Pownall Family Perspective: Using Primary Documents to Learn More About the Christiana Resistance

 

Background on Historical Scholarship of Subject
(This information is drawn directly from the website developed by Jeffrey Mummert, Jeff Butch, Tom Campbell, Jay Vasellas, and Kevin Webster at http://muweb.millersville.edu/~ugrr/christiana/introduction.html)

What occurred on September 11, 1851 at William Parker's home in Christiana, Pennsylvania? Narratives and editorials written immediately following the death of Edward Gorsuch could reach no consensus of opinion. Narratives alternately referred to it as a riot, resistance, a murder, an assassination, a tragedy, or the justifiable defense of freedom. Some narratives used more than one descriptor. A paradox was created in that authors who could not choose one uniform term with which to describe the events of the day, tended to describe the event as if one definitive explanation of the events existed.

The perspectives drawn from the events which occurred on September 11, 1851 tended to be written in narratives and editorials which presented the event in absolute terms. A difficulty in drawing an accurate portrayal of events rested in a very static one dimensional interpretation of history and the history of slavery. Absolute statements which depicted the term Southerners as meaning all Southerners and slavery as indicating all slavery, would depict uniformity which didn't exist. Socially, culturally, economically, and in the nature of labor slavery in the Tropical South differed extensively from slavery in Maryland. As Ira Berlin illustrated in Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America, slavery and the nature of slavery underwent an evolutionary process which continued throughout the antebellum period. The nature of slavery was impacted by such factors as geography, the crop being grown, individual slaveholders economic status, religion, rural and urban slavery, the autonomy given or taken by the individual enslaved African, skill level of the enslaved person, the original birthplace of the enslaved African, the gender of the enslaved African, and slaveholders' attitudes towards enslaved persons.

When D.F. Magee described slavery and the Southern perspective on Christiana, he used anecdotal logic and reasoning to describe a vast concept. The isolated incident at Christiana warranted and received national attention, but each author or editor applied regional and personal anecdotal experience in the same manner as Magee to explain the overall national perspective. D.F. Magee applied his experiences in Maryland to describe all slavery in the context of Maryland slavery. Editors from states in the Deep South such as Alabama or Georgia wrote of Maryland slavery as being synonymous with Deep South slavery. Slavery which existed in what Berlin called societies with slaves was radically different from slavery in slave societies. National perspectives were drawn by making the experiences parallel.

While Magee and the majority of Southern newspaper editors wrote of what appeared to be the same basic concepts, their personal insights into the significance of those concepts varied tremendously. To conclude on a uniform Southern or uniform Northern perspective wasn't applicable because it did not exist. The existence of absolutes in reference to the meaning of the Christiana Resistance rested only in the minds of the individual authors. There could be no absolute meaning. The multifaceted nature of the event rendered concrete understanding elusive.

There are themes which were apparent throughout the narratives. Abolitionism was seen as an extreme viewpoint and radical movement which was unpopular with the majority of Americans. The Fugitive Slave Law in combination with abolitionism were viewed as the root causes for the Christiana Resistance. Castner Hanway was attributed a role far more significant than the role which he actually held and the role of William Parker was diminished. The role of the women at Christiana wasn't mentioned until the more recent scholarship.

Recent scholarship such as Thomas Slaughter's Bloody Dawn has presented a more balanced perspective. Questions of the real events of the day and the role of the characters in those events, what motivations existed for actions of parties on both sides, and who were the heroes and villains have been written in a manner which impartially examines the event. Modern writers have benefited from the opportunity to view Christiana from the distance of more than a century in an attempt to tell an accurate story of the impact of that day.

Teaching Activities
1. To begin this lesson, students will be introduced to the Christiana Resistance story. Go to the Christiana website and look at the Events of the Day (http://muweb.millersville.edu/~ugrr/christiana/events.html), African American Perspective on the Christiana Resistance (http://muweb.millersville.edu/~ugrr/christiana/african.html), and the summary of the Fugitive Slave Law (http://muweb.millersville.edu/~ugrr/christiana/timeline.html). Depending on their grade level, students should either review these web pages on their own or the instructor should summarize these pages in grade/age specific language. An online lesson plan or story using pictures from the Christiana Collection (found at http://lanclio.org/highlights/christiana/christiana.htm) and information from the sites above may be more engaging for younger students. Students should summarize by listing together important people, places, events, or organizations they found in the webpages.

2. Discuss the role of the Pownall family; students will not have read about them on the pages listed above. The Pownalls' rented William Parker his home. The Pownalls' seem to be neutral characters in this story, they both harbor Dickinson Gorsuch when he is injured and give some assistance to William Parker after the event. Ella Forbes' But We Have No Country provides excellent background for this topic and the whole of the Christiana Resistance.

3. Divide students into two groups. One group will focus on the letter Elizabeth Pownall wrote to her aunt while the other group will focus on the letter from Isaac Parrish, from Philadelphia, to the Pownall family. Within their groups, have them pair up to look at the documents on the computer together. At this point, it would be useful to have a webpage with either the URLs for each page of the letter or all three pages of the letter on one webpage. You can access these letters to create the webpage at http://lanclio.org/highlights/christiana/christianafindaid.htm. The Elizabeth Pownall letter is Series 1, Folder 4 and the Parrish letter is Series 1, Folder 6.

4. Students should take notes of important people, places, events, or organizations mentioned in the letters. They should draw references to important people, places, events, or organizations they listed above. It may be helpful for the students to transcribe parts of the letters, particularly parts they would like to share with others.

5. When students have finished reading the letters, have them gather back in their letter specific group. They should discuss what they have found and what they think would be important for the other group to know. They should prepare to report to the rest of the class.

6. Gather as a class and have reports. More than one person from each group should share. In light of what students have learned, discuss with them whether or not they would have included the Pownalls in the webpages they read above. Or are they simply average citizens that we chose to highlight? Are these letters unique to individuals that had direct access to the Resistance or could someone in Strasburg or Millersville have written these letters?

Assessment
The assessment for this assignment can simply be the small group and class discussions. Another possibility is to have students write three paragraphs, a paragraph each about the letters and then one summary paragraph.