1995 Chicago Heatwave

Chicago fell victim to a five-day heat wave in July 1995, which resulted in “over 600 excess deaths, 3300 excess emergency department visits and a substantial number of intensive care unit admissions for near-fatal heat stroke.” The event proved to be the second most deadly heat wave in United States history with heat indexes reaching a record high of 52 degrees Celsius. July 13 provided the highest temperature of the stretch, reaching 41 degrees Celsius. Rather than one specific reason the heat provided so many fatalities, but rather a combination of man-made environmental changes, ethnic changes and a few other aggravating factors. Between July 12 and July 17, heat-related deaths were so drastic there was no more room in the morgues. Left with few other options, corpses were kept in refrigerated trucks in parking lots. Ambulances were in short supply as emergency lines flooded with calls regarding heat-stroke. Additionally, the event had plenty of media coverage, with death tolls emblazoned on the television screens of Chicago’s viewers. Some argue the excess coverage caused the city’s residents to claim the event was a media fabrication in attempt to gain a larger audience. To this day, there are still those who remain skeptic regarding the disaster’s severity. However, the deaths were real and were exacerbated due to man’s interaction with the land.

The main source of the high death toll is derived from changes brought on by human settlement. The city environment which had developed resulted in an urban heat island. In the case of extreme warm temperatures, an urban heat island will likely prove deadly, as the blacktop used in a city’s excessive streets and the dark roofs of apartment buildings absorb heat and keep it there more so than typical throughout the night. In temperature studies of the event, researchers found nighttime heat in urban areas to be 2.6 degrees Celsius hotter than in rural areas. Typically, there is a .3 degree difference between urban and rural temperatures. This data shows the presence of the urban heat island in Chicago and how it worsened with the heat wave. Furthermore, dew point temperatures in the city were slightly higher at night than in daytime, as the ground absorbed and maintained high levels of heat. Due to the heat’s capture in the black surfaces, temperatures continued to rise. Not only were urban areas hot, but they built up heat. Additionally, the lakefront was significantly cooler than the more inland urban sprawl due to the lake’s breezes. Besides the issues arising from the urban heat island, the city also fell victim to a temperature inversion, which occurs when temperature rises with land height. During the disaster, the air became still and mostly devoid of wind, which left the resulting air to stagnate. Not only were warm air, humidity and pollution trapped within the urban heat island, but there was also no wind to carry it away. As a result, those without air conditioning essentially baked in their homes, with indoor temperatures averaging 32 degrees Celsius at night. In the case of the Chicago heat wave, the temperature inversion caused the effects of the urban heat island to be much worse than is typical.

Certain demographics featured higher death tolls as others as well in the disaster. While the elderly, who already had health issues, showed high mortality rates, particular races also suffered losses. In 1995, many of Chicago’s African-Americans were living in poverty so they stayed in public housing developments, such as Cabrini Green. The projects provided sub-standard housing and often had no air conditioning, which was a vital component to surviving the heat. Further worsening the situation were high levels of crime and gang activity in these areas. While opening a window may have assisted some in letting hot air move out of their homes, it could also attract a burglar or murderer. Rather than be victim to such an attack, everyone kept their windows shut and locked. Indeed, the areas with the highest death rates were between 94 and 99 percent African-American. As the CDC socially-examined the heat wave’s victims, they found higher vulnerability in those who “did not leave home daily, had a medical problem, were confined to bed, lived alone, or lacked air conditioning, access to transportation, and social contacts nearby.” In the case of those living in the Chicago slums, poverty left them with no air conditioning or transportation and the crime-rate left them scared of their neighbors. Interestingly, while many Hispanics also lived in poverty, their neighborhoods featured more social cohesion. Their neighbors were more likely to check up on each other during the heat wave, so social isolation was not so much of an issue. Still, many chose to overlook the surprising mortality statistics featured in the African-American community due to the “harvesting effect.” In the case of disasters such as this one, rather than the heat wave being the cause of death, it is often considered as a force which makes death more likely for those who are already ill. Thus the hot temperatures speed up the dying process rather than cause it completely. Researchers later decided there were 692 deaths in excess of those which would normally occur and only 26 percent could be attributed to the harvesting effect. Regardless, those living in the worst conditions were most likely to die due to heat-related illnesses in the disaster.

Still, there were further reasons for the event’s severity. The city of Chicago was not prepared to handle the disaster. City officials did not even claim the event as an emergency situation until the final day. While they did provide five cooling centers, the delay in declaring an emergency situation caused them to not be fully-utilized. Many died simply because hospitals were too packed to provide assistance and sufficient ambulances were lacking. While poverty-level was an important factor in maintaining electricity, many were without power regardless, as the city took on heat-related electrical outages.

A Comparison of Eadweard Muybridge and Scott Schumann

Thirty years after photography’s birth, motion was still an undeveloped area in the field. In Eadweard Muybridge’s 1869 picture, “A Study of Clouds,” four frames depicting movement are juxtaposed to display the sky in a black and white albumen print. The photograph appears to be a bridge between the camera’s use in the scientific and artistic realms. The picture is beautiful but also could be relevant in classification of clouds, thus serving a dual purpose.

Muybridge is possibly most well-known for his studies of motion using photography. In other pictures, he documents the movement of horses and hands, thus assisting the scientific community. These photographs have proved useful in settling debates, such as whether a horse lifts all its feet off the ground while it gallops. Another set of his pictures depict a cat being dropped upside-down and landing on its feet right side up, so scientists could study the motion. The set used for “A Study of Clouds” could easily serve a similar purpose. Previously, a scientist would have to draw out clouds to study them, which is likely to be fairly inaccurate. A photograph is much more precise than a drawing. Also, a photograph captures a moment in time. Previously moments were only captured in one’s memory, which is not as strong as a picture. Through the use of photography in science, the picture can be created and further examined at a later point in time, allowing scientists to be more accurate in this sense. Also, because a photograph can be taken quicker than a drawing can be created, Muybridge is able to take rapid shots, rather than having to spend minutes or hours sketching. In this manner, these photographs are especially relevant in classification.

