Recently in class we have been discussing African Americans and race in the American Colonies. We learned the irony within Thomas Jefferson writing both the Declaration of Independence and his Notes on Virginia. In his notes, Jefferson states his belief that whites and blacks could not live together in a free society. Also as we learned in class, he speculates that Africans might be mentally and physically inferior to Europeans.
Thomas Jefferson’s hypocrisy immediately reminded me of several instances in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which I just finished reading yesterday. As most of you know, the book is based upon racism and prejudice in the town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. The connection between history and english class right now is crazy, in the same day I talked about the irony in To Kill a Mockingbird and the irony between Thomas Jefferson’s two statements.
Racism is a recurring theme in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is defending an innocent black man in a case accusing the man of rape. In the 1600’s black men were slaves so how could these two situations be compared? Well, my connection is not just the fact that race depended on how you were treated during both of these eras. Mrs Merriweather is a typical Maycomb citizen. She holds a meeting with some other women to discuss her intentions to “save” the Mrunas, an African Tribe living in poverty. The women seem increasingly interested in this topic, but here’s the irony, none of them care about the racism going on around them in Maycomb. Mrs Merriweather and her friends are completely hypocritical, because as they talk about their empathy towards the African tribe, they are supporting the persecution of an obviously innocent black man in their own town.
While talking with classmates I still cannot fathom how Thomas Jefferson wrote both “All men are created equal” and “Africans might be mentally and physically inferior to Europeans.” Not only do Jefferson’s statements strike me as hypocritical, but also the fact that he owned a slave. There are many more examples of hypocrisy in To Kill a Mockingbird, just as I bet there were many more people including Jefferson, who supported the Declaration of Independence but also owned slaves.
Thomas Jefferson . 2013. Photograph. bio.true storyWeb. 28 Mar 2014. <http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-jefferson-9353715>.
This was a really good connection that I never would have thought of! I was also surprised to hear about Thomas Jefferson's racism when we learned about it in class. It was a great idea to relate this to a book that we've all read in English and I like how you said that there were probably a lot of people just like Jefferson that supported slavery but still thought they believed in equality. Great job.
ReplyDeleteSam, I really enjoyed reading you're post. Your connection between To Kill a Mockingbird and Thomas Jefferson was really interesting. You did a good job explaining the connections between the two, and the irony behind racism and slavery in both cases. Overall, really nice job!
ReplyDeleteSam, this was an amazing blog post. What a great connection these two topics had to one another, you did a great job in explaining the connections to Thomas Jefferson and To Kill a Mockingbird. I loved reading your blog post! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteNice job Sam! I really like how you compared two topics that seem not related but actually are. I also like how you made the connection between discrimination against race but you also went further and made the connection between hypocrisy. I never made the connection between these two topics but now that you bring it up it is really clear. I would've never saw how similar people are now days to how they were decades ago. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Sam, I also thought of closely connected these two topics were. I can not understand how hypocritical Thomas Jefferson could be, saying that blacks were inferior to other people. Then he wrote the Declaration of Independence and him saying that all men are created equal. Overall, great blog post.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool connection to history, because it also connects to English class. Before learning about it in history class and reading your blog post, I had no idea that Thomas Jefferson was a slaveowner, despite having written the Declaration of Independence. The comparison between the two topics is really strong. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good blog post. You connected two things that many people are learning about in our grade which makes it so people can relate to it. The comparison between To Kill A Mockingbird and Thomas Jefferson was a really strong one and not many people would have made the connection without you pointing it out. Overall great job.
ReplyDeleteSam I love your post! I also read this book in English and you had great points.This connection between the two was so true. So many books and movies that I have read and seen I have been against races and are so hypocritical, its just a common idea that I wish was not as common. One movie that comes to mind is Hairspray I feel that this could also connect to your ideas. Anyways great job!
ReplyDeleteTo Kill A Mockingbird was a book with many racial and inferior themes within it. Your post connected the themes in the book well with those in history. The irony in The Declaration of Independence is very interesting and questionable. Great job connection the two sources. Like Andrea said above, the musical Hairspray displays some racial inferiority as well. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteYou had a really great connection between to kill a mockingbird and thomas Jefferson. I thought it was cool how you connected the two and English class with history class. This was really interesting to read about. Good Job.
ReplyDeleteSam, I really liked your article and the connection you made. I also read "To Kill A Mockingbird" and I definitely see a connection between the book and Thomas Jefferson's statements. Both examples showed people contradicting themselves, and you explained this very well in your article. I also thought you did a good job spacing out your paragraphs, because it was very easy to read your article and it looked neat. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteSam, I loved this blog! I just finished the book "To kill a Mockingbird" which helped me see the connections between it and Thomas Jeffersons words. I loved your format because it made it easier to read :-)! Great job!
ReplyDeleteReally good job Sam! Racism is such a big problem today. I could connect with you in "To Kill A Mockingbird" because I just finished reading it myself. Defending black has definitely grown since the days of this book when Atticus defended Tom. Overall I really enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading To Kill a Mockingbird this year, I think that this post made a really good connection to the real problem of racism. The actions of Thomas Jefferson were questionable considering he owned slaves at the time, and I can see how this also related to the ridiculousness of Tom Robinson's case. Good job.
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