AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Autobiographical Essay My goal here is to provide you with the narrative about my experiences as an ordinary American citizen living in the Colonial period during the eighteenth century. I am deeply convinced that the description of the events that took place in my long life will be of interest for ongoing generations of our country. My name is John, John Smith, and I was born in New Jersey in 1680. We were farmers with my wife and now we do not work since I handed our business to our son-in-law. In the end of the 17th century my parents came to Trenton from England. Of course, they hoped that the immigration would not only meet their expectations (quite great ones) but enable them to make all their dreams come true. The Europeans began to arrive at the Eastern coast of the North America in the 17th century. The region of New Jersey came under the rule of England in 1664 (Reich, 2011). However, colonial founders soon found out that their ideas concerning the creation of societies could not be realistic in the absence of the kinds of sanctions that shaped behaviour in Europe (Kupperman, 2000, p. 68-69). y mother used to narrate various stories of the families who move to USA both with and without their families. They were people of different social strata, political convictions and religious beliefs: puritans, huguenots, pilgrims, quakers and moravians. All these people who formed the base of the new colonial policy arrived to America in order to create a new society. This new society was supposed to be the community in which they would no longer be oppressed as minority, but would become the majority having full power. From that time onwards, it was these peoples point of view that decided everything. In the course of time, twenty thousand of puritans were united in colonies and they already possessed sufficient force to impose their morality on others.

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For in our country the family used to be considered one of the highest national values that the American lifestyle rest on, my parents, as well as majority of our relatives, did their best to preserve their reputation of virtuous citizens and family men. In order to achieve this goal, they subordinated all their behaviour and lifestyle to meet the expectations of our country. They worked hardly in the hope to earn enough money and never face the horrors of poverty in this new promised land that they considered America to be. When it comes to our American economy, it should be noted that it had been growing in a traditional colonial way. The metropolis sold its manufactured goods and profited by them a lot gaining immense income. As to the local colonies, their task was to supply raw materials that could serve as material for British industry. Throughout the period which began with the relocation of my parents, and until this day the main type of occupation of the colonists is still agriculture. However, the American economy, of course, is not exclusively agricultural for even in the years of my youth it became obvious that our country was rapidly and successfully developing its trade and industry. While my parents motherland, England, was on the path of capitalism, it attempted to secure its influence here. The lord-owners who settled here used to exploit the labour of black and white servants as well as slaves. Our family, like many other families with average income, coexisted with the lord-owners on the banks of our New World. When I reached sixteen years of age, my parents were considered to be free farmers of middle and solid fortune. In spite of the fact that I was an only child in the family, I was accustomed to physical labour from the early age. Besides, my upbringing was distinguished by severity and asceticism. Since there was a demographic imbalance in the society and the number of men significantly exceeded that of women, my parents advised me to find a hard-working and

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virtuous wife as soon as possible. I was lucky to have chanced upon my beloved Cecilia (whose parents came to New Jersey from Italy) and married her in 1701. For, according to the laws, the husband had to play the role of his wifes guardian, after her marriage my wife was automatically deprived of all manifestations of the legal autonomy. On marrying me, Cecilia had neither right to possess property nor she could sign contracts. Moreover, it was forbidden for her even to earn money. Thus, the social position of Cecilia was determined by my own social position. However, things were different in the case of widows and women above 21 years of age who had no husband. For example, my aunt Ann, the sister of my father who arrived here with them had the right to administer her property and make contracts in accordance with the law. Initially, our house in Trenton consisted of one room. Over time, we built a loft and small utility rooms. From the early morning until midnight my wife was always busy working at home (cleaning the house, cooking, farming, gardening, etc.). In the third year of our marital life (in 1704) we had a daughter, Ellen. There was a shortage of the schools for girls and we had no other way out but to send her to another family as a servant when she was six. In that house she was taught reading and farming. Later Ellen continuously worked at home, helping his mother. Our family is religious since my parents believed in God and they accustomed me to visit church from the very childhood. However, it is well known that many people moved to America in order to get religious freedom and escape the persecution they suffered from. I remember well that my father used to praise America for not having the church like that of England. Thus, we are happy to be protestants here and not to be blamed for that. As concerns our current political situation, especially nowadays it is becoming more and more obvious that the governors and legislative assemblies are struggling. In my opinion, these conflicts serve as the reflection of the current political situation in our country.

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However, it is noteworthy that this struggle is associated with the growth of political consciousness of our citizens. Nowadays, in the middle of the eighteenth century, major changes occur in the development of the social thought. It is believed that these changes in the colonies are the result of the growth of the middle class and the formation of a national bourgeoisie. Northern leaders were not willing to compensate the Southern slaveholders for the diligence of slavery (Nash, 2001, p. 47) when time favoured. It was obvious that slavery with their equalitarian ideology conflicted with the ideas they had been spreading. Free blacks adapted to this discrimination by way of creating their organizations, particularly, black churches. I am deeply convinced that our nation should be distinguished by solid principles of freedom and equality, it must defeat slavery. I hope that such an ugly phenomenon as slavery will soon be removed from our vocabulary forever.

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References

Kupperman, K. (2000). Major Problems in American Colonial History: Documents and Essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Nash, G. (2001). Race and Revolution. Lanham, Maryland: Madison House Publishers.

Nash, G. (2010). Red, White and Black: The Peoples of Early North America. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Reich, J. (2011). Colonial America. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.