The Training of a Forester

Book:  The Training of a Forester
Author: Gifford Pinchot
Edition: online from Gutenberg
Read: June 17, 2015
 70 pages
Genre:  Manual, Historical
Rated: 3 out of 5

Synopsis:
Pinchot was the founder of the U.S. Forest Service. While not written during his time as the Head Forester, it incorporates his thoughts on what would make a good person in the USFS. It covers  the various roles of a forester, education, background, and attitude.

Thoughts:
The idea of using the forest first for the greatest good of the present generation, and then for the greatest good of succeeding generations through the long future of the nation and the race—that is the Forester's point of view. (Chp: The Forester's Point of View).  This is also very much Pinchot's view of what conservation is: preserving enough now so that future generations will remain prosperous.

National degradation and decay have uniformly followed the excessive destruction of forests by other nations, and will inevitably become our portion if we continue to destroy our forests three times faster than they are produced, as we are doing now. (Chp: The Forester's Point of View).  See his book, or my review, of The Fight For Conservation. Pinchot elaborates on this theme.

What is more, in the teeth of the bitterest opposition of private special interests, the right of the public to first consideration in the protection and development of the forest and of all the resources it contains had to be asserted and established. (Chp: The Establishment of Forestry).  This is also an argument made in The Fight For Conservation. The public is to be involved in the decisions surrounding public lands, their lands. It is not the robber barons, but the people.

That comes before all else. For that purpose, the Ranger patrols his District during the seasons when fires are dangerous, or watches for signs of fire from certain high points, called fire-lookouts, or both.  (Chp: The Forest Service). Things have changed some. The lookouts are being disbanded, but some are still staffed. No longer is the Ranger out on patrol the only defense against fire. We have whole platoons with support system aff operating in unison. Still, fires get out of control as we have not mastered them. People try to understand the science of fire and its role in preserving the forest.

It is far better to prevent a forest fire from starting than to have to put it out after it has started;   (Chp: The Forest Service). The science  and art of firefighting has gone a long ways. There is the understanding that not all fires are bad or should be put out. Managing fires takes into account the hazards to humans and properties, the ability to spread and the conditions surrounding the fire. Given the knowledge and politics of the time, the intention of all fire suppression was not bad. But needed to be altered.

Forestry differs from most professions in this, that it requires as much vigor of body as it does vigor of mind. (Chp: Personal Equipment). 

No man can be a good Forester without that quality of observation...  (Chp: Personal Equipment). So important for all thinking professions. While one might not think of a Ranger that why, but if you think in terms of a naturalist, you can understand Pinchot's desire for someone who recognizes the world he lives in. This is a well rounded individual which is Pinchot's idea of a Ranger.

...the practising Forester must handle men as well as trees.   (Chp: Personal Equipment). When you read The Big Burn, you understand this statement.

Most things said to be impossible are so only in the mind of the man whose timidity or inertness keeps him from making the attempt.   (Chp: Personal Equipment). Words to think about when we are confronted with a hard task. I do not think he is right in the absolute sense. But he is right in that a measure of a person is the ingenuity and perseverance he brings to a task.

The four statements above this is a Central in Pinchot's mind about working as a a Forester.
The man for whom every employer of men is searching, everywhere and always, is the man who will accept the responsibility for the work he has to do—who will not lean at every point upon his superior for additional instructions, advice, or encouragement.   (Chp: As A Subordinate Officer). So true. As a supervisor it was a joy to have a person who knew when to talk with me and when to attack a problem on their own.

Let a good man alone. Give him his head. Nothing will hold him so rigidly to his work as the feeling that he is trusted.   (Chp: As A Superior Officer). Wise words.

In connection with the establishment of a professional forest service service, he points to the summer of 1910 in the Northwest as the reason why this is needed. This is the subject of the book, The Big Burn by Timothy Egan (review being written).  He cites the heroism of Edward C Pulaski who at great personal costs saved 30+ men from being burnt in this fire. Not only are men like this needed, but men trained in the profession so they do not perish in fires.


What was the study of Forestry like before Pinchot's time?

Evaluation:
The Training of a Forester is exactly what the title implies, it Pinchot 's thoughts on what he wanted forest personnel to look like-smart, outdoorsy, and well-educated. It also gives an idea.of what Pinchot philosophies towards the forest was. 

If you are reading it for excitement, find another book. But read this book for insight into what the early forest service principles were.


