the West, developed into American Exceptionalism, a notion that cannot be linked with Alexis de Tocqueville’s use of the word “exceptional” because it borders on imperialism and has promoted the pejorative but fading image of the “ugly American.”

American Exceptionalism 

If one adheres to the notion of American Exceptionalism, the President of the United States can, theoretically, invade sovereign countries and effect strikes against other countries. Exceptionalism is a deeply-rooted notion that empowers America. However, it also constitutes a threat to US citizens. The United States remains a superpower, but is it America’s duty to protect the entire world, making itself an intruder, but also placing a terrible burden on the war-weary shoulders of its citizens? Not long ago, President Obama was considering a military strike against Syria, which may have been catastrophic.

588px-Oregoncountry2  Wpdms_oregon_territory_1848

The Annexation of Texas and the Oregon Country 

At any rate, if we step back, the concept “Manifest Destiny” was used not only to colonize Louisiana, but also to annex Texas (1845). Louisiana had been claimed by France and sold to the United States.  It was not annexed.  Yet, it was inhabited by Amerindians whose displacement is a great tragedy and who were killed quite wantonly as Americans pushed their boundary all the way to the Pacific Ocean, led by God. 

Manifest Destiny also legitimized the annexation of the Oregon Country, the Pacific Northwest, a disputed territory until the Oregon Treaty, signed on 15 June 1846 in Washington DC. Under the terms of the Oregon Treaty, territory located north of the 49th parallel became British as did Vancouver Island in its entirety. So this is how the West was won, a rather sad chapter in the history of the United States. Sad, because of the displacement of Amerindians. However, as we will see, in the days of “Manifest Destiny,” slavery, formerly a right, morally and legally, was becoming a wrong.

 

In short, the Doctrine of Discovery (1823), the Monroe Doctrine (1823), the Manifest Destiny (1845) and related doctrines I will not discuss, boil down to American Exceptionalism, which Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently challenging.  (See The American Thinker.)

Slavery & Racism

Although Exceptionalism served to legitimize the Annexation of the Republic of Texas (1845), it led to the Mexican-American War of 1846. It also served to justify the annexation of the Oregon Country. However, problems arose with respect to the possible annexation of Mexico. On the one hand, nineteenth-century ideology could not allow slavery. But, on the other hand, did the US want to welcome Mexicans, many of whom were métissés, half-breeds. One can dictate away slavery, but not racism.

Manifest Destiny threatened to expand slavery and was therefore rejected by prominent Americans (such as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant and most Whigs and Republicans [today’s Democrats]). (See Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia.) Moreover “[b]y 1843 John Quincy Adams, originally a major supporter, had changed his mind and repudiated Manifest Destiny because it meant the expansion of slavery in Texas.” But what of Métis?

On 4 January 1848, in a speech to Congress, Senator John C. Calhoun (18 March 1782 – 31 March 1850) of South Carolina expressed considerable racism.[iv]  Slavery was useful as slaves provided cheap labour. The loss of slaves would literally impoverish slave owners, usually owners of plantations. Mexicans would not be slaves, but they would not be altogether human.  Let us quote Senator John C. Calhoun:

“We have never dreamt [sic] of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race—the free white race. To incorporate Mexico, would be the very first instance of the kind, of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes. I protest against such a union as that! Ours, sir, is the Government of a white race…. We are anxious to force free government on all; and I see that it has been urged … that it is the mission of this country to spread civil and religious liberty over all the world, and especially over this continent. It is a great mistake.” (See Manifest Destiny, Wikipedia.)

Conclusion

It could be said, therefore, that the Declaration of Independence, signed on 4 July 1776, was mere rhetoric and an ideal until the abolition of slavery in the United States, which would not necessarily eradicate racism. Founding Father Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 – 4 July 1826) owned hundreds of slaves, yet he was the principal writer of the Declaration of Independence according to which “all men are created equal:”  

“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.”

Given the degree—the debt-ceiling crisis—to which extremist Republicans opposed and still oppose the Affordable Care Act: sabotage! Given also that, according to the Washington Times, not only has the NSA been listening on the conversations of friends of the United States, but it appears it has also used German Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s mobile telephone to spy on President Obama, it could be that the lofty ideals expressed in the US Declaration of Independence have not been attained. One also wonders whether or not the Civil War is over.

“It seems straight out of a grade-B movie, but it has been happening for the past 11 years: The National Security Agency (NSA) has been using Mrs. Merkel as an instrument to spy on the president of the United States. We now know that the NSA has been listening to and recording her cellphone calls since 2002.” Read more:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/30/napolitano-going-the-stasi-one-better-and-in-ameri/#ixzz2jJU4Y6LU
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter (The Washington Times)

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[i] Weeks, William Earl, Building the continental empire: American expansion from the Revolution to the Civil War. (Ivan R. Dee, 1996), p. 61.
[ii] Robert J. Miller, Foreword by Elizabeth Furse, Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark and Manifest Destiny (Praeger: Lincoln Connecticut and London, 2006).
[iii] Weeks, William Earl, loc. cit.
[iv] Arthur de Gobineau (14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) wrote an Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races.  He developed a theory of the Aryan Master Race. He was a friend of Alexis de Tocqueville, which seems very strange.
[v] Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum  
 
    Declaration_independence 
John Trumbull‘s famous painting is often identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration, but it actually shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress (Caption and photo credit: Wikipedia)
 

I apologize for the use of certain words. My mother would be very upset.

