Part One: IDs

1. Republican Motherhood: Republican motherhood emerged during the eighteenth century after
the American Revolution (243). The ideology behind the term “republican motherhood” is one
that consists of educating women in the household so that they can impart wisdom upon their
children. The role of women in the household expanded from simply caring for her children to
also directly contributing to the political beliefs and ideology. Republican motherhood also dealt
with a shift in the nature of a relationship between husband and wife; it shifted from “male
authority” to mutual dependency and affection (243). The significance of republican
motherhood is that, despite not giving women more political opportunities, it expanded the
educational opportunities for women by labeling them as key components in the future of both
their children and their country.
2. The Middle Passage: The slave trade between Africa and the New World had been occurring
since 1492, but the century that saw the most amount of slaves arriving in the New World was
the eighteenth century (131-132). “The middle passage” is what the actual voyage to the new
world was referred to as. The journey to the new world was marked by cramped spaces where
slaves were chained, little food and water, rampant diseases, and overall inhumane conditions
that led to the demise of countless amount of slaves. Reports of birthing women being thrown
off board, sick and dying slaves being thrown overboard to avoid spreading disease, and other
slaves jumping off during the middle passage were common (134). The significance of the
middle passage seems to be that it is representative of America’s original sin: slavery. The
horrors of the middle passage are paralleled with the immoral nature of slavery. The middle
passage and the horrors it consisted of are a major part of the moral argument against slavery.
3. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: The treaty occurred during the mid-nineteenth century, right in
the middle of American territorial expansion. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the treaty that
effectively ended the polarizing Mexican-American War. After the Mexican government refused
to negotiate, American forces marched towards Mexico City, occupied the capital, and forced
the Mexican government to negotiate peace and land agreements. (474) The treaty allowed for
the annexation of Texas and exchanged New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah to the United
States in exchange for $15 million. (475) The significance in the treaty is found in the major
territorial expansion it provided the United States with and the arguably unreasonable
reasoning behind starting the Mexican-American war that the treaty ended.
4. Manifest Destiny: The term Manifest Destiny was first used in 1845, but the ideology behind it
had emerged ever since the American population began moving beyond the Appalachian
Mountain (339). Manifest destiny is the idea that the United States had a “divinely appointed
mission” to expand and occupy North America. This “divinely appointed mission” was
considered such because those who employed this ideology considered the United States’
mission to be that of expanding the area of freedom. (339). Manifest destiny is of great
significance because it led to the continental expansion of the United States, the relocation of
Native Americans for the sake of expansion, and, in a sense, the Mexican American war itself.
5. Sojourner Truth: Sojourner Truth was a black abolitionist and women’s rights advocator that
was a prominent figure during the nineteenth century. Truth was born into slavery and obtained
her freedom through the emancipation law of 1827 in New York State (459). Truth’s “and aren’t
I a woman speech” made a significant impact on the women’s rights movement. The significance
 of Sojourner Truth is that she helped further the idea that women weren’t just delicate flowers
incapable of functioning outside of the domestic sphere.

Part Two: Essay

A variety of factors can shape a person’s American experience. In a hypothetical experience in

the year 1836, race and the region in which one lived can be substantial factors in determining the
quality of life, focus points, and overall life experience. The lives of a Mexican woman living in Texas, a
Cherokee woman living in Georgia, and a white woman living in upstate New York in the early 19th
century both share certain similarities in experience and major differences in perspective and quality of
life. It is only through the embodiment of each hypothetical character that one can truly understand the
degree of variety that each American experience can hold.