While “A Study of Clouds” is in the same vain as his other photography, it also has features which give it artistic merit. The picture gives the effect of laying in a pile of grass and staring up at a cloudy sky. The black and white format and the haziness of the photograph cause the images to appear a bit dreamy. This relaxing effect is furthered by the imagery itself. In each of the four images one can see different shapes which can be interpreted to be different items, as is common practice in sky-gazing. In this manner, the photograph takes one back to the comfort of childhood, as sky-gazing is often done by children who have plenty of free-time, as opposed to adults who are bogged down by full-time jobs and families for which they must care. Adding to this effect is the final cloud of the lower right-hand side, which resembles a body of water. The “water” is also a calming throwback to youth, in that it reminds one of the womb. Thus, the picture overall has a very relaxing mood. In this manner, Muybridge creates photographic art which has a similar effect to the work of painter Mark Rothko, whose color-blocks are designed to give the viewer an emotion via their primitive nature. The effect of “A Study of Clouds” is similar to several of Rothko’s paintings which cause the viewer to feel calm. If Muybridge is able to use photography to the same effect as a painter, the argument that photography is an art-form is given further evidence. Clearly, this photograph can be viewed as art, even if its original purpose was for the science world.

Over 130 years after Muybridge’s image was created comes the work of Scott Schuman, an American fashion photographer who primarily does commercial work, but has also been featured in several Conde Nast publications. He is most well-known for his ongoing street photography project, which he maintains in the form of a blog located at thesartorialist.com. The photographs displayed on the site, which has also spun off into a book deal, feature mostly strangers he encounters along the streets of Europe and New York whom he finds to be visually-inspiring.

The subject of “Bill Cunningham, NYC” is, not surprisingly, Bill Cunningham. He is a fellow street fashion photographer, with a much more prolific career than Schuman’s as he has been working in the field much longer, primarily through his work with the New York Times. The photograph is dated September 10, 2008, which would place it in the middle of New York Fashion Week. In the image, the weather is clearly rainy and Cunningham is shown draped in a black garbage bag while attempting to photograph passer-bys. On his blog, Schuman simply states, “The man just goes and goes and goes.” One might guess that Cunningham is someone for whom Schuman has much respect.

A repeating subject of Schuman’s work is accidental fashion. Often, he finds the most well-assembled outfits on the homeless or elderly, who are not concerned about fashion in the slightest and probably could not name a single designer. The photograph of Cunningham is no exception to this theme. The wearing of the garbage bag does not appear “trashy” in the slightest. The manner in which he has it draped around his shoulders causes it to resemble some sort of patent leather or vinyl black poncho. The subject does not appear to be wearing a trash bag at first glance. Through this image, Schuman is showing how something practical and last-minute can actually look good.

This image is also a good representation of Schuman’s photography style on the whole. He literally tends to shoot color photographs on the street or sidewalk, typically in some sort of visually-appealing neighborhood. However, as far as subjects go, he shows no discrimination for age, sex or ethnicity. Schuman’s subjects only need be interesting in appearance. Typically, they are either stopped and asked to be photographed or just snapped on the go, as in this one. Also, his subjects always appear very crisp and in color, always shown from head to toe. One can easily pick apart the details of the person’s ensemble. Sometimes, in addition to showing the entire body, Schuman will accompany the image with a detail shot of something of particular interest. Meanwhile, the background is clearly visible but slightly out of focus. Schuman’s style of photography is easily recognized in comparison to other street fashion photographers due to its great clarity.

Many of the differences between Schuman and Muybridge’s work are glaringly obvious, given the passing of well over a hundred years between photographs. Schuman’s image is in color and taken with a digital camera. The picture is a portrait and he is able to focus in on his subject with great clarity. In some ways, what Schuman is doing seems childish. While he is not the first to pay homage to an idol, the image really appears to be more like a pin-up for the avid photographer’s equivalent of Teen Beat magazine. Meanwhile, Muybridge’s clouds are shown in a black and white albumen print. The closest one could classify the image as is probably nature photography. The picture lacks the clarity of Schuman’s as Muybridge did not have the same technology available to him. Also, rather than a single image, Muybridge has strung together four of them. In comparison to Schuman, his picture is more mature. The purpose of the photograph is not idolatry, but scientific. Muybridge is trying to use the fledgling art of photography to further the field of science, while Schuman is working towards entertaining an audience and himself. Also, while Schuman’s image is fairly straight-forward, Muybridge’s clouds are much more abstract.

However, the two photographs are not without similarities. Both are a form of documentation. Muybridge is documenting cloud formations to pass on to scientists and Schuman is documenting an encounter with his colleague to share with his audience. Both are debatable in their artistic merit. Schuman’s photograph is not necessarily appealing to the eye and does not contribute to his field of street fashion photography. While Muybridge’s images are visually-stimulating, he is unlikely to have created them towards that purpose. He explicitly states an intent to assist science through the new photographic technology which allows him to capture motion. Also, in their separate ways, the two images are examples of what these photographers normally create. Muybridge photograhed motion and, as per usual, these photographs show the motion of clouds. Meanwhile, Schuman does full length portraits of people who stand out to him on the streets and this image is no exception.

A Comparison of Richard Avedon and Nan Goldin

Richard Avedon was a Russian-Jewish photographer who worked primarily between 1946 and 2004, when he died of a cerebral haemorrhage in San Antonio, Texas. He began his career as the merchant marine in charge of taking the portraits for crewmen’s identification cards. He only kept the job for a few years before moving onto work as an advertising photographer at a department store. After a very short time, the artistic director of Harper’s Bazaar discovered him and by 1946 he was the magazine’s head photographer. Avedon was interested in fashion photography from a young age. Growing up, he read his parents’ subscriptions to Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar. He plastered his bedroom walls with his favorite photographs, particularly those of Hungarian photographer, Martin Munkacsi. However, attempts by Life Magazine to commission photojournalistic images from Avedon resulted in the photographer’s realization that he felt morally obligated not to take pictures of subjects without their knowledge or consent, as that type of photography demands. Furthermore, he did not want a magazine to muck up his pictures with some sort of layout which would take away from the mood he wished for his images to convey. The photographer continued to work in fashion photography throughout his life, receiving several retrospectives starting in 1962. Between 1980 and 1985, he began his famous series, “In the American West,” which documented the people who lived in the Texas countryside (Avedon 10-28).

The photographs Avedon did fall into two categories. Initially, his work captured the essence of city life and high society. His images typically either use New York or Paris as a background. “Homage to Munkacsi” shows a model holding a black umbrella and displaying a Pierre Cardin coat leaping off a Paris sidewalk while crossing the street. Also, Avedon primarily works with models or non-mainstream celebrities, such as Truman Capote, Dorian Leigh and Marian Anderson. His photograph, “Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent,” in which the title model is wrapped in a snake who is hissing into her ear, has become an iconic poster. Both New York City and high society come together in his group image, “Andy Warhol and Members of the Factory.” The image does not show the Factory itself, but rather, the people of the Factory interacting. The lack of backdrop suggests that the Factory is actually made such by the people who work there rather than the space itself. Forty years into his career, Avedon took a different approach to his photography through his series, “In the American West.” The series shows the people of rural Texas taken out of their natural habitat and depicted against a plain, white backdrop. Besides being visually-striking due to the black and white contrast of the photographs, many appear to have an intensity in the images which likely dissipates in their normal environments which lends to the idea that the camera deceives the eye.

