Early Dickens Film!

The earliest film depicting a Charles Dickens’ character has been found by the British Film Institute, conveniently you might say, after all the celebrations this year of one of England’s most famous authors. The Death of Poor Joe, filmed in Brighton in 1901, refers to a character from Bleak House and it’s only a minute long, but it looks incredible! Watch the film here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17298021

Frederick Douglass and the World Temperance Convention

I am ridiculously excited to visit Frederick Douglass’s house in Washington D.C next month, and as ever, my research into his travels in Britain prove incredibly interesting. In the summer of 1846, after the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance (see earlier post), the World Temperance Convention was held in London. Committed to the reduction of the sale and use of alcohol, men and religious denominations came from around the globe to participate in the meeting. Frederick Douglass strongly believed in temperance, lecturing about its importance throughout his life, speaking to numerous temperance societies and women’s groups. Douglass was invited to speak at the convention, but there were some who took issue with his speech. Reverend Samuel Cox of Brooklyn, New York started a public exchange with Douglass after the meeting, denouncing his conduct and accusing him of being paid by abolitionists to disrupt the convention. Cox, an anti-slavery supporter himself, argued that Douglass turned the meeting into a debate about slavery and wrote to him charging him with misconduct:

“The moral scene was superb and glorious – when Frederick Douglass, the coloured abolitionist agitator came to the platform…[he] was perfectly indiscriminate in his severities, he talked of the American delegates, and to them, as if he had been our schoolmaster, and we his docile and devoted pupils and launched his revengeful missiles against our country”. (Samuel Cox, August 8 1846)

Douglass replied:

“Sir, you claim to be a Christian, a philanthropist, and an abolitionist. Were you truly entitled to any one of these names, you would have been delighted at seeing one of Africa’s despised children cordially received and warmly welcomed…[this] tells the whole story of your abolitionism and stamps your pretensions to abolition as brazen hypocrisy or self-deception.” (Frederick Douglass, letter to Samuel Cox, October 30, 1846)

More than anything, Douglass’s experiences in Britain indicate that slavery remained a controversial, disruptive issue, one that could not be ignored on either side of the Atlantic. Much has been made of the American abolition movement, but more attention needs to be focused on Britain’s role in American antislavery in the 1840’s in particular. 

Should History be Compulsory?

This is a somewhat biased question for me since I have enjoyed history since the age of ten, so of course it should be compulsory, at least to GCSE. History is the most important subject, it teaches us about who we are, how we got here, everything from the interesting, the inspiring to the downright unpleasant (because the ugly parts cannot be ignored). There are a multitude of areas within history that I believe should be taught to kids, but where to start? This is the hard part since everybody has different ideas – Battle of Hastings? Henry VIII? Waterloo? Hitler? Thatcher? Civil Rights? I adore American history, so my idea of a national curriculum would be heavily biased towards that, though I can’t deny that London history should be included more in schools, especially the slave trade and the social environment of London. But that's just me...

What’s annoying though is the constant hijacking of history by politicians, who use it as a benchmark to teach kids about identity and patriotism – sorry, whose identity? I don’t want to be preached at, or told what to believe or feel through the highly selective process of choosing historical events that suit a political argument. Michael Gove, the education secretary, needs to avoid the trap of past politicians (though I’m not holding out hope) – history shouldn’t be a celebratory history of the British Isles, a story of progress without struggle, a story of great battles without the ugly side of colonialism.

The other problem is teaching – you can have an excellent curriculum but it’s the teachers that matter. I have been incredibly lucky to have been taught by amazing teachers (through school, college and uni) who clearly enjoyed what they were doing so much, they taught history in a fun, and interesting way. Friends at the same school with different teachers had the complete opposite experience, ditching history as fast as they could because it was too “boring”. This makes me want to tear my hair out. History isn’t about reciting facts – it’s about people, their experiences, and what life was like for them five hundred years ago or fifty. To get people involved in history, schools should take advantage of local heritage sites – nothing beats seeing something you’ve read in class - reading about a castle isn’t the same as standing inside it.

There needs to be a dramatic shake-up of the national curriculum, but history is essential. We need it, and we can’t forget it.

Think You've Read a Love Letter? Nothing Beats Ballou

The Daily Mail recently published extracts from the letters of dead soldiers to their families, stretching from the seventeenth century to the present war in Iraq. They do not make easy reading. What is striking though is the devotion these soldiers had to their cause, whether it was against the French in the 1800’s or the Nazis in the 1940’s. It makes me wonder whether I would, or could, show the same level of devotion:

“My Mary, let the recollection console you that the happiest days of my life have been from your love and affection, and that I die loving only you, and with a fervent hope that our souls may be reunited hereafter and part no more.” (Major Arthur Rowley Heyland, Battle of Waterloo, 1815).

‘I don’t know why I am writing this because I really hope that this letter never gets to you, because if it does that means I am dead…just because I have passed away does not mean I am not with you…I’ll always be there looking over you, keeping you safe…So whenever you feel lonely, just close your eyes and I’ll be there right by your side. I really did love you with all I had, you were everything to me.’ (Gunner Lee Thornton to his fiancée, age 22. Died in Iraq, 2006.)

The article reminded me of a letter written by an American soldier in the Civil War. I had heard it from Ken Burn’s series, The American Civil War, and it has stayed with me since, mainly because it is one of the most heart-breaking letters I have ever read:

 

“My very dear Sarah:

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure - and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing - perfectly willing - to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.

But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows - when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children - is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country? I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death -- and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country, and thee.

  

Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me - perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar -- that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name…I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night -- amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours - always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.”

  

Major Sullivan Ballou, Union Army. (1829-1861). His wife never remarried.

Photo Fakery!

I found this great article today about famous faked photographs – from Lincoln to Stalin, Hitler to Mussolini, photos could be “modified” long before photoshop! Hardly surprising perhaps from the dictators, but it’s incredibly interesting to see how past events were faked to get a “perfect” shot, for a variety of different reasons. Take the Grant picture: this was made up of three different photographs, and the Russian troops celebrating victory over the Nazis had to be free from looted goods.

This is a great selection of photos, although it’s slightly terrifying how easy it is to manipulate history…some of these photographs have only been altered slightly, but it’s still enough to send shivers down the spine…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107109/Iconic-Abraham-Lincoln-portrait-revealed-TWO-pictures-stitched-together.html