Sam Saslow                                                                                  March 2017

Humanities                                                          Africans in NY: Creative Narrative

Peggy Gwynn In America

My name is Peggy Gwynn and I was captured from my homeland in Angola when I was just thirteen years old. I remember watching my family members being captured, torn from their homes, and brought onto the ship which was called a slaver, or that’s at least what I remember. The ship was very gross with mold growing everywhere and it was very tight and enclosed.  ! We made a few stops along the way because of the Triangular Trade, which I hated because it took a very long time. The journey took what seemed like forever and when we finally arrived in Boston, three people had died on the ship and were thrown in the ocean.

When I arrived in Boston, I was torn from my family and sold to the Cheviots, a very wealthy family at the slave market where there were many other slaves there. Mr. Cheviot was a very cruel man. He always made us clean all day and would rarely feed us. Worst of all he locked his wife up in his bedroom for days sometimes and she cried all day. When the American Revolution started, many African Americans were offered freedom to fight for the king. So I ran away from the Cheviots with the other slaves I lived with and we made it successfully. The crazy thing was that they were Patriots. On the way, while we were escaping, we came across by an African American man who was also a slave named Percy Gwynn. Immediately we fell in love.

When we got to New York we were able to get married in a Trinity Church. When the war started, Percy was fighting for the British and I was a cook. We lived in horrible makeshift tents in a burnt-out neighborhood along with other slaves. After the British lost the war we were granted our freedom. Only Slaves who proved that had an impact in the war could get their freedom. I sent a request to General Carleton of the loyalist army to ask for permission to sail with my husband. But a horrible man named Mr.Crammond tried to detain me and claimed that I didn’t serve on the crucial date of November 30, 1782, when the British signed the peace treaty with Paris. That devil man! I was turned over to him for slavery for the rest of my life and my sweet husband sailed off without me. Without Mr. Crammond I could have finished my life with my husband and have children.  

As I gaze out the window I wish I could be back home with my husband. I remember the day I ran away from the Cheviots and met my future husband like it was yesterday. Me and the other slaves; Boston King and Shirley Lockton, woke up in the middle of the night and got ready to go. The day before we gathered we got rum, milk, bread and butter. We knew the journey was going to be very long so we took a lot of food. I was thinking if we would really get freedom and if it was worth it to run away. I started to talk but as soon as I opened my mouth Boston and Shirley shut me up. It was very cold outside and we didn’t have many layers on so I was shivering and so were the other slaves. We started walking out and we saw other slaves running away with their lanterns so we knew we were not alone. We heard a door open in the distance and we looked behind and we saw Mr. Cheviot yelling and coming towards us. My heart stopped. If I got caught I would die for sure. We started running as fast as we could but he was gaining on us. I picked up a rock and dusted off some ants and chucked it at him. It him square in the face. He dropped to the floor cursing and screaming as we ran away.

¨Are you crazy Peggy? If that didn’t hit him you would be dead for sure,” said Boston.

          “Well I didn’t miss,” I fired back at him.

“C’mon we don’t have much time until they start coming back for us,” Shirley said.

As we kept walking through the night it started to get lighter. We were in the deep forest when the sun was fully up. We saw fewer people and farms. I looked up in the sky and saw the trees looking over me. We stopped a few times along for food and drinks. My feet were getting very sore towards the end of the day. When it started getting dark outside we set up camp and started to go to sleep. I lay on my back and looked up at the stars wishing I could be back home with my family.

We woke early and set out we were supposed to arrive in Boston by tonight, so I was very excited. Along the way, we met another slave a man who was badly beaten. His name was Percy Gwynn. He told us his story about being beaten by his owner on his way to Boston and barely escaping. We gave him food and took him on our journey. Something about him I liked because immediately we hit it off. We stayed behind the group and talked for hours. The journey was more pleasant with him. Towards the end of the day, we started seeing more people and houses. Then we finally arrived in New York. I looked around and it was so crowded! But there was a big relief that we finally made it. First, we went with other slaves to the British headquarters in New York. We were assigned jobs I was a cook and  we were assigned homes. Percy and I asked to be together and happily, they put us together. I never learned how to cook and I didn’t like our so I was pretty nervous but I was determined to start a new life with my new love. However it never turned out to happen how I hoped. I am alone and will never ever be able to see my husband again.

In this assignment we were given a biography about a slave who lived in New York. Then we had to write a historical fiction biography about the character and add our own facts and incorporate our knowledge in the unit. I learned about life for Africans in New York and my characters life as a cook during the American Revolution. From this assighment as a student I learned that I perfer working on test instaed of doing creative working becuase it is easy for me to express my knowledge and thinking in a more direct way.

Sam Saslow                                                         Humanities

7th Grade

3/6/17                                                                                                The Crucible

Reputation Throughout History

 

Theme: Reputation

What do people do with a good reputation? Many people use their reputation to gain power and followers. A reputation is your status in your society. In history people try to gain a good reputation by lying or boasting then use their reputation to gain power. This occurs during The Crucible which is based off the Salem witch hunts in the 1690s, The Red Scare in the 1950s, and even today. Throughout history people do things to try to improve their reputation in order to gain power and create fear. They lie or boast and try to make themselves look better to improve their reputation.