Nan Goldin lived a very different life from Richard Avedon. Growing up in 1960s east coast suburbia, she used photography to display the dysfunction which was mostly kept hush at the time. When she was eleven, her teenage sister committed suicide. A week later, Goldin was seduced by an older man, who awakened her to the concept of sexuality, which became a theme throughout her life. The high school she attended used a new age form of education in which there were no classes, which only gave her more free time in which to explore sexuality. She began to photograph for her school when she turned eighteen as she became more social and began drinking more. The images she produced were a way for her to keep her memories as a sort of diary. After high school, Goldin left her home to live amongst friends, creating a new family among them which relied heavily on sexual bonds. Goldin continued her photography in fear that she might have her history as seen through her eyes in the event that one of these new “family members” ever left her in the manner which her sister did. In 1986, she published her book, “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” which displays a small portion of the photographs she kept (Goldin 6-9).

Goldin’s photographs tell a story involving themes of human interaction and American taboos. Typically her images are shown not singularly, but in correlating groups in order to give some sort of history. For example, “Susan in the Shower” is shown alongside “Kaethe in the Tub” and “Ryan in the Tub.” While Goldin is in many of the photographs, most of them show the people she surrounds herself with, which lends to the idea that a person is composed of their interactions with others. Even though the pictures are not of her, they still tell her life story, as she took them as she went about her daily life. Furthermore, a lot of her images are of two people rather than one, showing how humans in her life interact with each other. However, this interaction nearly always goes against the norm or displays that which American society attempts to hide. For example, Goldin seems to have no problem showing a group of men congregating in a bathroom while one urinates in her photograph, “Boys Pissing.” She shows child sexuality in the image, “Antonia,” which shows a young girl laying on her back in a dress with her legs spread. While this is a normal activity for a girl her age, it is not one which is openly discussed.

One obvious difference between the two photographers’ images is that Avedon almost always shoots in black and white while Goldin shoots in color. However, this says a lot about their opposing styles. Goldin is trying to capture a moment in her life with as much clarity as she can manage so she can hold onto a memory. Color helps facilitate the process of remembering. Meanwhile, Avedon’s photographs are more concerned with style than content. Although his images have clear themes, his real talent shows through his use of proportion, contrast and line. One of his most famous images, “Dovima with Elephants” utilizes the black and white palette. The whites and blacks of her dress appear crisper in the single palette. The elephants in the backdrop use their trunks to pose similarly to the model’s use of her arm, which creates a strong wavy line. While many of Avedon’s images appear to be improvisational, they are almost always posed, as he discovered his aversion to voyeuristic photography early in his career. Meanwhile, Goldin is very explicit in her desire to allow others to peer into her life through her photograph sets. She has no issue showing the intimate details of her life, such as her boyfriend’s post-intercourse cigarette.

In some manners, the two photographers find common ground. Both of them use photography for documentation and social commentary, but they do so in their own styles. Although he is not documenting his subjects in their typical environments, Avedon’s “In the American West” series does successfully depict the people of the Texas countryside. The use of a white background serves to make certain the viewer’s eye is focused on the subject, rather than the subject’s surroundings. However, one only sees part of the picture as they do not see any other details of the subject’s life. The series proves to be a sharp commentary on what is normal of Americans. The subjects are flawed and intense, rather than attractive and relaxed. Meanwhile, Goldin not only shows a lot of content in her photograph’s in relation to her subject, but she almost writes a biography for some of them by using pictures. One of her most famous sets involve Cookie, who many people feel they can relate to through Goldin’s sets of her. Also, her work provides commentary on a number of subjects, including sexuality, AIDS, human interactions, the nature of family, abuse and drug-use.

Works Cited

Avedon, Richard, Michael Juul. Holm, and Helle Crenzien. Richard Avedon Photographs, 1946-2004. Humlebæk, Denmark: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2007. Print.

Goldin, Nan, Marvin Heiferman, Mark Holborn, and Suzanne Fletcher. The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. New York, N.Y.: Aperture Foundation, 1986. Print.

“A Study of Clouds” by Eadweard Muybridge

Thirty years after photography’s birth, motion was still an undeveloped area in the field. In Eadweard Muybridge’s 1869 picture, “A Study of Clouds,” four frames depicting movement are juxtaposed to display the sky in a black and white albumen print. The photograph appears to be a bridge between the camera’s use in the scientific and artistic realms. The picture is beautiful but also could be relevant in classification of clouds, thus serving a dual purpose.

Muybridge is possibly most well-known for his studies of motion using photography. In other pictures, he documents the movement of horses and hands, thus assisting the scientific community. These photographs have proved useful in settling debates, such as whether a horse lifts all its feet off the ground while it gallops. Another set of his pictures depict a cat being dropped upside-down and landing on its feet right side up, so scientists could study the motion. The set used for “A Study of Clouds” could easily serve a similar purpose. Previously, a scientist would have to draw out clouds to study them, which is likely to be fairly inaccurate. A photograph is much more precise than a drawing. Also, a photograph captures a moment in time. Previously moments were only captured in one’s memory, which is not as strong as a picture. Through the use of photography in science, the picture can be created and further examined at a later point in time, allowing scientists to be more accurate in this sense. Also, because a photograph can be taken quicker than a drawing can be created, Muybridge is able to take rapid shots, rather than having to spend minutes or hours sketching. In this manner, these photographs are especially relevant in classification.

While “A Study of Clouds” is in the same vain as his other photography, it also has features which give it artistic merit. The picture gives the effect of laying in a pile of grass and staring up at a cloudy sky. The black and white format and the haziness of the photograph cause the images to appear a bit dreamy. This relaxing effect is furthered by the imagery itself. In each of the four images one can see different shapes which can be interpreted to be different items, as is common practice in sky-gazing. In this manner, the photograph takes one back to the comfort of childhood, as sky-gazing is often done by children who have plenty of free-time, as opposed to adults who are bogged down by full-time jobs and families for which they must care. Adding to this effect is the final cloud of the lower right-hand side, which resembles a body of water. The “water” is also a calming throwback to youth, in that it reminds one of the womb. Thus, the picture overall has a very relaxing mood. In this manner, Muybridge creates photographic art which has a similar effect to the work of painter Mark Rothko, whose color-blocks are designed to give the viewer an emotion via their primitive nature. The effect of “A Study of Clouds” is similar to several of Rothko’s paintings which cause the viewer to feel calm. If Muybridge is able to use photography to the same effect as a painter, the argument that photography is an art-form is given further evidence. Clearly, this photograph can be viewed as art, even if its original purpose was for the science world.

