The Effects of Pride on Amanda Trulock - Essay Example

Braden Hughes 3-12-15 Research Assignment Three Fall The Effects of Pride on Amanda Trulock History is filled with defining moments. Throughoutone’s life there are challenges, tests, strict lines drawn in the sand that define the person that comes out on the other side. However, after coming through the other side people bring with them many different things. One of the most defining aspects for Amanda Trulock is her great pride. Mrs. Trulock, throughout her life had been tested with many things. She saw herself through being a Victorian woman coming to the antebellum south, taking over the responsibilities of a plantation after the tragic loss of her late husband, and then seeing that plantation through intensities such as war. Amanda Trulock relied on her strong pride to get through hardships, but this same pride had underlying effects on her as well. Effects, such as developing a day-to-day reliance on her slaves and their labor, pushing her to remain in the south, and forcing her to mature into a stronger woman. So, Amanda’s pride comes to the fore when she first comes to Western Georgia even while assuring her parents in Bridgeport, during her childbirth, when her husband is caught in a financial turmoil, during her husband’s death, and importantly when she manages her plantation. It is this essay’s aim to explain how Amanda Trulock’s pride was the basis for her decision making during all the above-mentioned situations, and the effects it had on her, while bringing to light the evidence that supports this claim. When Amanda moved to Georgia for the first time after her marriage to James Hines Trulock, her family was apprehensive regarding how her daughter would adjust to the environs and situations there. Malloy brings out their trepidation as follows, “The close-knit Beardsley family undoubtedly were troubled by physical separation from one of their members; that Amanda was headed for a relatively unsettled, uncultivated land to participate in the institution of slavery could only have compounded her familys anxiety”.1 To clear such apprehensions, Amanda painted a very positive picture to her parents. Although, she might have had practical difficulties initially, exhibiting her strong pride, she gave a prideful account of her life in Georgia to her parents. In her letter, she even incorporated light-hearted and humorous snippets about your food habits and robust health. For instance, Amanda wrote “The way that I eat the Chickens and Deers is a caution, if my health should continue as good, as it has been since I arrived, I doubt whether you would know me next spring, for I weigh one hundred and seventeen pounds already”. Instead of this being a factual report about her food habits and the possibility of weight increase, this more of her prideful assurance to her family regarding her happy and healthful adaptation to her new home. In addition, Amanda speaks on her health in a favorable manner throughout a large portion of her letters to her home. This is because she wants to assert herself in the eyes of her family and wants no one to doubt her as well as feel inferior or vulnerable about her. In her letter home on October 24, 1837 Amanda says “I hope you will not give yourself one unpleasant thought on my account, for I assure you that I am happy” forcing her parents to assume well of their daughter. Malloy validates this perspective by stating her “overwhelmingly positive or humorous in tone…may be regarded as attempts to sooth her familys anxieties about her well-being”.2 The effect of her pride in this situation is that it not only assured her parents about her well-being but also avoided creating any homesickness in her. Instead of giving in to her parents’ anxiety, Amanda because of her pride was able to aptly manage the situation thereby assuring her parents as well as her personally. Amanda exhibited her pride when she gave birth to a child but was not able to feed her for months. Breastfeeding the newborn is one of the foremost (or even stereotypical) motherly duties of the new mother. However, in the case of Amanda, she was unable to feed her daughter Victoria. Instead of feeling disappointed and depressed because of her inability, Amanda by showing her pride actually felt happy and comfortable with it. She felt that without her breastfeeding duties and by putting her daughter in the good care of the slaves, she had the freedom to indulge in all her pastimes. In her letter to her father date 16th April 1839, she wrote, “I have one advantage in not suckling her because I can leave her at any time as long as I wish, this morning I went a fishing, I have commenced riding on horse back again, and I expect I shall be as great a garden[er] as ever”. These lines clearly imply the above perspective of how Amanda’s pride and her resultant involvement in constructive activities have suppressed any possibility of disappointment that could arise in her mind. The effect of her pride in this situation is that she was not depressed and instead she went on with her daily life in a cheerful manner. In addition, by accepting her inability and by avoiding any sulking for not fulfilling the motherly or womanly duties of breastfeeding, Amanda broke newer grounds. Malloy backs this perspective by stating, “This passage also indicates that while Amanda gladly placed Victoria in the care of slaves, she did not do so in acquiescence to notions of feminine frailty”.3 At the same time, she even counteracted another effect of this situation. That is, her inability to breastfeed and her attitude of taking it lightly could be criticized by certain sections including her parents. However, Amanda understanding this dubious effect of her pride, clarified to her father in a letter dated 18 March 1839. “As I have now become a mother perhaps you may think that it is high time for me to throw away all girlish actions and assume more independence and precision than I heretofore have done”. So, through these lines, Amanda balances any negative intonation that could be attached to her previous take on breastfeeding and pursuing one’s pastimes thereby exhibiting pride-filled motherly responsibilities. Malloy supports this point by stating, “That Amanda was not physically bound to her first child does not mean that she did not take motherhood seriously”.4 The other situation during which Amanda’s pride came to the front is when her husband James had to undergo financial turmoil over the years. He suffered financially during the Panic of 1837 as well as the national depression of 1839-1844. Although, Amanda is well conscious of this unfortunate situation, she brought out her pride instead of feeling sad for it. Malloy points out this mindset of Amanda by stating, “Amanda became aware of her husbands turmoil no later than March 1838, and treated it as a matter of fact rather than