In The Crucible By Arthur Miller having a good reputation is everything. There are many examples of people trying to lie or boast to gain a good reputation. Many characters use their reputation to gain power especially when they are in court. If you have a good reputation you would probably not be suspected of doing anything bad. Also a lot of people would boast or lie in court to help themselves not get in trouble. In Act III John Proctor, a farmer, tells Mary Warren, an indentured servant, to confess to the court. Instead of confessing she lies and accuses him of being the “devil’s man.” “MARY WARREN: You’re the devil’s man! He wake me every night his eyes were like coals and his fingers claw my neck, and I sign,” (Miller, p.113). Mary Warren is accusing John Proctor of being the devil’s man. She does this so she does not get in trouble or punished. Since she wants more power in the court she lies to stay out of trouble. She is not only improving her reputation, but making John Proctor’s worse. This a perfect example of lying to gain power and to have a good reputation. Not only did people lie and boast to improve their reputation in The Crucible but also during The Red Scare. Many people did this such as Joseph McCarthy accusing people of communism.

At the end of WWII many people wanted a good reputation and power to stay out of trouble. During the Red Scare in the 1950s there was a lot of fear of communism going around. People were being accused left and right because of communism and were losing their jobs. Joseph McCarthy the Senate of Wisconsin who created McCarthyism claimed he had a list of people who were communists. McCarthy would lie about the list and in truth he never had one. He used that fake list to gain power which also helped him gain a good reputation. The list that McCarthy made also created fear during The Red Scare. Joseph McCarthy, also would boast to gain a good reputation and power. “McCarthy often exaggerated his war record to help his political career. For example, he was photographed in the rear seat, or tail-gun position, of a dive bomber and called himself ‘Tailgunner Joe,’ which led voters to believe he had fought bravely in combat. In fact, most of his work had been behind a desk,” (The Red Scare Fitzgerald, p.41). McCarthy lied to gain a good reputation. By lying he gained a better reputation. He also gained more power. McCarthy really wanted power because he needed it if he wanted to accuse people of being communists. If he was a nobody no one would believe what he was saying. This made his reputation better which then lead to more power for McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy was definitely one to boast and lie this theme has continued through history and is very common today especially with Donald Trump.   

Even in today’s world this theme still occurs with our president and many other people. Donald Trump is very similar to McCarthy and characters in The Crucible in many ways. One big way he is similar to these characters is the fact that he also loves to lie and boast to gain a good reputation just like McCarthy. Donald Trump boasts about his money, power, and fame. He is definitely a man who lies and boasts about himself to gain power and a good reputation. He loves to talk about how rich he is and all of his supporters. “I have millions of followers. Millions. I don’t do press releases anymore. If I want a press release, I put it out on Twitter…. It’s like owning the New York Times without the losses,” (Washington Post Donald Trump 2012 speech). Donald Trump is boasting about his followers and the power he has. He does this to gain power and a good reputation so he can gain voters just like McCarthy. For Donald trump having a good reputation is very important to him. If he fails as the president his reputation will be ruined. So he believes that the way he could do a better job as president is by banning all illegal immigrants. By doing this Donald Trump is ruining the reputation of illegal immigrants in a significant way. Although Donald Trump has lots of power and fame he will do anything to improve his reputation. Being the President is very serious and it’s very important to maintain a good reputation. Donald Trump takes this very seriously and would do anything to improve his reputation even lying about what he can do to make America great again.  

In American history, many people attempt to improve their reputation and to gain power by lying or boasting. In The Crucible many characters try to improve their reputation by lying. This has gone on throughout history during the The Red Scare, and modern day. Not only do people lie or boast to improve their reputation but they also create fear to improve their reputation especially today. This has two negative effects. If people find out they are lying about their reputation it will ruin their own reputation. Also it ruins the reputation of other people even today with the president ruining the reputation of the illegal immigrants. Will people ever stop lying or boasting to improve their reputation and just work hard? Or will history continue to repeat itself?

In this assignment we were asked to choose a theme and write an essay on witch hunts throughout history. We focused on three time periods; The Crucible, which was based of the 1690s, the Red Scare in 1920-1950, and current day. My theme was reputation and how people used their reputation to gain power throughout history. Having a reputation is being seen or judged in different ways. When writing this essay I learned a lot. For example I learned that people used their reputation to gain power and create fear. I learned how to connect different time periods in many different ways. I also realized some things as well such as that history repeats its self.

When I got my Crucible essay back I excelled in a few things but also I needed to improve in a few things as well. I did very well in finding evidence to support my ideas, I did well in generating a good thesis statement. I also did well in understanding the literature in written responses. I needed to improve in proper writing conventions. I can improve by always checking my work 2-3 times and not to rush my work. By doing this I will achieve my goal.