“A Study of Clouds” by Eadweard Muybridge shows the artistic beauty within science. Not only is this photograph helpful within the scientific community through its study of motion, but it is also pleasing to the eye, giving it artistic credit. The calming tone is a far cry from the staleness of a laboratory full of beakers, bringing art into the scientific sphere.

The American Tintype: A Book Review

The tintype, also known as ferrotype or melainotype, was one of the first available photographic methods and particularly faired well in America during the Civil War. Despite its name, very slim pieces of sensitized iron, rather than tin, were used to take a positive print. In Floyd Rinhart, Marion Rinhart and Robert W Wagner’s The American Tintype, the technology’s history is explored in two parts. The book’s first half concerns the history of the actual tintype process, while the second half examines tintype photographs for cultural clues into the lives of Americans during the second half of the nineteenth century. Besides the text itself, the book features plenty of examples of tintype, many of which are printed there for the first time.

The images in the book serve both artistic and historical value, making the collections featured in the second portion of the text particularly interesting. Through section’s focused on the men’s sphere versus the women’s sphere, important life events and vacations, one can gain a better understanding of the era’s culture than that which is found through only reading a text. Since the process was cheaper than its predecessors, it also captures moments in lives of a broader group of people in very nice detail. Additionally, a section concerning fakes and forgeries using tintype reveals an interest in both the supernatural, through fake images of spirits, and heroes, through fake photographs of political figures. Meanwhile, explanations of the tintype processes allow for a greater appreciation of the technical history and display the process’ inferiority to modern film development methods. Not only does the book cover that portion of photographic history, but the photographs it displays also serve as an excellent resource to those interested in the period’s general history in America.

Rinhart, Floyd, Marion Rinhart and Robert W Wagner. The American Tintype. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press. 1999.

Antebellum Prostitution

EXPLORING AMERICAN ANTEBELLUM PROSTITUTION THROUGH TWO ACCOUNTS

Prostitution was a major subject of concern for reformers of the first half of the nineteenth century. Through analysis of an account in which Lucy Brewer was pulled into the job and an analysis of the murder of a prostitute, Ellen Jewett, in New York, one can see similarities between the girls’ motives, which are reinforced through previous studies of the occupation in that period. Interestingly, one can find parallels between the motives of nineteenth and 21st century prostitutes. Through the study of these writings, one can also describe the lives of many working class women of this era. These women were not extreme cases or even rare ones. Prostitution was a reality of the nineteenth century for unfortunate young women.

Before dissecting the women’s stories, one should note how the occupation shared by these women entirely violates the “Cult of Domesticity” which was a prevalent belief in how women should behave during that period. In order to obey these principles, a women must be pious, pure, submissive and, obviously, domestic. Since prostitution is viewed as a sin, these women violate the virtue of piety. As the profession causes them to lose their virginity, they are also then viewed as impure. By using their bodies to gain financial independence, prostitutes also are not acting in a submissive manner. Lastly, women like Jewett and Brewer were not very domestic, since they worked in the bedroom rather than the kitchen. Essentially, antebellum prostitutes acted in a manner which was entirely the opposite of what was expected of them.

Lucy Brewer’s story is moralistic, while Ellen Jewett’s is sensationalistic. Brewer’s story is constantly focused on her high morals, but, due to her naivety, she is constantly being tricked by evil-doers. Her story seems like an attempt at redemption. She clearly feels guilty and wants to clear her name. Meanwhile, Jewett’s story reads like a tabloid. The writers are painting tales of sex and murder. Not only does the news writing follow the “if it bleeds, it leads” strategy, but it paints Jewett as a goddess. Much detail is examined in regards to how exotic the brothel was and the extraordinary charm and beauty of Jewett. Not only does this aspect build up Jewett into some larger than life figure, but the whole story is written out like a murder mystery or even an episode of one of those crime dramas. Chances are, in a society where morals are as high as Brewer describes, one could not simply go to the store to purchase smut. Instead, one relied on the newspaper to hear erotic stories which occurred in the neighborhood. No doubt people were interested in these tales and, through sensationalism, the reporters were able to boost their own sales.

Despite their shady backgrounds, both of these women are intelligent, which breaks down the stereotype of the illiterate prostitute. Lucy Brewer obviously must have learned to read and write somewhere as she penned her own tale. Also, the excerpt provided appears to be only two pages from a larger book on her general adventures, which leads one to believe she had enough education to be a published author. Ellen Jewett’s education is blatantly described. She actually attended a boarding school, where she demonstrated high intellect. Despite claims she went wild over a summer, the text suggests she does not lose her interest in reading or writing as a result of the change. Her bedroom doubles as the crime scene, which provides plenty of evidence to support this. The reporter describes her desk as littered with pens, ink and papers. She was clearly able to write. Her ability to read is evidenced as she kept several books on her shelves, primarily those of a handful of authors from the romantic literary period. Lord Byron is the prominent author within her collection. Interestingly, like a modern teenage girl might do with a picture of Robert Patterson torn from the pages of a teeny-bopper magazine, Jewett has Lord Byron’s portrait hanging on her wall. Not only was she educated, but she was a lover of literature, especially the authors of the romantic period. Unlike the common portrait of the illiterate sex worker, these women were definitely intelligent.

Beliefs regarding women’s virginity are also demonstrated through the two stories. Brewer feels shamed following her marriage to a man who simply wished to deflower and abandon her. Rather than taking on the victim’s role, she blames herself. Without her virginity she feels worthless to a man. She describes herself as lost of that which is most important to a women’s honor. She feels lowered to a level where she must run away from home to another city, where she can start anew. She wants to move somewhere where no one has knowledge of this improper marriage in order to live without disgrace. The reporter describes Ellen Jewett in a similar light. After spending the summer with a man to whom she is not married, she, just like Brewer, is said to be lacking the substance which composes an honorable woman. However, Jewett did not write her own account, which leaves the reader ignorant as to whether, like Brewer, she also feels guilt regarding her situation. Readers of Jewett’s story do not know how she felt about no longer being a virgin, but rather, a reporter’s opinion on the subject. The news writer seems to champion her desire to please men and seduce, which leads the reader to believe Jewett was some Jezebel who was overjoyed to no longer be a virgin. She is described as finding her greatest happiness through the seduction of unwilling men. Still, one cannot be positive she felt this way. Jewett’s desk is littered with documents she wrote. If made available, one might be able to fill in the blank on an area which will remain a mystery. Still, regardless of whether or not she penned the text, the public’s opinion is evident. Virginity is an honorable trait, which she does not possess. From these two pieces, one can at least gather that purity until marriage is a valued quality of a women in antebellum America.