lament”.5 Even when her husband suggested her to move back to her home Bridgeport and avoid being directly affected by the turmoil, she remained steadfast in her stance of staying with her husband thereby bringing out her pride. James wanted to “arrange matters for us to go,” but Amanda as a levelheaded and prideful woman stated in the letter dated 3 April 1842 that “we had better stay at home and use economy and industry and get out of debt to accomplish so very desirable an end”. The effect of this situation is that Amanda stuck with her husband even in their toughest times thereby further strengthening their relationship. The other effect of her pride is that she was able to understand her responsibility to her slaves. That is, when her father also suggested to move to Bridgeport, she expressed her decision to stick with her husband by moving to any new place to which he moves and importantly the need to take care of the slaves. She even viewed them as family members. In her letter to her father dated 21 March 1838, Amanda states, “Mr. Trulock selling, and then purchasing a new place, has been the means of his being some what in debt, for he has got a very expensive family” So, it is clear that situation of financial trouble positively influenced Amanda by making stay with her husband even while accepting her responsibility towards the slaves. Amanda’s pride came to the fore during one of the critical situations in her life thereby having positive effects on many people including herself and her slaves. That is, when her husband passed away leaving behind their property and slaves, there was no one to manage them except Amanda. As Duncan states, normally in the Southern states “Husbands making out their wills sometimes simply left property and slaves undescribed but more often specified the slaves to be given to the wife and each child”.6 On those lines, Amanda held the responsibility for number of slaves. Amanda for her part could have gone back to her home leaving behind the slaves, wishing to recover from the tragic loss of her husband. However, she did not do that. Instead, displaying her strong pride as well as responsibility to the slaves, she stayed in Western Georgia to take care of them thereby continuing her husband’s duty and wishes. “She was determined first to stand by her husband rather than retreat, defeated, back to Bridgeport”.7 The effect of this situation is that Amanda continued to manage the slaves with pride and responsibility thereby bringing out more of her positive attributes. As Faust states that not only war but also other challenging situations has often introduced women to unaccustomed responsibilities and at the same time unprecedented, “even if temporary, enhancements of power”.8 Amanda’s embracement of the institution of slavery and slaves in general at a personal level is considered to be one of the most notable features of her letter correspondence. As she made a personal connection with the slaves and as she wants to complete her husband’s duties, she took on the major responsibility of taking care of the slaves. In the letter to her home dated October 17, 1837, she states, “Think of the responsibility and charge that I was about to be a participator in for life, together with thirty Negroes that are consined to our care which have souls, as well as ourselves, is no trifling thing rightly considered”. After she got adjusted to the practical aspect of taking care of the slaves, she even exhibited prideful paternalistic understanding of slavery as well. As a woman pushing against male authority this aspect of slave labor was a key tool in her eyes. If she did not have this labor working productively for her she would have been viewed as a failure and this was not an option for Amanda, so to bring out optimal productivity in her labor, she exhibited the paternalistic leanings towards her salves. “Amandas paternalistic understanding of slavery and her day-to-day reliance upon slave labor were the major causes of her staying in the south after her husbands death”.9 The effect of her decision to stay and care for the slaves was manifold positively impacting both Amanda and her slaves. That is apart from prospering personally through the work of the slaves, Amanda cared for them. This is in line with the Southern women discussed by Scott, who states they were “supportive…run the plantations, supervise the slaves, and pray for victory”.10 In addition, one large effect of Amanda’s pride is that she developed her day-to-day dependence on slaves. Amanda cared for her slaves, and Malloy explains for how 26 years she respected the duty she held for them.11 She goes on to state that “In the meantime, Amanda developed a heavy dependence on her house slaves and a legitimate affection for some of them; the dependence and affection contributed to Amanda’s staying in the south as long as she did.”12 Not only did she use them to build her pride, but she used them to protect it as well. She even taught slaves to read and write, particularly Reuben’s son Orrin thereby forging “lasting family relationships”.13 So, apart from exhibiting her pride by constantly caring the slaves without giving in to the challenging situations, Amanda counted on her slaves to further build her pride because she was now one of the “plantation ladies”14 and she needed to make the most of what all that had to offer. Based on the above analysis, it is possible to state that Amanda exhibited her pride in many of her crucial times, starting from her entry to Georgia as a new bride till her exit from there in her ripe age. Her pride was at its peak during her childbirth, her husband’s financial troubles, his death, and when she has to manage the slaves. The effects were also extensive as her pride helped her overcome tough situations, manage challenges confidently, and even positively impacted the lives of her slaves. To sum up, Amanda Trulock lived an eventful, challenging, and the same time prideful life thereby impacting many lives. Bibliography Duncan, G., ‘"One negro, Sarah... one horse named Collier, one cow and calf named Pink": Slave Records from the Arkansas River Valley’, The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, vol. 69, no. 4, 2010, pp. 325-345 Faust, D. G., ‘Altars of Sacrifice: Confederate Women and the Narratives of War Author’, The Journal of American History, vol. 76, no. 4, 1990, p. 1200-1228 K. H. Jones, ‘“A Rough, Saucy Set of Hands to Manage”: Slave Resistance in Arkansas’, The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, vol. 71, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1-21 Malloy, S. B., The Health of our Family: The correspondence of Amanda Beardsley Trulock, 1837--1868, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2005. Scott, A. F. , ‘Womens Perspective on the Patriarchy in the 1850s’, The Journal of American History, vol. 61, no. 1, 1974, pp. 52-64 Read More