CommonPlace Book

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko. 1688. New York: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 9780140438885

"He told 'em, it was not for Days, Months or Years, but for Eternity; there was no End to be of their Misfortunes: They suffer'd not like Men, who might find a Glory and Fortitude in Oppression; but like Dogs, that lov'd the Whip and Bell, and fawn'd the more they were beaten: That they had lost the divine Quality of Men, and were become insensible Asses, fit only to bear: Nay, worse; an Ass, or Dog, or Horse, having done his Duty..." (Behn 76).

This quote is very powerful. It emphasizes how the enslaved were treated cruel, like animals, and often times, compared to animals in order to show how far from human they were percieved to be. The quote also highlights the production and labor of slavery was meant to last a lifetime; there was no end in sight for the enslaved.

Equiano, Olaudah, 1745-1797. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Peterborough, Ont. : Broadview Press, 2001

"They still retain most of their native customs; they bury their dead, and put victuals, pipes, and tobacco, and other things in the grave with the corpose, in the same manner as in Africa" (Equiano 172).

This is important when discussing the enslaved and their culture. Although many Masters' wanted the enslaved to convert to Westernized beliefs and Christianity, many still secretly practiced their African traditions in order for them to be apart of their life in the New World. Some of these African traditions can be found embodied within Westernized practices as well.

Swift, Jonathan, 1667-1745. Gulliver's Travels. New York: Harper, 1950.

"The women were proposed to be taxed according to their beauty and skill in dressing, wherein they had the same privilege with the men, to be determined by their own judgment. But constancy, chastity, good sense, and good nature, were not rated, because they would not bear the charge of collecting" (Swift 238).

This quote was interesting. I am trying to figure out whether Swift is saying that the women would not be taxed based on their chastity, good sense, good nature, etc. because many of these women would be exposed with high tax rates because of their rebellion against societal norms.. or is he saying that the women thought it was sexist to be charged in that way?

Wilson, Douglas L. Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book. Princeton University Press, 2016

"We must not assume for truth, what can be proved à priori, nor à posteriori, a mystery cannot be proved à priori; it would be no mystery if it could: and inspiration is become a mystery, since we all we know of it is, that is an inexplicable action of the divine on the human mind" (Wilson 25).

I think it is intersting that he includes a philosophical statement when the rest of his commonplace book discusses Christianity and his faith.

I know that à priori reasoning believes in innate thinking; meaning that we are already born with the concepts of the world and our knowledge doesn't derive from experiences. Im curious to know why he input philosophy into his commonplace book.

Rogers, Katherine M. “Sarah Kemble Knight”. The Meridian Anthology of Early American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Louisa May Alcott. (1991).

"...the most savage of all the savages of that kind that I had ever seen: little or no care taken (as I heard upon enquiry) to make them otherwise" (Knight 107).

It is not suprising that the Europeans thought the Native Americans to be "savages." The fact that they (Europeans) came from Europe and colonized America and deemed the natives of the land to be savages, when in reality European colonizers could arguably be the savages.