- Sep 2016
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www.histarch.illinois.edu www.histarch.illinois.eduParting Ways31
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As a servant to a congressman, he lived in Washington and traveled to England.
Being a slave to an upper-class member of society, James Burr got opportunities that his ancestors did not get. Most notably, records about him. He also was most likely treated better than slaves of a lower class member of society. This is demonstrated in this portrait of slaves from a wealthy family below. The slaves are well-dressed and seem to be treated fairly well (at least from the picture's perspective). This of course, was not the reality for all slaves, but is a snapshot of slave life for the rich.
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The article I read to relate to this one was the CNN article detailing how historical objects were lost in the recent Italian earthquake (http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/25/europe/italy-earthquake-historic-sites-damaged/ ). The article states that multiple historic sites in Italy were damaged structurally by the earthquake. Many historic churches suffered structural cracks and some even partially collapsed and sites dating back to the medieval times were damaged, much to the disappointment and saddening of Italy's Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini and historians everywhere. Because of this destruction to Italy's historical objects, on August 28 all proceeds from state museums went to a fund to help start rebuilding the damage. Hopefully soon, these ancient sites will be repaired.
This article relates to "Parting Ways" because both deal, obviously, with historical objects. Also, in both articles, a historical object gets destroyed. In "Parting Ways," the house burns down, and in the CNN article ancient structures are damaged because of the earthquake. In both articles, archaeologists have to use the past in order to draw conclusions in the present. For Italy, the rebuilt churches will not be the same as the original, but they will come close. This is because we have so many ancient buildings to learn from. We know how people back then built structures. We know the techniques and the styles from studying buildings and art. By studying the buildings so intently, we know how to recreate them. So, by studying past culture and tradition, we know more about the present than we would otherwise. In "Parting Ways," this is similar. Because the houses are gone we cannot study the actual thing. However, with the help of photographs, oral histories, and excavations, we learn clues about how past people lived. We can learn about their culture and their traditions, and ways that they took their own culture and morphed it in some ways to make it more modern and useful. In both these articles, people studying the past are using what they learned to impact the present. Archaeologists who look to and learn from the past can use their knowledge of past tradition and culture and techniques to further understand and shape the present, whether it be to see how freed slaves lived, or to rebuild medieval churches.
Citation:
Orjoux, Alanne. "Historical Treasures Lost, Damaged in Italian Quake." CNN. Cable News Network, 25 Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.
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associated with African American ritual practices and their West African roots.
The huge importance of culture again being seen here. This connects to annotations I had above about culture influencing society.
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Such conditions did not prevail in the Plantation South, where the yoke of slavery was not removed until the time of the Civil War.
This is an example of social environment impacting culture. Below is a timeline from an AP World History website showing how slavery changed over the of the civil war years. This timeline supports what Deetz is writing here.
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These jars were made in the West Indies, and served as sugar containers for shipment to various colonial ports.
By studying buildings, we not only learn about the building itself and who lived there, but we also learn about interactions inhabitants of the building had with other humans--interactions we did not previously think had happened or were possible.
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complete agreement among all sources is rare indeed.
This is obviously the downside to oral history. Each person is going to remember the same event or thing a little differently and that can throw off the actual description. That is why archaeologists must use good judgement when listening to a person recall a memory or a story and use common sense when comparing it to other's. This connects to my annotations on pages 194 and 195.
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The man was ninety-one years old and remembered walking past the house as a child
This is a great example of oral history filling in the blanks for what is not there (the actual house). Because of this old man's memory and story, we are able to visualize the town more clearly and know that there was a house there.This supports my annotation from page 194.
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For this reason, the archaeological dimension of the study of the community assumes a much greater significance. In some respects, such investigations take on some of the aspects of prehistoric archaeology
When we are studying a person whose life does not have much record, we must turn to outside sources to help fill in the gap. These outside sources can be anything, and sometimes can take the researcher as far back as to prehistoric times.
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In 1975 an archaeological investigation of the Parting Ways community was begun.
It was probably at this archaeological investigation that archaeologists began to learn about Cato Howe and the town that he was a part of. Below is a link to the project's website. Here there is more information available to the reader than what is provided in this article.
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Cato Howe was black.
By introducing the reader to his fact right from the start, we now can start forming ideas about the sorts of troubles and problems Cato Howe faced in his time serving in the Army and also in life afterwards.
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People who held such a status could hardly be expected to have recorded a history of their own in any conventional way, although the strength of oral tradition has preserved more than we might hope.
Slavery and the way blacks were treated at this time period not only affected them in the present but also in the future. Because of this, it is harder for us now to study their lives and find the details about their lifestyles.
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Nothing is known of Cato Howe's early life, before his military service.
It is ironic and sad that the government (and no one else) cared to take any record of Cato until he had to serve for the country. This is the sad truth that the government (and white people) did not care about blacks back then until they needed their help.
