Week 11 Questions/Comments-327 13

1 Mary Anne Sadlier's Bessy Conway
'''Who was Sadlier? Why did she write this? What biases should we be watching out for?'''

I was shocked that Bessy’s family was more included to send their daughter than one of their sons. Was it Bessy’s ambition and willingness that resulted in her coming to America? Or, was it that the boys were required at home? – Kasey Moore

I was curious why a prostitute would recruit a woman to become a prostitute, doesn’t that mean there is more competition for her/less money to be made? –Kasey Moore

2 Jannicke Saehle, 1847, Norwegian immigrant’s letters
Everything in this letter is so happy that the sincerity of the account should be questioned. Because she was writing relatives that were so far away, she might have wanted to make sure they were not worrying about her too much. Also I found it interesting that her immigrant experience was so different than one of an immigrant that lived in a city. -Amy Wallace

Was it common for women, such as Jannicke, to come to America as servants with a family? -Suzannah C.

Were immigrant women more likely to have a more positive experience out west than in the city? Is this account an exception to the common account of a single immigrant woman in a rural area? - Jess Hopkins

When I first read Saehle’s account of her immigration to America, I also thought that it seemed overly happy and that for the most part she had an easy time transitioning to life in America. However, after I began to think about it, she really isn’t overly happy, just happy because she believes this is what God intended for her. She also mentions that other women and immigrants have problems, she just seems to have been able to avoid them. And because of the large amount of immigrants that came into the country, some of them had to have a positive experience and outlook, otherwise people would not have continued to come to the United States. Not all of the experiences had to be bad. - Morgan H.

I enjoyed this read because it discussed Norwegian immigrants. Last semester, I took, "The American Immigration Experience" and as much as I loved the class, we never discussed the role of Norwegian Immigrants. After reading this, I have found that they played a significant role.- Melanie Houston

3 Bills of Sale of Chinese Prostitutes, 1875-76
I never realized that someone could purchase a prostitute for years. In these accounts we read the term for a prostitution's service were roughly four years. Was that the norm for the Chinese society? I also found it surprising that if the woman got sick for a certain amount of days that she would have to make up those days. It seems like a full-time job rather that a service in these situations. This is like Pretty Woman to the max! -Courtney Collier

How many of these women were truly aware of the nature of the contract they were signing? The conditions that were contained within it were quite harsh, with their sentence as a prostitute growing longer for things that were not under their control. Another unfortunate element was that a number of contracts made it so that if any of these women ran away, they were basically enslaved to their masters as punishment. -Kearsten Lehman

I also question whether these women knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed the contract? Obviously they quickly found what they had gotten into. Was this a normal life for these women or did they think that this is what happened for all women when they came to America? – Katie Way

To me it seems as though because slavery was outlawed and men had had no more direct access to women who didnt really have much of a choice, this was the next best thing they could come up with. The chinese women were new to the country and didnt really know what they were doing in terms of having a job and this was the easiest way for them to make a somewhat stable life in unstable living conditions.--Charlotte O.

4 Xin Jin's Contract, San Francisco, 1886
This system of indentured prostitution seems like it would give very little opportunity after the indentured period was over. They were receiving no wages during this time and it was likely hard for immigrant women to find jobs after finishing. This may have resulted in many women remaining in prostitution after their service was over. -Amy Wallace

Chinese prostitution was the lowest rung of prostitution in the West during the Gold Rush. They were paid the least for their work and their passage to the Americas was long and grueling. There is not much information about Xin Jin, but what we can guess about her life is that is was very hard. -Mae D'Amico

Is it known whether the majority of these women were actually released from their contracts of indenture? And if they were, I think it would have been difficult for them to live since I'm sure Chinese women were not considered hirable. -Suzannah C.

In Xin Jin's contract, it says that if she becomes pregnant, she must work another year. Were there high abortion rates among Chinese immigrant women working as prostitutes during this time? If so, did it have to be done in secret, or was this practice accepted? -Katherine Miller

So she has a prostitution contract and in the contract it mentions that if she has the four loathsome diseases then she shall be returned; connecting this to the 'Major Problems" readings titled "Bills of Sale of Chines Prostitutes. . ." they mention four diseases as leprosy, epilepsy, conception, and "stone woman". I'm wondering if these are the same diseases as mentioned in Early American Women? --Tanner Carlton

5 Susan Shelby Magoffin in Santa Fe, 1846
I found this reading to be very interesting. I thought it was interesting when she talked about the Mexican lady that always came to talk to her. At first she says that she had no idea what the lady was saying but by the end of the reading she writes seems to understand what the lady was saying. Also, by the end she uses Spanish in her writing to describe what she was talking about. Being put into an area where you do not know the language but being forced to communicate is the best way to learn. –Katie Way

