The land of the free and the not so free to some.

Essay by thedolphinscryUniversity, Master'sA, November 2003

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America is portrayed to be the 'land of the free', yet before and even after Francis Scott Key wrote 'The Star Spangled Banner' in 1814 American's have not shown to be the righteous residents of this beautiful land the way Francis Scott Key would have wanted us to be. Instead, we (the white Americans) have humiliated, violated, run-out and murdered those that are not exactly like we are. In the following paper, three brilliant authors will be discussed. One being a woman, who, after the Revolution, returned to England where she acted, wrote many novels and married before forever being remembered for her greatest novel, Charlotte Temple. Another author being a man that went through more than we could possibly know. His father was a gentleman of diverse race, part Pequot and part white; his mother was most likely a slave, quite possibly part African American. His family was very poor, but that never let him down.

He wrote to his heart's content and today we read and love his stories and preaching's of justice and truth. Lastly, the third author is not female, Indian or a slave; he is just a wine merchants son that loved literature. His feelings toward what was happening in the world (slavery, prostitution, etc) were strong and political. Because of this, I feel he needed to be added to the brilliant writers that just didn't have a chance to live in the 'land of the free'.

The best approach to Rowson's serious and her exaggerated language is to reflect on the author's audience and her reason in writing. As Susanna Rowson saw it, she was arming young women for endurance in a risky world populated by seducers, frauds, and phony friends. The social order that forms the environment of the novel was dominated...