Both pieces contain copious inconsistencies. Brewer’s emphasis is placed on how horrible the prostitutes were who entrapped her. However, she does not provide much detail regarding the methods used to keep her, besides generally trickery. If she was able to fool her captors so easily by just dressing in men’s clothing, then why did it take three years for her to escape? The supporting evidence regarding her confinement leads one to believe she may not have been forced to stay by any physical means. Further proof lies in the comforts used to lure her into the lifestyle. If she were being held captive, persuasion is unnecessary. If she were truly being kidnapped, these predators would have captured her and leave her locked in a room without much more effort. Furthermore, the text provides no confirmation of measures taken to restrain her. The work’s nature itself provides further confusion. Brewer must have submitted to the men whom she served. Men do not resort to prostitution in order to perform acts of rape. Prostitution is a paid service. If rape were involved, a man might as well save his money and do so for free. While rape is debatably morally-worse than prostitution, neither are legal regardless. If Brewer were as morally-compelled as she claims to be, she would take physical measures to ward off her customers. Curiously, Brewer does not alert the authorities to the brothel’s illegal activity after her escape. In order to put together a police report, she would have to drag her name through the dirt with tales of her impure actions. One may argue she does so because she does not want to paint herself as an immoral person, but this is negated as she published on the subject, telling even more people what occurred. If she was able to write and publish her story, then she might as well have told the police. The public was bound to find out regardless. Notably, Brewer appears to hold back information which incriminates her, unless it can be amounted to naivety. She saves her self-image by demonstrating how she persevered over the other women, but even that is arguable. Her story appears sketchy, but also makes her appear selfish. If the motherly figure who lured her into the home was so evil, then it is likely Brewer was not the only girl entrapped there. If she involved the police, she would at least be giving other entrapped women within that household an opportunity to gain their own freedom. Brewer further ruins her case through her claim of leaving because she was tired of the business. This suggests she enjoyed the service she provided for at least some time during the course of her three year tenure. Brewer’s account is an example of the issues regarding subjectivity in primary sources.

Meanwhile the details of Ellen Jewett’s murder are at times illogical as well. The reporter provides evidence suggesting Richard P. Robinson was her killer, but he does not appear to be the likely suspect because he lacks a motive. While they did find some of his belongings at the brothel, such as the hatchet, they could have been easily planted. Also, he was also nineteen years old. Although Jewett is portrayed as a gem, she is also described as being of a lower social stratum. At his age, he is likely to marry within the next few years and his wife would be someone in a higher caste than Jewett. Suggestions he killed out of jealousy and sexual desire are equally unsound. Since he is young, his sexual career has only begun. He is likely to marry and have intercourse much more in his life. Furthermore, if he killed Jewett, he would not benefit. She is entirely sexually-useless if she is dead. While she would not be having intercourse with other men, she would not be having sex with him either. No logical case exists to suggest he killed her because he loved her but could not have her. The two existed in a time before social security numbers and excessive computer tracking. He could have taken her away somewhere and began a new life with her, rather than kill her. Clearly this is a possibility, as Brewer was able to run away from her home. The provided evidence accusing Robinson of the murder is unsound and the case should be further investigated.

Despite their inconsistencies, the two women’s stories were common in the period. As in the Brewer account, villainous figures, like the one she describes, did exist. Young, white women were so targeted that prostitution became known as the “white slave trade.”  She claims that some prostitutes were enslaved but others worked under contract. While Lucy Brewer claimed to be enslaved, she does not provide a convincing argument. Perhaps, she had signed some sort of contract but, as she grew tired of the trade, ran away in order to avoid fulfilling the rest of her obligation. Brewer may have just been adapting to the times as well. Prostitution reformers tended to cite those in the trade as “victim[s] of city life and male predators.,” which rings true with her case. Jane Addams, famous for her Chicago Hull House, blamed “female gullibility,” which would definitely fit in with Brewer’s text. Although not occurring in her specific case, sometimes these girls would be tricked by scheming men, who would take them to scandalous places and get them drunk.

In the case of Ellen Jewett, Addams provides further insight, stating that regardless of education, a woman in love with pleasure and adventure “could be easily recruited to a vicious life.” Nancy Woloch writes, “sometimes… she seemed the victim of her own low threshold of resistance to what was described, variously, as temptation, attraction and adventure.” While the reporter’s description of her interest in the exotic is just an opinion, they unwittingly provide evidence to back the idea. Her interest in Lord Byron is a primary example. His writing is entirely about “temptation, attraction and adventure.” Obviously she held in him in high regard if she kept his portrait on her bedroom wall. In the case of Brewer, perhaps she was actually attracted to the adventure aspect, as her piece is from an entire book called “The Adventures of Lucy Brewer,” which leads one to believe this was not the only wild event in her life. Had she been a victim, perhaps the title would be different to reflect her “misadventures.”

However, just as is the case with modern prostitution, most women were attracted to the money available through the profession. Antebellum America featured the rise of women in factory work, which led to a glaring display of female inequality in comparison to male treatment. Money was one of the major issues at hand. A women of the period, Maimie Pinzer, states, “I don’t propose to get up at 6:30 to be at work at 8 and work in a close stuffy room… until dark, for $6 or $7 a week. When I could… spend an afternoon with a congenial person and in the end have more than a week’s work could pay me.” Specifically, a prostitute could expect to earn about five times that of a woman’s normal income. In an 1889 survey of almost 4,000 prostitutes in the major eastern and midwestern cities, most of them had taken on the job after previous experience with factory work, which provides further support to the money theory.

Other similarities arise between modern prostitution compared with antebellum prostitution, such as family background. Many prostitutes surveyed in antebellum America cited “bad family conditions” as their motive. More specifically, these women reported histories of “broken, troubled, and estranged families, with a history of incest, alcoholism, and economic crises.” Likely, many of these girls were sent off to work in order to support their families or themselves, but found factory work to be too much effort for too little pay. Indeed, prostitution recruiters set up in front of factories in order to lure these unfortunate women to a more profitable business. These recruiters mainly preyed upon “girls who were ‘homeless, friendless, penniless,’” who “were often unable to ‘resist temptation… attractively presented.’” Brewer’s situation fits in with this idea best. She came from a good family, but, through her marital misfortune, feels she is outcast. She leaves home and needs to support herself in some manner. The motherly figure took her in and took care of her, showing her the opportunities available to her. Perhaps she saw the job as just that. Rather than entrapment, prostitution was an opportunity. Indeed, “unlikely to see herself as a passive victim, she [prostitutes] often viewed her trade as an avenue to upward mobility.”