As a native Spanish speaker, I found it interesting that she translated all the words that she used in Spanish but failed to translate the phrase "mi alma". Mi alma means my soul, usually used as a term of endearment towards another. She also mentions her husband, I'm just curious as to if she was talking about her husband or if she was talking about another love. She is an 18 year old, so I wouldn't be surprised if she fell in love with someone else. - Sandra Sanchez

6 Citizen protest of rape of Indian women in California, 1862
I found it interesting that someone reported this incident and called for the perpetrators of the rapes to have their statuses in the U.S army taken away. Although the article claimed that it was an affront to American standards to have rapists in the army more than it was about defending Native American women from rape, that was one outcome of the article. -Kearsten Lehman

The reporter of the rape tried to appeal to the chivalry of the United States army, which probably did not do the squaws any good. Funny how accounts like this never seem to worm their way into the broader American Narrative. -Mae D'Amico

The report of the rape had huge connotations within the garrison troops there. Rape was a capital offense within the Federal army during this period, and if the soldiers were identified, they could face a courts-martial and death. The newspaper is calling upon the Army to follow its own rules and seek justice against the perpetrators. -Ryan Quint

Furthermore, it is worth noting when the protest was published in the local newspaper; October, 1862. While this occurs in California, the residents there could have known what was happening in other parts of the country with other Native Americans; in Minnesota a Sioux uprising had been ongoing since August and had already killed hundreds of civilians. Was it possible that the Californians were worried of an uprising by the Native Americans in retaliation of the rapes? -Ryan Quint

Going off of Ryan's thoughts, is it possible that the army or even just these soldiers were trying to subdue the Native Americans by raping their women? - Jess Hopkins

Even though it is a capital offense in the US Army to commit rape, i wonder if rape was treated the same way as it is today, she probably deserved it, because of the amount of prostitutes in the area were all women seen as the same?--Charlotte O.

I know we talked about the difference in how people saw the sexuality of white women and of black women. Reading this piece, I wonder if these military men thought the same way about Indian women as they did with Black women. At this time what are the perspectives of sexuality of women of other ethnic minorities? - Sandra Sanchez

It is interesting that it was not until 1862 that the public responded to the issue of men raping Native American women. Why did this occur in California and not in any of the eastern states?- Melanie Houston.

9 Violet Cragg requests an Army Pension, 1908
I found it interesting how much Violet Cragg traveled during her lifetime. However, it is understandable considering the lack of variety/availability in the jobs that she would have been offered during this time due to her race and gender. In addition, Ms. Cragg mentions that her daughter was fathered by a white man, which is yet another example of interracial sex between white men and African-American women. -Katherine Miller

10 New York Prostitutes by William Sanger, 1858
I was really interested in Sanger's study and was surprised by his findings. I think in many cases people can often associate prostitution with poverty or a desperate need for financial stability. In this study however, Sanger finds that one of the top reasons for New York prostitution was "Inclination" or pleasure. In his sample her used 62% were immigrants and I am curious if the European culture played a role in the women's answers? I assume that immigrants were not told to be anti-sexual in their society as American women were. Or was this a way for women to fight their stereotypes. -Courtney Collier

I am skeptical of the category "inclination" in the list of reasons why women became prostitutes. Maybe "inclination" meant that the jobs available to women back then were so egregiously menial or that work was so hard to come by, that the last place to turn was prostitution. -Mae D'Amico

This study really illustrated how few options women had once the men they relied on turned them away. I was surprised by how many different reasons the women cited for turning to prostitution. -Dana Nordling

It was fascinating to read his study for it gave a unique perspective into prostitution. Plus the sympathy Sanger felt for these women was unusual for he tried to not judge them as evidenced by his study, rather judging others in society for their roles in driving women to prostitution. Unfortunately he did succumb to the patriarchal views of his time in that he viewed women as primarily asexual beings which made the top reason for prostitution in his study: Inclination being so shocking perhaps. - Kearsten Lehman

This reminded me of a book, The Murder of Helen Jewett that I read in one of Dr. Mackintosh's classes, which was about the murder of a prostitute in New York City 1830s. Like many of the women William Sanger talked to, she had apparently been seduced by a man in her hometown, which led to her ruin and a life of prostitution. It is sad to think that often times these women had nowhere to turn for support and their only option was prostitution. This was probably even more apparent for immigrant women (62% of the women he talked to were immigrants). -Suzannah C.

Dr. Sanger makes a couple of very bold claims about women, due to his studies. It's almost humorous because he sounds like he thinks he knows women pretty well. For instance: page 288 he makes the connection that prostitution is the only way for a woman to gratify their sexuality, yet in doing so she can't be virtuous. Or the best quote in my opinion on page 290, "When a woman drinks she is lost." He seems so sure of himself, and I wonder. . . Does he like drinking and having sex? --Tanner Carlton