New Words:

• Dendrological, dendrogoly (41): the scientific study of trees.
• Silviculture, silvical (43): of or pertaining to forests or forestry
• 
  

Good Quotes:

• First Line: First, What is forestry?
• Last Line: Study abroad is not indispensable for the American Forester, but it can do him nothing but good to see in practical operation the methods of forestry which have resulted from the long experience of other lands, and especially to become familiar with the effect of sound forestry on the forest.
•  Most things said to be impossible are so only in the mind of the man whose timidity or inertness keeps him from making the attempt.   (Chp: Personal Equipment).
•  Let a good man alone. Give him his head. Nothing will hold him so rigidly to his work as the feeling that he is trusted.   (Chp: As A Superior Officer). 

Table of Contents:

What is a Forest?	13
The Forester's Knowledge	18
The Forest and the Nation	19
The Forester's Point of View	23
The Establishment of Forestry	27
The Work of a Forester	30
The Forest Service	30
The Forest Supervisor	46
The Trained Forester	50
Personal Equipment	63
State Forest Work	84
The Forest Service in Washington	89
Private Forestry	106
Forest Schools	114
The Opportunity	116
Training	123

References:

• Wikipedia-Author
• Amazon-Book
• Amazon-Author
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
•  Gutenberg
•  Forect History-bigrophy of Pinchot
• 
  

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Book: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Author:Rebecca Skloot
Edition: eBook from library
Read: February 2014
595 pages
Rated:4 out of 5

Synopsis:
There are four story lines interwined in this book:

• Henrietta Lacks, the women whose line of cells lived on beyond all known boundaries. Through the use of her cells, scientists where able to create scenerios  and test them against human strains. A wide assortment of cures and medicines have been created through her cells. She died before knowing that her cells taken, let along being used. She nor her kin were compensated for the use of her cells.
• Deborah Lacks, Henrietta Lacks daughter. Henrietta Lacks died when Deborah Lacks was four years old. Deborah Lacks whole life was spent trying to understand who her mother was. Then when she found out about her mother's cells, she then tried to understand what this meant-she did not have much of an education.
• Rebecca Skloot is the author of this book.This book is as much about Skloot as it is about the Lacks. Her story is interwoven in the quest to understand who Henrietta Lacks was and what her cells were being used for. Also the Lacks be southern black did not trust any white person, so the story has a great deal of Skloot understanding how to gain the trust of those who have felt betrayed.
• HeLa Cells, the cells which came from Henrietta Lacks. Without them, our research on cancer and a whole wide range of drugs and remedies would be stymied.

Thoughts:
The two themes which emerge right from the start of the book are:

1. who was Henereitta Lacks, the person where the HeLa cells came from?
2. should the Heneretta Lacks, or her descdents, recieve compensation for the cells?

A statement in chapter 3 says that in the 1950's, it was thought that since a person was receiving free medical care, it was ok to do research on them, even without obtaining their consent. What is the morals here? To me, there is two seperate issues here. First, providing medical assistance for those in need is its own good. The second is that assisting science to discover new remedies is also a good. Should the two goods be coerced together, one as the condition of the other? The answer is no. Coercion to do good, may produce results, but a by-product is the damage to the person. It is the same road the Nazi's took to do their forced experiments. To clarify, I am not calling those who think this Nazi's, but that there is similarities of thought, which even if there is currently restraints on scope today, we have all seen how easily those restraints can be eased or removed.

I am not sure what informed consent would have looked like in Henrietta Lack's case for the use of her cells. I suspect that it becomes one more form to sign without reading at the hospital or doctor's office.  With Henrietta Lacks' education level and the complexity of science, how could Lacks know what she was signing away? With the complacity of patients at that time, I think consent would have been almost automatic.

Are there other cells now besides HeLa cells which are in use, like the HeLa cells are? There are two other people mentioned, but they seemed rather specialized. Seems like the author was saying that HeLa is close to being unique. Other cell lines will live, then die.

What parts of our body do we own? Fifty years ago, this would not even be a question, because it did not matter. Our bodies was all that there were. Before HeLa, a persons cells would die too soon. Now there are banks of cells. Who owns them? We cannot say what was part of us is always part of us. What about blood from a cut? The question seems more concerning the commercial value rather than what makes us a person. Cells removed from our bodies due to surgery or blood testing or biopsy, who do they belong to? Should we even be concerned? Now that we can tell about a person from their DNA, there is also a privacy factor as well. Sounds like from this book, most cells do not have any commercial value. And probably if it does, you do not want it to be-it is because you have some rare condition. This is the interesting cell lines have uniqueness to them, something like cancer or an unknown origin.  I think that first, there should be nothing which compromises the image of God in us. Second, before parts of us leave our bodies, we should understand what is going to be done. Then it is up to us to decide what we want to do. As David Korn said, what are we going to do, refuse an emergency appendix operation while deciding on having a surgery?