For the sake of understanding, I will be referring to the white woman in upstate New York as
Susan. Being that the Age of Reform was prominently situated in the North, it is likely that Susan would
have partaken in at least one of the various reform movements going on in the early 19th century (435).
Susan was part of a religious community, the shakers, and therefore embodied some reform movements
that implicitly correlated with her religious ideology. Despite being a shaker, Susan was not fully
committed to the religion and was more loyal to the feminist movement as a whole than to just the
partial themes of equality present within the religion. Along with feminism, Susan was a supporter and
advocate of the temperance movement and the abolitionist movement. Being that the abolitionist and
feminist movements were marked by a considerably large amount of advocates in upstate New York,
Susan was just one of many women who partook in various reform movements. Susan’s set of morals
did not allow her to genuinely support all women-led movements. The Female Moral Reform Society, for
example, was created to “redeem prostitutes from lives of sin” and directly attacked the sexual double
standard of the era (456). Such organization would hardly find support amongst the shaker community,
even from partially committed members. A major historical event that happened immediately after
1836 is the Panic of 1837. Inflation, a decrease in the demand for cotton, and speculation all contributed
to this economic collapse that was then followed by a depression that ended in 1843 (390). This
economic event was sure to affect the day to day life of Susan. The Panic of 1837 directly correlates with
Andrew Jackson paying off the national debt in 1835 and, consequently, states relying on the federal
government as a means to control major economic aspects of the country. It is the economic and
humanitarian perspective that is the most significant for Susan since being a white woman allowed her
to focus more on simply carrying out her day to day life and seeking to change the institution that was
already benefiting her.

A Cherokee woman living in Georgia in 1836 is bound to have a much more difficult American
experience than a white woman in upstate New York. With the idea of manifest destiny in full swing, the
relocation of Native Americans was a major topic amongst American politicians. The Indian Removal Act
of 1830 was one of the first official signs of inevitable relocation for the Cherokee people. A Cherokee
woman’s preoccupations would probably consist of not losing traditional values, avoiding relocation,
and finding a happy medium between salvaging tradition and assimilating for the sake of their lands. The
conflicting decisions of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832) must have
sent both a loss of hope and a sudden recovery of that same hope for Cherokee sovereignty (386). A
major historical event immediately after 1836 that was sure to affect any Cherokee woman living in
Georgia is the relocation of the Cherokee people: the trail of tears. Since about one-fourth to one-fifth
of the Cherokee population saw their demise through this harsh relocation policy, a Cherokee woman in
Georgia would likely experience the death of family members, loss of family memories, harsh conditions
throughout the relocation, and perhaps even her own death (386).

A Mexican woman (Maria) living in the newly formed Republic of Texas in 1836 is bound to have
a very unique American experience. Considering that the amount of American-born people
outnumbered the number of Tejanos by 1830, a Mexican woman’s community and sense of identity was
subject to continual shifts in cultural, societal, religious, and economic aspects (470). The Mexican
identity that Maria would identify with in 1836 could be considerably different from the identity she
held prior to the influx of American settlers that agreed to become Mexican citizens. Issues of slavery
and a shifting identity among people living in Texas along with economic factors contributed to the
eventual desire for Texan independence from Mexico (471). Santa Anna’s use of force in 1835 to rid
Texas of slavery was a key factor that increased Texan desire for independence. In 1836, the battle in
the Alamo occurred, stirring the already established sentiment for independence. The Texan attempt to
join the United States in 1837 may have also directly influenced Maria’s life. Initially identifying as
Mexican, Maria would likely find herself within a conflicted identity between an outsider Mexican Texan
or an American Texan.

Identity shaped the American experience of these three different, hypothetical women in
various ways. In the case of Susan, being a white woman benefited her in the sense that she never dealt
with racial discrimination or issues of conflicting identity. Her white identity allowed her to focus on
major movements, providing her with a very different experience from that of Maria and the Cherokee
woman living in Georgia. Both Maria and the Cherokee woman living in Georgia had more difficult
experiences due to their identities. Maria’s conflicting sense of identity along with the changing politics
of Texas shaped her life to be more spontaneous and unpredictable. Out of the three women, the
Cherokee woman living in Georgia had the most difficult American experience. Experiencing
unprecedented relocation and leaving behind everything she holds dearly sets the Cherokee woman
living in Georgia apart from Susan and Maria. The importance of our identity and location can be seen
through the variety of experiences that emerge from distinct and unique factors such as those within
Susan, Maria and the Cherokee woman living in Georgia’s lives.