oh oh we're group one and we read the first three chapters of a different Mirror by Ronald Takaki um and basically the thesis is Ronald takaki's a different mirror a history of Multicultural America explores the history of America through the perspective of minority groups in chapters one through three Takaki shares his own experiences and historical events concerning the minorities perspective the cookie emphasizes how Americo was built from multiple minorities in that America cannot be defined as white as old historians would say or how history is taught all right in chapter one um we actually begin with an anecdote from the author himself in which he is questioned by a taxi driver about his origin even though he was born in America and identifies as like a Japanese American but he goes on to say that he's no stranger to these encounters and he's had many similar ones even in like higher up fields of Education where he's like just questioned about his race a lot which he's always a little confused about since he was born in America and he just like is Japanese-American um events like these make Takaki realize that a lot of history in the United States are told from the white perspective and exclude minorities like himself even though minorities practically make up the backbone of the United States um he then explains how African Americans are a central minority and they have been dehumanized as property until the Civil War and were continually abused and scorned next he discusses Asian Americans who are projected to represent 10 of the total U.S population by 2050 but have been undressedly deemed as Heathen and unassivable by White America um then he briefly talks about like how the Irish were brought to America and voluntarily as like indentured servants and who had to like basically fight their way up the social ladder in America and they entered through like middle class and by electing Irish people into influential political positions um he then goes on to speak about how the majority of the Jewish population saw America as their Promised Land especially when Hitler was out and about on his tyrannical at Rampage only to be like met with anti-semitism which is really just like a slap in the face for a lot of Jewish people who very much were like looking for salvation in a place that promised that but didn't provide um he then goes on to talk about Mexican Americans and how their experience differs from the norm as they were like close in proximity and this helps reinforce their language identity identity and culture um it is said that many Mexican Americans still today cross the border pushed by poverty from the south and pulled northward by employment opportunities and then lastly he acknowledges um the oppression of Native Americans and how their oppression is significantly contrast other with other minority groups since um Native Americans didn't don't really have this like immigrant story where they were brought to America since they were the Native people to America and basically got pushed off their own land and this makes their oppression unique as they've been colonized on their own land despite them being somewhat welcoming to the settlers who first came onto the shore chapter two explores the gradual removal of Native Americans from their lands and also references various stories and predictions effort told the natives fate and the wampano tribe for instance a wise Chief foretold that a strange white people would come to crowd out the Red Man in another version of the story there is a warning involved in saying that's a sign that another people the color of the whole would arrive don't let them have all the land because if you do the Indians will disappear another example could be seen in Shakespeare's play The Tempest in which he tells a tale that reflects English imperialism and the making of an end quote American identity based on race takuki applies an illusion from The Tempest that would compare the Irish in Native Americans who have faced the Wrath of the English to caliban the Irish were similar to caliban for being seen as people living outside of civilization end quote the similarities between the natives and caliban are found in similar ways to the Irish as well as their beautiful land and caliban's Island Takaki also addresses that because the natives appear to lack everything the Europeans apply to as civilized end quote the natives were a Savage and wild people living without clothing Christianity lettering and cities the English found the method of taking native babes from their mothers in quote if necessary end quote and teaching them the proper ways of civilization to be the most viable solution this was still not enough as the English refused to trust the natives an example being Captain John Smith addressing a young Native and saying we perceive and well know you intend to destroy us additionally Adas began dying off from new diseases carried by the English William Bradford wrote in his diary in 1620 it pleased God to visit these Indians with a great sickness and such immortality that of a thousand above nine and a half hundred of them died and many of them did Roth above ground for want the burial these deaths were further explained as God in quote making room for the settlers and this slide it demonstrates various people mentioned in chapter two um for instance William Bradford which is seen on the top left um wrote in his diary about the natives and how disease was um basically God's wish and William Bradford can also be seen on the top right um this could have been the english's first arrival native interactions John Smith can also be seen on the bottom left as well um and it is previously mentioned that he spoke to a young Native and basically said that we do not trust your people um and at the bottom right can be seen the Wampanoag tribe um who interacted with Captain John Smith I believe chapter 3 touches upon the African perspective of how America was built it started off with a small group being kidnapped from Africa to work the life of servitude eventually that small group turned into massive and many boats taking many Africans from their homes to work in and build America Africans worked alongside the Irish and German all of them slaves however since Africans had a darker complexion they were treated especially this was not the good type of special this was the bad type of special the reason for this was because Africans would receive more punishments than their white counterparts they were not allowed to arm theirselves with guns and eventually they were considered property to which the Europeans thought this would be a quote Dishonored to God and the shame of the Christianity should they ever mix whether it be societally or literally like they had kids this developed into the chatel slip slavery we are familiar with today of course slaves of all kinds black and white ran away and were brought back to their masters but one day a man named Nathaniel Bacon had decided that enough was enough and it was time for the slaves to band together and tear down their masters and their tyranny he created an army of 500 that fought for their freedom until they were lured captured and taken back to their owners an allusion to The Tempest is also made during this chapter which compared this Revolt from Nathaniel Bacon to how caliban longed to be free of a servitude and convinced Stefano and jenkulo to fight with him against prospera for their freedom both of these revolts failed next a big focal point for this chapter was Thomas Jefferson he was very indecisive on how he felt and how he wanted to handle slavery so to speak hypocritical he writes about how he longs to abolish slavery yet was a massive slave owner Jefferson has slaves to pay off the debt of his estate which his estate was in debt because he paid two-thirds of it by getting slaves he promised that when they did enough work to pay off his debt that he would make life better for them maybe even set them free unfortunately for his slaves Jefferson's debt was not paid off before he died meaning that those slaves most definitely were not set free despite seeing the works of Phyllis Wheatley a poet and Benjamin Benjamin benneker a mathematician he still maintained that Africans were inferior due to their lack of intelligence even when Benjamin mailed him a copy with Almanac he wrote Jefferson held onto the belief that quote nurture could not improve the nature of the blacks end quote finally an issue and a massive Scandal that surrounded Jefferson was that of Sally Hemmings a mulatto slave gifted to his late wife by her father Sally was the sister-in-law to Thomas Jefferson and also the mother to six of his children in public he denied it but allegedly you could not mistake those heming's children who quote looks so much like Jefferson that at some distance or on the dusk of one of the or in the dusk one of the grown slaves might have been mistaken for Mr Jefferson end quote eventually there was a turning point in American slavery the North had outlawed it and the South was beginning to let their slaves go since they realized it was morally wrong and felt awkward about it that was until 1793 a man named Eli Whitney created the cotton gin the cotton gin was an engine that made separating cotton from other substances like leaves and branches faster and more efficient this device made slavery more profitable and was a reason for slave owners to keep them instead of letting them go this machine was also the reason America was pushed into the market Revolution and why the abolition of slavery was pushed back in conclusion Ronald Takaki examines American history through the minority perspectives of his own the Native Americans and Africans additionally here are some pictures of Sally Hemmings Jefferson's mistress Thomas Jefferson himself an indecisive man if I've ever seen one and the Imagine idea of what one of the battles Bacon's Rebellion fought in here are some questions that we thought everyone in the class should consider who do you think caliban is more like the natives or African Americans hell canceled is Thomas Jefferson how did separate tribes have the same prophecy that the Europeans were going to conquer them do you think that the way history has been taught is limited to the white perspective or is it inclusive have the teaching methods the change to be more inclusive if so how thank you