While arguably classier than the stereotypical portrait of the modern prostitute, there still exist many similarities between them and the antebellum prostitute. However, the lives of nineteenth century prostitutes still demonstrate the challenges of all young women of the time period. Ellen Jewett and Lucy Brewer should be seen as examples rather than exceptions to the rule. Not only do they break stereotypes, such as that of the dumb sex worker, but they describe conditions for women of the industrial era in general.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Thomas Street Tragedy. New York, 1836.

West, Lucy Brewer. The Adventures of Lucy Brewer. Boston, 1815.

Woloch, Nancy. Women and the American Experience: A Concise History. Boston: McGraw Hill. 2002.

Nancy Woloch, Women and the American Experience: A Concise History [Boston: McGraw Hill, 2002], 159-160.

Christian Missionary Efforts a Thousand Years Later

A thousand years after its start, Christendom continued to expand. While, the Western Europe was generally secured by the religion, Eastern Europe was still primarily pagan and fairly tribal. The Bohemians, Wends, Pomeranians, Hungarians and Poles began forming kingdoms with rulers, similar to the transformation occurring with the Franks and Germans before them. As is the case with previous instances, Christian evangelism was used as a tool to further the reach of Western Europe.

In their missionary efforts, Christians came into a foreign territory and delicately attempted to take over the religious offices of the area. However, this domination was not always successful. In the case of the Wendish conversion, violence erupted as Christians were driven out of the area. Bohemian conversion was a smoother process, as they approached the German king directly. The Bohemians exchanged military protection from the Germans for their baptism. Through the Bohemian conversion, the Germans were able to further reach into Poland through marriage. Bohemian king, Boleslas, married off his daughter, Dobrava, to the Polish prince, Miezko. When she moved to Poland, Dobrava took many of her priests and books with her, serving an evangelical purpose as well. She proved successful, as Miezko was baptized two years later. A defined connection to Christendom arose when Otto III visited Poland, demonstrating a symbolic alliance. The eastward advance took a blow as the bishop of Prague, Adalbert, pressed on towards Prussia, where he was executed. However, the story of his martyrdom spread through Christendom, strengthening the religion. In Hungary, the king married into the Ottonian dynasty through the sister of a Bavarian king. As is typical, he converted to his wife’s religion, Christianity, and began passing Christian laws, which included instructions to plant churches all over Hungary. The Pomeranians christianized after their leader submitted to Christianity and went forth spreading religious knowledge. Still, the Wends continued to put up a fight until the twelfth century. While they successfully built a cohesive national pagan religion, it would also be their downfall. By the time of their conversion, all surrounding land was Christian, which left the Wends isolated, allowing for a successful Saxon crusade upon these people.

In a fashion similar to the first wave of conversion involving the Germanic tribes, the remaining pagan tribes were taken into Christendom. Through marriages, crusades and missionary efforts, Christianity was able to expand further through Europe. The first wave of conversion with the Germanic tribes was not the only effort necessary to take people from “paganism to Christianity.”

Rising Tide: A Book Review

The Mississippi River is a monster of a natural feature, as it stretches from Canada to the Gulf and, through the network of tributaries, reaches from Idaho to New York. In some points it exceeds one  mile in width and discharges over a quarter million gallons of water each second. While the river is quite obviously the major churning force in John M Barry’s book, Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, the author chooses to focus on the people surrounding the event. He begins with the story of those responsible for flood prevention, followed by an examination of how the flood unraveled the Delta culture and ends with a look at the media manipulation by Herbert Hoover. Through this look at the flood, Barry pieces together a narrative which does live up to its title by showing how the 1927 disaster “changed America.”

In the instance of the Mississippi flood, the main figures he starts the book with are James Eads, a civilian engineer, and Andrew Humphreys, a military engineer. The two men are pitted against each other in the book with a similar river obsession. As the author points out quite well, “one had genius; one had power.” Eads in generally portrayed as the protagonist who really just wishes to control the river. Meanwhile, Humphreys is depicted as a more interesting character. He is shown to be an unimaginable egoist, whose “pleasure was to stop him [Eads].” The two men appear to constantly change ideas of how the river should be maintained, but it appears that Eads was in favor of a series of jetties, while Humphreys wished for canals. Confusingly, they both fickly exchange stances throughout the text, although it is always made clear that the opposition is wrong. A third engineer, Charles Ellet, appears in contrast with the two men. Although he was a rival of Eads and Humphrey, they did not consider him a formidable opponent. Ellet was not as obsessed with the river as Eads or Humphreys. Working with the Mississippi was just his job. Despite his position on his work, Ellet went on to publish a celebrated report on the river, which infuriated Humphreys. However, Humphreys could not stay mad at him for too long, as Ellet died in the war. Still, by writing on Ellet, one can see exactly how intense Eads and Humphreys were in their work. While this was just a job to Ellet, the river was their life. Their work culminated in the development of Mississippi River Commission, which should have been a victory for Eads, as Humphrey turned in his resignation on the day of the bill’s passage. However, the Mississippi River Commission chose to adopt a plan which was not favored by either man. The commission opted to go with a levees-only policy, which would in turn only cause the flood to increase in severity.

As the book’s subtitle suggests, “the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.. changed America.” Particularly, the flood changed the delta culture which had formed in the South. Prior to the flood, the area’s people got along generally harmoniously. Racism was not a major issue as there was an uneasy, yet operative, coexistence between blacks and whites. Barry presents a very favorable viewpoint of sharecroppers in relation to land owners, which is atypical of Southern history. Black labor was supported in this area as a manner of promoting the color-line. Blacks would have to take on manual labor and whites could profit from it. Additionally, the sharecroppers would be underpaid and were forced into only shopping at stores owned by the companies for which they were working. The system was especially favorable for white landowners and black sharecroppers were grateful for it as this treatment, despite its obvious racism, was preferential to any other area in the South. Specifically, Barry examines Greenville, Mississippi, which was governed by Senator LeRoy Percy, a planter who, prior to the flood, was considered a progressive and model citizen. He originally worked against racism through efforts to halt the Ku Klux Klan. The flood flushed away Percy’s paternalistic attitude towards the black citizens, replaced with a more abusive front. Not only were blacks forced into slavery by being used to fill sandbags at the levees, but they were even used as sandbags as the situation became more desperate. The National Guard moved in and resorted to whipping the blacks while the black women were raped. Meanwhile, the whites hoarded the Red Cross rations, leaving the race not only exhausted but also starved. Barry tells of how the whites would not allow the blacks to eat the canned peaches, specifically, because they did not want to “spoil them” or leave them to develop expensive habits. Post-flood, William Walker Percy wished to just ship the blacks out of the area, but then there would have been no one left to work the plantations. Instead of allowing them to leave the delta, blacks were then forced to stay, although they were stranded and starved. Essentially, a very racially-progressive family developed into brutal racists due to the flood. As a result, once they regained mobility, the blacks fled the area, migrating to St. Louis or Chicago.