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"voted and granted a strip of land about twenty rods wide and about a mile and a half long on the easterly side of the sheep pasture, to such persons as will clear the same in the term of three years."
It's very cool that we still have records like this today. These records can help tell us a lot about who owned certain properties of land. This will help immensely when studying architecture and landscape and the histories of both.
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Cato married Lucy Prettison of Plymouth in 1821.
What I am finding intriguing about all these details about Cato's life is earlier the author stated that there are few records about Cato before he served in the Army (besides his unconfirmed slave records). However, after he serves, there are plenty of records about where he lived, how much he was worth, who he married, when he died, etc. This shows that after a slave won their freedom (in this case Cato earning it by fighting in the war) they could become a true member of society even though society looked down on them because of their skin color.
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Were it not for Howe's having served in the Continental Army, we would know hardly a thing about him.
This supports the annotation I said previously. It took Cato serving in the war to be recognized as a true and free member of society and to have records about himself be written down.
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He was a slave, owned first by Dr. William Thomas and then by his son, judge Joshua Thomas.
It is disappointing that the only reasons we have records of Prince Goodwin is because he was a slave. It just shows how different society was back then and how class played such an important role on your place in society.
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Melted window glass, heavy charcoal and ash deposits, and large numbers of nails all attest to the house's having burned in place.
I think it is amazing how archaeologists can look at these ruins (broken glass, ash, nails, etc.) and use that to determine the house's fate. Being able to analyze clues like this can be really beneficial in learning about a building's past.
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Types such as handpainted creamware are not often encountered on New England sites representing people of average means.
If only the upper-class had pottery like this, it makes us wonder, why did low-income, freed blacks have this type of pottery? Who gave it to them? And why did they keep it and not sell it for a profit?
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What degree of African cultural survival can be detected and described when dealing with the material remains of African Americans at an earlier time in the country's history?
This is a great question to pose, and one that is very hard to answer. However, through archaeology and archaeological digs, we can hope to come close to an answer.
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So it is that while the artifacts available to the members of the Parting Ways settlement were of necessity almost entirely Anglo-American, the rules by which they were put to use in functional combinations might have been more African American.
Here is a prime example of two cultures colliding, and us learning about it only by excavating the site to learn more about it. The archaeologists just wanted to learn more about the building site, and ended up discovering something about culture, too.
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But the negative evidence is strong, so there had to be some accommodation for one within the building.
Here, the picture is helping the archaeologists draw conclusions that would have otherwise baffled them. Even though there is no physical evidence that a fire place existed, because the picture shows one, that means it was there and was there with some purpose. Working backwards from this, archaeologists know what to search for to find more evidence of the fire place.
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Beyond this, there are differences.
Culture changes over time. The basis can remain the same, but key aspects can and will change. Adjusting to the new environment always occurs.
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At the time of the community's formation, the usual pattern of Anglo-American house placement was a scattered one, each family on its own property.
A key example to support my previous point. The settlers built their houses in accordance to tradition and culture, but modified key things, such as living patterns.
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they were able to organize their world on their own terms from the late eighteenth century onward.
These African Americans who shared this land were a special group of people because they were not only freed slaves, but they also took culture and modified it and impact future generations. And by looking at their lifestyles and how they lived, we now in present time have a better understanding of life and culture back then.
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Prior to the excavations at Parting Ways in 1975 and 1976, the site was known only as the location of a tiny cemetery
Examining the history and previous culture of a site can unlock clues for us in the present to learn what really happened there. That's why it's important for us now to study the past.
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Such a pattern has a striking parallel to grave decoration practices as they are known from the American South.
By finding this shattered pottery, we are able to learn that there could be a potential grave here! Culture practices spread all over and fundamentally stay the same. This is really interesting.
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graves and their decorations are seen as inviolate, not to be stolen from.
This explains why these fragments were never removed or touched or bothered. The cultural traditions continue on.
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But because the artifacts themselves were so familiar to us, the essential differences were disguised behind them, and only when a more basic consideration of different perceptions of the world was made did the picture come into focus.
What the author is trying to say here is that since everything was grounded in similar habits and culture, it was easier to draw connections.
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Since the artifactual and architectural remains of these communities are a better index of the life of African Americans in their own terms, they hold great promise of supplementing American black history in a different and important way.
The author here is saying that while oral history and stories are helpful, archaeology can unlock secrets we would not have known otherwise. We can learn about lifestyles and culture through archaeology and see hands-on the lives these people were living.
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African heritage surfaced one more time.
The freed slaves united and came together through the common-ground of pure African culture, tradition, and, most importantly, heritage.
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In their own way, the black settlers of Parting Ways maintained their cultural heritage in the face of adversity.
Through archaeology, we are able to see that the freed slaves were not just people, they were freed African American slaves and veterans who overcame racism and poverty to unite and form a bond and keep their African heritage alive, not only for them, but for future generations.
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