From: Julien Ghisellini To: Bincy Abdul Samad Date: 9/29/2015
19th Century: The expedience and enslaving tendencies in America.
In his book A Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki compares the Americas to the wilderness in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Written in 1611, this play was based on an English ship that was going to Virginia but accidentally ran into the Bermudas. By using this type of metaphor, Takaki wants to represent English expansion into the New World. Caliban – a native of the island – became a figure for the other natives of the New World as Prospero claimed sovereignty on the island. Takaki uses this image to illustrate the tendency of white Americans to match barbarism with the color of the skin. This attitude would determine the treatment reserved for immigrants in America. More precisely, …show more content…
In fact, the American people deeply wanted to be a part of Texas’ history. As Stephen Austin (nowadays said to be the Father of Texas) announced, the main desire was to “redeem it from the wilderness”. That’s why, in 1836, Samuel Houston – an American Senator – forced Santa Anna to cede Texas to America and he declared the state an Independent Republic. Ten years later, Houston’s fellow countryman, President James K. Polk declared war to Mexico because of the American wish to possess California. Even if the American colons were in California for less than a year, they directly intimidate de Mexican government. It’s basically an intrusion America did into Mexico: they pushed the invaded to “sell” (actually give the land up) the states of California, New-Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and parts of Colorado and Utah ... for $15 million dollars. At that moment, Takaki uses a quote from Rodolfo F. Acuna: Mexicans were suddenly “foreigners in their own land” (p.165). These are the exact words to describe the situation. In fact, the official language was not Mexican anymore but English as well as the mainstream customs, the laws and the
19th Century: The expedience and enslaving tendencies in America.
In his book A Different Mirror, Ronald Takaki compares the Americas to the wilderness in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Written in 1611, this play was based on an English ship that was going to Virginia but accidentally ran into the Bermudas. By using this type of metaphor, Takaki wants to represent English expansion into the New World. Caliban – a native of the island – became a figure for the other natives of the New World as Prospero claimed sovereignty on the island. Takaki uses this image to illustrate the tendency of white Americans to match barbarism with the color of the skin. This attitude would determine the treatment reserved for immigrants in America. More precisely, …show more content…
In fact, the American people deeply wanted to be a part of Texas’ history. As Stephen Austin (nowadays said to be the Father of Texas) announced, the main desire was to “redeem it from the wilderness”. That’s why, in 1836, Samuel Houston – an American Senator – forced Santa Anna to cede Texas to America and he declared the state an Independent Republic. Ten years later, Houston’s fellow countryman, President James K. Polk declared war to Mexico because of the American wish to possess California. Even if the American colons were in California for less than a year, they directly intimidate de Mexican government. It’s basically an intrusion America did into Mexico: they pushed the invaded to “sell” (actually give the land up) the states of California, New-Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and parts of Colorado and Utah ... for $15 million dollars. At that moment, Takaki uses a quote from Rodolfo F. Acuna: Mexicans were suddenly “foreigners in their own land” (p.165). These are the exact words to describe the situation. In fact, the official language was not Mexican anymore but English as well as the mainstream customs, the laws and the