Whereas most biographers are sympathetic to Herbert Hoover, Barry sees him as a master manipulator, who was both brilliance and opinionated. Being quite the opportunist, Hoover took the flood as a ticket to saving his failing presidential aspirations. Since he was especially interested in the use of media portrayal in order to gain the presidency, he wrote letters to any newspapers which chose to criticize him. In taking on the task of flood relief organization, he often lied to protect his own ego. Specifically, he lied in regards to the death count in order to make his efforts appear more successful. The book contains an account of how he manipulated black leader, Robert Moton of the Colored Advisory Commission, through false promises of a resettlement plan using mortgages. Hoover played on the ideas instilled through Booker T Washington regarding the gaining of independence and the ownership of property in order to break through to the middle class. Hoover chose to manipulate Moton  in order to guarantee the Southern conservative vote. He also insisted on getting as many volunteer workers involved in the relief efforts so as to limit governmental control, which is a display of his idealism and limited ideology. However, his ability to spin the media did work out in his benefit as he did become president. However, the most notable event of his presidency was the Great Depression. His handling of this economic disaster has marked him as a bad president, although modern historians are now claiming he was ill-prepared to handle the event. Regardless, the flood relief project foreshadows his handling of the Great Depression, through which he was forced to admit that volunteerism is not a solution and government control is necessary. Through that viewpoint, sympathy toward Hoover is shown as unjustified, as he already had a trial run at handling a national disaster, which he did not really handle and pushed others to clear up through volunteerism.

As is the case in Barry’s later title, The Great Influenza, the use of narrative told through people can make the real story confusing. While it is necessary to know what happened, the reader would benefit from at least a simple and easily-comprehended paragraph blatantly explaining, for instance, the positions of Eads and Humphreys. One might gather from the text that they often changed their minds on whether to use jetties, canals or levees. If that is the case, the book could be easier to read if it specifically said that somewhere. Essentially, Barry likes to show rather than tell, but he needs to leave that sort of writing to poets. In regards to this section, more in depth explanation of the benefits and disadvantages of the various river control methods could clarify exactly what it is these two men were fighting over so passionately. However, the section pertaining to the Eads/Humphreys feud is much worse than his tales of the Percy family or Hoover. His writing-style works much better in those stories. He needs to learn how to adapt his writing-style to take on different historical events. What works for one situation might not work for another. Also, if he did want to focus on the feuding, the book would be more interesting if he focused on Humphreys more, as he seems to be pretty much out of control in general. While he does feature this in the book, maybe he should have picked him as a central character and told the story from there, as he does with Herbert or Percy. His writing method is much more effective in those situations where he has a singular focus rather than several which he attempts to tie together. The book is quite the dense and weighty tome and is acceptable upper-level college reading, although it is extremely dry where Barry has flopped as a writer. The subject is much more relevant in this instance than is the book itself. As this is one of the few books on this subject in print, the book is an important read for a student in environmental history. Hopefully, a more competent writer than Barry will tackle the river in the future so readers can more easily navigate the flood’s history.

The Great Influenza: A Book Review

Some may find it grasping that, nearly ninety years ago, most of the world was overtaken by, what John M. Barry repeatedly refers to as “just influenza.” In his book, The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, he provides a detailed background of the pandemic’s “heroes” and “villains,” an explanation of the difficulties in finding a cure due to lack of scientific knowledge and a vivid description of the terror brought on by the disease. Not only does the text provide a history lesson, but it also serves as a warning. Barry intends for his reader to learn from this history in order to better prepare in the event of the disease’s return, which, he clearly states, will eventually occur. He uses strong and dramatic language to convey the harshness of a disease which, in a very short time, killed more people than any other plague.

Barry focuses, primarily, on the people involved in the influenza outbreak. His heroes are not warriors or leaders, but, instead, those scientists who contributed most to medical history in the search for a cause and a cure. Interestingly, Barry initially focuses the reader’s attention on William Henry Welch, which leads one to believe he will be the scientist to solve the case. However, Welch, during his investigation, contracts the virus and is out of service for nearly the entire pandemic. Still, his story is interesting, as it demonstrates how a person with extreme knowledge of the disease was able to take measures in order to his prevent death. Luckily, Barry’s book features an entire cast of scientists to make up for his absence. Oswald Avery is requested by Welch to find the cause of influenza. William Park and Anna Wessel Williams worked towards a vaccine to combat the disease. Paul Lewis, one of the initial scientists to become involved in the investigation, provided his expertise in both of these areas. Barry repeatedly praises these people, providing stark contrast with most public officials whom he portrays negatively in the book. The failings of Army Surgeon General William Gorgas and the head of the US Public Health Service, Rupert Blue, are made clear in their lack of preparations for the pandemic. Additionally, Barry devotes an entire chapter to the contribution of political machines in spreading influenza through Philadelphia. He even blames Woodrow Wilson’s overzealousness in World War I for the spread of the disease. Still, his points are valid. Most of the world was preoccupied with this war in 1918. With an invisible enemy, such as influenza, the importance of preparation is likely overlooked. Gorgas had to follow orders and Blue was steeped in bureaucracy. The officials put into power by the Philadelphia political machine were appropriately qualified to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Also, Wilson had decided to keep most information confidential due to the war, including topics regarding the spread of this deadly disease. Despite this, the blame is placed in their hands. Barry argues that the scientists made clear the capabilities of the influenza but the political administration did not take the disease seriously enough.