Nuremberg Code:

1. The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him/her to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonable to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment. The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.
2. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in nature.
3. The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results will justify the performance of the experiment.
4. The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury.
5. No experiment should be conducted where there is a prior reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects.
6. The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.
7. Proper preparations should be made and adequate facilities provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury, disability, or death.
8. The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons. The highest degree of skill and care should be required through all stages of the experiment of those who conduct or engage in the experiment.
9. During the course of the experiment the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he has reached the physical or mental state where continuation of the experiment seems to him to be impossible.
10. During the course of the experiment the scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise of the good faith, superior skill and careful judgment required of him that a continuation of the experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject.

                      From Wikipedia's entry on the Nuremberg Code
Skloot has a chapter, 17,  on the status of research ethics concerning humans at this time. One of the uses of the HeLa cells was to inject them into humans, usually without their consent.

Even more basic than if there should be informed consent is the question, Is is moral to inject humans with something potentially toxic for research purposes? This also begs the question of how do you know when a treatment will cause harm instead of good? Such as a diabetes experiment involving tight blood sugar control. The experiment was stopped because a larger than normal amount of death than normal.  From The Person and The Common Good, Jacques Maritain says that the privilege connected with the dignity of the person is inalienable, and human life involves a sacred right. Whether to rid society of a useless member or for raison d'état, it is a crime to kill an innocent man. It is a crime to doom a prisoner to death in order to test some drugs which may save thousands of the sick. Chapter IV

Evaluation:
   Skloot writes a book combining both a human interest story with explanations of cellular science. This is done well. A person may quibble that there is too much Skloot or not enough science in this story, but I think part of the charm of her story is making the concepts available to those who have not had more than an eighth grade biology into a very technical field.

She is a science reporter and it shows. Her reporting goes from being naive about a white, seemingly affluent, woman trying to report a story on dirt poor urban, distrustful blacks.  She has good technique in her writing, the style she chose allows her to weave the story from the current to the past; from self to family to the HeLa cells.

