Understanding History and Society through Images, 1776-1914

Textual Content

The novels which I have chosen to accompany the visual pieces I utilize in the unit are My Brother Sam is Dead, Chains, Forge, and Year of the Hangman. My Brother Sam is Dead recounts the story of a family in Massachusetts on the opening day of the war, the shots exchanged at Lexington and Concord. Father and sons become divided over the issue of remaining loyal to King George or taking up sides with the Patriot cause. This situation reflected the predicament of families across the 13 colonies. The younger son, Tim, narrates the slow meltdown within the family and community, the loss of family members and the ups and downs of their struggling tavern. Tim asks the "what if" questions at the end: Was the Patriot win worth the loss of Father and Sam and was there another means of solving the argument between the English and American colonials other than war? He doesn't answer the questions but instead lets the reader reflect and resolve a possible solution.

Chains and Forge are part of a trilogy, the third, Ashes, being released later this year. Students who like to read will be enticed by the idea of a trilogy. Chains is narrated by Isobel, a 13-year-old slave who is promised freedom, along with her sister, Ruth, upon the death of their owner. ⁴³ For quick money, an unscrupulous distant relative sells the girls to New York Loyalists. The Locktons are a pitiless couple, not just with Isobel and Ruth but also amongst themselves. The Locktons strategize with other high ranking New York Loyalists about the upcoming 1776/77 British invasion of the city. Isobel has met an older slave, Curzon, and he knows the importance of her position in this Loyalist family. His early attempts to persuade her to spy on the Locktons fail but when Isobel's sister is sold away, Isobel realizes that she will do anything to find and save her younger sister. She listens to the plan hatching in the Lockton's parlor and takes that information to Curzon. Forge begins with Isobel and Curzon's escape from New York. ⁴⁴ The second book then focuses on Curzon's journey to keep from being captured. He ends up enlisting in the Continental Army but continues to live in constant fear of being found out. The details of the horrific winter Curzon endures at Valley Forge are character changing, as it will be for Washington's troops. Washington will emerge from this winter to go on and accomplish significant wins later in the year. The third book will no doubt resolve Isobel and Curzon's status as slaves.

The fourth book, The Year of the Hangman, is an alternative history of the years that followed the failed American Revolution. I think that I will have students actually begin at the end with Blackwood's afterward. Blackwood addresses what alternative history is and then goes on to explain what actually happened in comparison to what happens in the book. The book is narrated from the viewpoint of Creighton, a 17-year-old arrogant and determined British boy. A serious of misfortunes on his part drive his mother to request her high ranking British officer brother's intervention. He is kidnapped and wakes up on the way to America. His Uncle sets about to make Creighton into a perfect British gentlemen. And here the history is changed. The Americans have not done well and many have been driven into Spanish and French territories in Florida and New Orleans. The book's characters are slightly altered. Washington's capture has brought about the failure of the rebellion. Benjamin Franklin is hiding out in New Orleans writing articles for his newspaper in hopes of encouraging the Patriots to reunite. Benedict Arnold has not become a traitor but instead a hero in various battles in Florida. Creighton becomes part of Franklin's New Orleans entourage and starts to see that the British may not be the side he wants to remain with. The book ends with some hope for the American cause and the experience has made Creighton a responsible young man. ⁴⁵