What do you notice? What do you wonder? I chose this ad about Jane N. Watson searching for her son. Since her son is a sailor, the ad coverage was quit wide, that from Chester, Delaware Co., PA, to Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, Callao, Peru, and to China. There was not much information provided, however, I noticed that this period would be interesting especially to a sailor. I wonder why did they separate apart? Were they by force? Did her son become a slave? Time/Place: For the content of the ad, I noticed that this ad was posted on April 13th, 1867. The transcription said that the mom last saw her son who left Philadelphia in 1861 and shipped in Boston in the ship Lydia Scofield. The last she heard of him was in 1862. From April 1862–November 1862, it was the time for U.S. Civil war. During the Civil War, sentiment concerning slaves, enslavement, and emancipation in the United States was divided. Lincoln's fears of making slavery a war issue were based in a harsh reality: abolition did not enjoy wide support in the west, the territories, and the border states. It could explain what might happen to her son during the time and how he went on to different locations.
Implications/Conclusions:
To conclude, in my opinion, they must be separated by force without any contract or agreement. The fundamental cause of the American Civil War was the contradiction between two kinds of economies, namely the contradiction between the capitalist industrial and commercial economy in the North and the slave plantation economy in the South. The focus of the contradiction is the preservation and abolition of slavery, so the root cause of the American Civil War is the preservation and abolition of slavery. I still could not tell whether James became a slave or not, however, it was pretty obvious that during the period of time, the opportunity for a boy without any family to become a slave was pretty big.
Discussion Question:
If you were born as a sailor during the period of time, would you rather stay with your family or going out and find a percent of freedom?
Hi Jenny,
I really liked that your discussion question was put into the perspective as if we were the one's in the situation. I think if I was a sailor during this time I would have believed that leaving my family in order to find another place to settle or to obtain more freedoms would have been the best choice. However, I think with the hindsight bias I have here, I would definitely make the choice to stay with my family knowing that the future holds even more difficulty in avoiding separation.
I think that if it were me in that situation I would have opted for going out into the world as a sailor rather than stay and fight in the Civil War. I would think there were more opportunities outside of the US at that time and to risk your continued freedom by engaging in a war where if the north lost would mean you likely would be enslaved or killed just wouldn't be worth it to me.
Hi Jenny!
This ad is really intriguing, especially because of its date--based on the dates, I would assume that Watson wasn't enslaved when he left Philadelphia. It is interesting that he was able to update his mother on his whereabouts all over the globe. It doesn't sound like he was in the Navy, but maybe employed as a sailor for a merchant vessel? The information in this ad makes me even more curious about how they got separated and whether they were able to reconnect! In answer to your question, I think it probably depends on one's age and the opportunities available for economic success at home. It sounds as though James Watson had the opportunity to sail all around the world. In 1861 United States, I might be inclined to take that route over the possibility of fighting in the Civil War. I wonder what everyone else thinks about this one.