By reading The Great Influenza, one walks away with a scientific knowledge which was not held by the scientists working towards a cure. While the fact that influenza is a virus is now widely-known, it was not even seen as a possibility in 1918. Up to that point, diseases were believed to be caused by varieties of bad air, whether through swamp gases or miasmas. While this is helpful in the preventing the contraction of diseases present in the air or in unsanitary conditions, these theories do not assist with diseases contracted through physical contact with the ill, for example. The biggest discovery in medicine came following the acknowledgement of germ theory, which led to the creation of vaccinations. Despite arguably the largest development in medical science, bacterial pathogens were the only known cause of disease at that time. In fact, when Richard Pfeiffer was testing influenza, he was so positive of this that he hastily concluded the disease was caused by a bacteria he named “bacillus influenzae.” Barry’s text demonstrates the necessity of knowing one’s enemy in order to properly combat it. Since they believed influenza was caused by bacteria, scientists worked pointlessly toward creation of an antibiotic to combat the disease. Modern medicine recognizes that antibiotics will not work towards curing diseases brought on by viruses. The unaware scientists worked towards this cure pointlessly, resulting in wasted time and lost lives. The pandemic played out through the fall of 1918 and a protégé of Paul Lewis, Richard Shope, did not prove the disease was caused by a virus until the late 1920s. Still, the pandemic’s gravity pushed for more medicinal research, which led to this discovery, allowing people to now control outbreaks using vaccinations.

Perhaps one of the most striking characteristics of Barry’s book is the overall sense of terror he demonstrates through his storytelling. He makes certain the reader is aware of how horrific the event was. Not only did the influenza leave approximately 100 million people dead, it killed more than any other plague in history. Over the course of a few weeks in 1918, more died from the disease than have fallen victim to the Black Plague or AIDS, both of which had much longer runs. The Great Influenza contains graphic descriptions of the course of the disease, which ripped apart the lungs as one’s immune system attacked its own body. Some suffered such severe cyanosis, or bluing of the skin due to lack of oxygen, that their face turned nearly black, causing the influenza to be mistaken by some as the Black Plague. Blood was everywhere, as it spurted out of all of the body’s membranes, which include noses, ears and eyes. People were not only witnessing a disgusting disease, but they were also constantly confronted with death. Barry tells of a town in which it was customary to place crepe paper over the front door of a home in which someone has recently died. In that town, nearly every door of every home had a piece of crepe paper during the outbreak. In hospitals, doctors would leave work with one batch of people in sickbeds, only to return to their next shift to find almost all of their patients were dead and a new lot of victims were there for treatment. The overflow of sick in hospitals was so bad that medical staff laid sick people next to the beds of the dying, making the new arrivals wait for the person currently in the bed to die so they could be the next one moved onto it. Not only was there a shortage of hospital beds, but a shortage of medical staff. Many doctors and nurses were not present due to their involvement in World War I, but some who stayed home were also lost to the disease itself. One account describes a nurse who came into her shift feeling under the weather and died twelve hours later. Barry tells stories of groups of doctors and nurses who simply dropped dead within minutes of each other while on the job. Since there was a lack of trained medical staff, volunteers were asked for assistance. However, medicine had come far in just a few years. In a testimony given by a medical student volunteering at a hospital, he recounts watching a retired doctor practice bloodletting in order to rid the victim’s bodies of the disease. Not only were the hospitals understaffed and overstuffed, there was not enough space in the morgue to hold all of the deceased. In hospitals, the dead are described as stacked in hallways like corkwood. Those who died at home were left in a corner and covered with a sheet until they could be picked up. In one account, a woman begs to have her child buried in a macaroni box, rather than be taken away wrapped in a sheet, as there was a shortage of coffins at this time. Death was everywhere and Barry does not hold back with gritty descriptions of how terrible it was.

Many are likely to be quick to criticize The Great Influenza for its repetitive language and dramatics, which cause the issue to become sensationalized. However, Barry probably does not do that entirely to sell books. He wants the reader to recognize the severity of the situation in order to be better prepared than those who suffered in 1918. While his passive-aggressive repetition of the phrase “it’s only influenza” gets very annoying, he is urging his reader to take the disease seriously should it arise again. While the language is simple enough, the organization of the book leaves much to be desired. For a disease, which Barry claims to occur overnight, the reader may become confused as he writes regarding minor outbreaks happening before the major event. Once the disease does break out on the major scale, it is not made clear enough to the reader that the pandemic level has been reached. Additionally, he had tendencies to jump from events out of chronological order, which also causes him to be difficult to follow. While it is acceptable for the type of book he is writing, the lump bibliography provided at the end of the book does not provide much assistance to anyone using the book for research. Also, by not documenting his sources through footnotes, Barry loses some credibility, which is vital in writing a text which could easily be labeled as sensationalizing. However, he is successful in making his points. The book’s successes lie more with the subject matter than with John M. Barry’s writing abilities. If another author can write a better text, theirs would be more recommendable.

The Conversion of the Vikings

The Viking conversions of the eighth and ninth centuries differed greatly from the Germanic ones, which occurred a few centuries earlier. While Christianity previously was considered a political move, the Scandinavian conversion was the result of assimilation of their conquered lands. Rather than part of a greater strategy, they simply took the religion into their culture in the same manner in which they took a new possession’s customs.

While the Norse are arguably most well-known for their pillaging, the act is only a contributing factor in their conversion. The Vikings displayed intelligence in their attacks on  religious buildings, as these held great amounts of treasure.  However, “the Vikings came to trade as well as to raid” (371). The Norse did not destroy all they conquered, as is the stereotype. Through trade, these Scandinavians built communication, which assisted in their cultural absorption.  As a general rule, the Vikings tended to assimilate with the people they conquered rather than attempt to impose their own customs. Between maintaining communications with the Christians and ransacking Christian buildings, the next natural occurrence was conversion, particularly in the case of those who traveled to these taken areas.

In addition to making plenty of contact with Christianity, the Vikings were also open to accepting the Christian God alongside their pagan deities. “In Denmark and Sweden little soapstone moulds have been found for the simultaneous casting of both the cross of Christ and the hammer of Thor” (373-74). Scandinavians found their traditional paganism satisfactory, but Christianity appeared very attractive as well. Many of the miraculous tales which aided in the previous Germanic conversions were still being told. In their contact with the Christians, the Vikings found many desirable aspects in this new religion. Scandinavian religious beliefs did not fare as well among the Christians and was only exported successfully to Iceland.

While the Norse showed tendencies toward assimilation, they did impose at least one crucial change, particularly upon Ireland. Formerly a rural land, the Vikings introduced urban life through mercantilism and made use of the island’s coastal regions by establishing ports. The previous barbaric invasions did not establish these ports, but served more purpose in picking up the pieces of the recently fallen Roman Empire.

In contrast with the Germanic migrations which preceded them, the Viking takeovers of Christian lands brought the two cultures into direct contact, which resulted in an acceptance and absorption of customs. Additionally, the Norse took measures to attempt at furthering civilization, which goes against the uncivilized stereotypes they are often given.

Work Cited

Fletcher, R. A. Barbarian conversion from paganism to Christianity. Berkeley, Calif: University of California, 1999. Print.