The Old Plantation, attributed to Rose

The Old Plantation, attributed to John Rose, possibly 1785-1795[v]



The Debt-Ceiling Crisis: the Aftermath

05 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in United States

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Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alexis de Tocqueville

I started writing a post concerning US President Barack Obama‘s demotion as most powerful man in the world. He has been replaced by Russian President Vladimir Putin (b. 7 October 1952). But I stumbled upon Alexis de Tocqueville‘s De la démocratie en Amérique, Democracy in America,[i] and could not stop reading. Tocqueville was 25 when he travelled to North America. His two-volume (1835 and 1840) Democracy in America is a surprisingly mature work for so young an individual. Tocqueville also wrote on the Bas-Canada (Lower Canada). That book, if it is a book, I have to read and will.  

Forbes

According to Forbes, American President Barack Obama (b. August 4, 1961) is no longer the most powerful man in the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken his place. In my opinion, President Obama does not mind ranking below Russian President Putin, but it is not a good sign. It seems that the debt-ceiling crisis may have harmed the President. However, it also harmed his country.

During the debt-ceiling crisis, Mr Boehner, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, looked almost as powerful as the President of the United States, but not smarter. Mr Boehner used the wrong weapon. One does not make raising the debt ceiling conditional upon the President not implementing the Affordable Care Act. The debt ceiling had to be raised.  It therefore seems silly on the part of Mr Boehner to have used raising the debt ceiling to fight the Affordable Care Act. In fact, intellectually, Mr Boehner was outranked by President Obama. However, I doubt that intellect and moral superiority carry weight in Washington.

image

Photo : Illustration Tiffet

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) regarderait le prochain Sommet sur l’enseignement supérieur en nous rappelant que, « s’il y a des peuples qui se laissent arracher des mains la lumière, il y en a d’autres qui l’étouffent eux-mêmes sous leurs pieds ».

 

 

 

Le Devoir
le 4 novembre 2013
Montréal
  
 

In his two-volume Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859) noted that

“[m]ore than just imploding any traces of old-world aristocracy, ordinary Americans also refused to defer to those possessing, as Tocqueville put it, superior talent and intelligence. These natural elites could not enjoy much share in political power as a result. Ordinary Americans enjoyed too much power, claimed too great a voice in the public sphere, to defer to intellectual superiors. This culture promoted a relatively pronounced equality, Tocqueville argued, but the same mores and opinions that ensured such equality also promoted, as he put it, mediocrity. Those who possessed true virtue and talent would be left with limited choices.”  (See Alexis de Tocqueville, Wikipedia.)

Arrogance & Selfishness

Could Mr Boehner’s sixteen-day siege be a sign of the mediocrity Tocqueville noted? Congress turned a deaf ear to Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. She warned America’s lawmakers that “they risk[ed] pushing [the] world into a recession.” It would be my opinion that Congress should have paid attention to her warning. Not doing so was arrogance on the part of Mr Boehner and extremist Republicans, and it led to losses.

Moreover, Mr Boehner’s goal was to keep as much money as possible in the pockets of his wealthy constituents and, perhaps, in his own pockets. That was not edifying.  It could be that the wealthy spend millions avoiding to pay their fair share of taxes. They are showing an irresponsible form of individualism, not to mention abysmal ignorance concerning nationhood. To a certain extent, we are our brother’s keeper and should therefore pay our taxes.

Normally, I oppose individualism and collectivism when discussing avoidance of the needs of a community. But the word selfishness is fine.

Credit Rating

It appears, moreover, that the US will lose its AAA credit rating on Standard & Poor’s rating scale. (See the Huffington Post.) It was downgraded after the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis and this could happen again. In the end, Congress approved a raise in the debt ceiling. In other words, the US did not default on its obligations. However, this last debt-ceiling crisis revealed what seems a large flaw in the system. One pays one’s debts and one raises the debt ceiling if it’s too low. Besides, because of President G. W. Bush’s recklessness, the US owes China a fortune. So the debt is huge. These are not comforting circumstances. I suspect nevertheless that, once again, President Obama will be blamed.

An Executive Order

President Obama could, perhaps, have issued an executive order, but it may be that he did not want to do so until he had exhausted other options. It may also be that he and his administration could not act unilaterally. Moreover, he has faced systematic obstructionism, from day one, and keeps being made into a scapegoat. So he may have wanted the people’s elected representatives to make that particular decision and face the consequences.

So there were repercussions to this long confrontation.  President Obama both won and didn’t win.  It was a Pyrrhic victory because the crisis revealed a crude society, what Tocqueville termed “mediocrity” in America. Extremist Republicans may wish to hide their rich constituents’ money, but are doing so quite literally at any cost: 24 billion $. It makes no sense.

http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/17/heres-what-the-government-shutdown-cost-the-economy/

Tocqueville on Russia and America

According to Tocqueville:

“There are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans… Each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world.”

It seems he was able to read into the future.

Le Devoir

Coincidentally, Tocqueville is featured in today’s Devoir, a Quebec newspaper, its finest.

http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/le-devoir-de-philo/371675/tocqueville-au-sommet-sur-l-enseignement-entre-soupirs-et-inquietudes

Conclusion   

I will not post the article I intended to post.  The above sums up what I wanted to say. The United States is harming itself and may be losing its status as superpower. However, there is a little more to write on the “Manifest Destiny” and “American Exceptionalism.” For instance, the “Manifest Destiny” is not entirely American. Nationalism is, to a large extent, a product of 19th century Europe.  In fact, it’s also a romantic concept.

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[i] Democracy in America is Project Gutenberg [EBook # 815], Volume 1 and [EBook # 816], Volume 2. It can also be read under Democracy in America (Penn State).

The music is American composer Samuel Barber‘s (9 March 1910 – 23 January 1981) Adagio for Strings (1936)

The Statue of Liberty

— The Statue of Liberty

© Micheline Walker
5 November 2013
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