blog # 6

1.First there was the Treaty of Guadalupe, which was the war between the United States against Mexico. The U.S. ended up taking California and New Mexico away from them, causing a lot of negative changes to occur. People had to adjust to being under new rule, and Indian women eventually had to become servants for the white’s. This is because they had pretty much lost everything they owned, such as property. There were less Indian women than before and this is because when their land was dominated, a lot of the Indian women were killed. This was a very difficult time for them because a lot of these poor people were being killed, to open up new space for the white people who were going to arrive.

“Tens of thousands of land hungry American women and men crossed the central plains to settle on the Pacific Coast” (page 203). The Indian women were not the only ones who struggled during this time. The discovery of gold was why this “migration” occurred. In 1842, the journey began, where thousands of Americans migrated. Women faced problems with their children’s responsibilities. Some problems began when diverse women had conflicts amongst each other. Throughout this long period of time, women still had to cook, do laundry, take care of their children and even give birth. Many women wanted to head back and couldn’t take it anymore, “a woman on the trail was so determined to turn back that she set the family’s wagon on fire” (age 205). Men made all of the decisions and the women didn’t have a say. Women sometimes did the mans job too, by helping them drive the wagons. This was significant because they tried to prove to men that they can do their job too. It was very difficult for a lot of women, who had small children with them, and pregnancy was very difficult during this time, and some even died before giving birth.

2. The Gold Rush, the discovery of gold really “accelerated the Americanization of California” (page 210). Most of the gold finders were men. During the antebellum years, women played an important role. They were very active in the “benevolent and reforming societies in these years” (page 213). Women were involved in religious activities; such as supporting “male missionaries in bringing Christianity to the unconverted at home” (page 213). They even made their own groups in which they were involved in the economy and helped out orphans. At this time men became destructive and started to cause an unhappy environment inside of the homes. Women found a way to make themselves happier through religion and forming organizations. Women also did a lot to help out prostitutes. They raised money to stop these women from performing these acts. There were different groups of people such as “Shakers” who told people not to have sex at all, because it would cause more wrong things in their life. Women really proved themselves during this time and showed men that they were capable of doing a lot. They actually made a difference and helped a lot of people. Women even took a stand against slavery, by having people sign petitions against slavery to end it once and for all. In the end, they got a wonderful reward; they helped with the 13th amendment to end slavery in the United States. Clearly these women took a stand and made a great change in society.

Textbook:
1. Maria was very brave when the Lieutenant and his people barged into her room with a gun. She was very brave because she told them straight out that she was not scared of anything and told them to go back because they weren’t welcome to rest in her home. Maria did not know if they had found Chaves or not so she was trying to play it cool. This really says a lot about her character because most people that see a weapon usually are too scared to even talk. Her main fear was that she didn’t want to be a part of something destructive because they think he is hiding in her house. Also she did everything to help out her husband no matter what. There was nobody by her side, but she stayed strong and did what she thought was right. She was obviously a person who loved people and would do anything to help a person out.

Maria’s main source of strength is her personality and independence. She basically lives by herself most of the time and she is on her own. She takes care of everything herself. Since her husband is not by her side, she needs to be even stronger and make hard decisions in her life. The fact that she’s in danger because of Chaves, it seems like she doesn’t let her guard down so that nobody can hurt her. I think that Maria is actually afraid of a lot of things but doesn’t ever show that to people.