Notes from my book group

1. Why did you choose this story for the group to read?
2. What is the story? Who was Henrietta Lacks? How does Skloot go about creating this story? Do you think that her becoming part of the story aids in understanding the story or does she get in the way of the story?
1. Skloot seems to be on an ethical quest. Deborah Lacks wants to understand what happened to her sister, Elsie as well as Henrietta.
2. Without Skloot's in the story, this would have been a dry book. Her inclusion gave it a feeling of being personal. Also it has a tendency of drawing in a white audience into a black world.
3. With Henreitta Lacks education level, what would informed consent look like? Particularly if the person does not understand the terminology or implications?
4. The Lacks family was not compensated for her cells. How fair and/or moral was this? By what standards? What would fair compensation look like? What compensation did George Gey receive? Gey did not seem to benefit directly from the HeLa cells, but others did. 
1. One thing which happened is the lacks were not treated how a human would wanted to be treated like. They were treated as objects, not thought about, but used.
5. Have any of you been the subject of medical research? What kind of information was shared with you?
6. When does the cells from your body end being part of you?
7. There was not consent on using the cells from her biopsy or blood test.When you last had a procedure or blood test, did you sign anything concerning the use of your cells from your body? Would you give blanket consent? How would you react if your body tissue was used todo research on something you did not support, such a better way to perform abortions, DNA associations with intelligence, or better nuclear weapons?
8. In this story, the Lacks' privacy was somewhat maintained, but for certain early publications where a close approximation of her name was released.  In some ways this seemed to work against the family, particularly in knowing what was going on. Was there a sense of privacy or conspiracy or happen-stance which kept this information unknown? What was the prevailing privacy concerns at the time? What conditions hindered the family from finding out about the HeLa cells and how they were being used? Could the use of her cells have been stopped at the time? Now?
9. It has been one of my thoughts that judging another time and cultures morals and actions by the 21st century standards and laws is wrong. That there needs to be a judgement by what they knew and what they could have known.  By what standards should we judge Gey, John Hopkins Hospital and Howard Jones? How do you think they would have been judged at the time? In 100 years?
10. With the HeLa cells, we saw how unwittingly cross-contamination could occur. In general, is this only a concern in the lab? Should we be concerned with the generically modified plants? What would be the concern?
11. Skloot related several medical research projects where either informed consent or the experiments were of questionable morality, such as the Tuskegee Gonorrhea Experiments and the Ohio Prison experiments. From Skloot's view, this was standard procedure for the day. What was the rational for using these people as subjects? How do you conduct risky, potentially life saving experiments? Example, tight blood sugar control sounded like it would be good for diabetics, instead it caused more deaths. Or the Stanford prison guard experiment. How does the Nuremberg Code fit in? The current NIH Human Experiment Standards? Was the HeLa racist like Sloot claims?(311)
12. Would you be in favor of a DNA bank to identify you in screening for employment, crime, or health anomalies?
13. David Korn of Harvard says that people are morally obligated to allow their bits and pieces to be used to advance knowledge to help others.(506)  Agree or disagree? Maritain notes that a forced common good is no longer part of the good.
14. Deborah's sister Elsie was put into an insane asylum, it sounded like for both hers and her family's good.The asylum in many ways seems a bit barbaric. How has our treatment of those with needs like this changed?
15. From the book's study question: Deborah makes a statement saying, Like I'm always telling my brothers, if you gonna go into history, you can'd do it with a hate attitude. You got to remember times was different. Is it possible to approach history from an objective point of view? If so, how and why is this important especially in the context of Henrietta's story?
16. In chapters 35 and 36, Skloot relates the religion of the Lacks family. Does Skloot feel comfortable around their religion? She tries to relate it to her science. How successful is she?
17. From the book's question: Religious faith and scientific understanding, while often at odds witha each other, play important roles in the lives of the Lacks family.  Gary's questions: What part does religion play in the Lack's family?  Is it ever shown to be at odds with what happened to Henrietta Lacks? The larger question is there conflict between faith and science?
18. One of the things Skloot teaches in her writing class is structure. She says that she wanted my book to read like a novel but be entirely true. How would you say this book is structured? Does she get the voices of Black America right?
19.  This is a story which is put together over 10 years. I am guessing she is about 23-25 when she first started trying to track down the HeLa cell story. How does she mature in telling of the story? In her approach to talking the the Lacks family?

New Words:

• Virology(167): Virology is the study of viruses – submicroscopic, parasitic particles of genetic material contained in a protein coat
• Analesgia: An analgesic, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve analgesia — relief from pain.

Good Quotes:

• First Line: There's a photo on my wall of a woman I've never met, its left corner torn and patched together with tape.
• Last Line: She paused and nodded again. "I think I'd like that"

Table of Contents:

• Prologue: The Woman in the Photograph 1
• Deborah's Voice 9
• Pt. 1 Life
• 1 The Exam ... 1951 13
• 2 Clover ... 1920-1942 18
• 3 Diagnosis and Treatment ... 1951 27
• 4 The Birth of HeLa ... 1951 34
• 5 "Blackness Be Spreadin All Inside" ... 1951 42
• 6 "Lady's on the Phone" ... 1999 49
• 7 The Death and Life of Cell Culture ... 1951 56
• 8 "A Miserable Specimen" ... 1951 63
• 9 Turner Station ... 1999 67
• 10 The Other Side of the Tracks ... 1999 77
• 11 "The Devil of Pain Itself" ... 1951 83
• Pt. 2 Death
• 12 The Storm ... 1951 89
• 13 The HeLa Factory ... 1951-1953 93
• 14 Helen Lane ... 1953-1954 105
• 15 "Too Young to Remember" ... 1951-1965 110
• 16 "Spending Eternity in the Same Place" ... 1999 118
• 17 Illegal, Immoral, and Deplorable ... 1954-1966 127
• 18 "Strangest Hybrid" ... 1960-1966 137
• 19 "The Most Critical Time on This Earth Is Now" ... 1966-1973 144
• 20 The HeLa Bomb 1966 152
• 21 Night Doctors 2000 158
• 22 "The Fame She So Richly Deserves" ... 1970-1973 170
• Pt. 3 Immortality
• 23 "It's Alive" ... 1973-1974 179
• 24 "Least They Can Do" ... 1975 191
• 25 "Who Told You You Could Sell My Spleen?" ... 1976-1988 199
• 26 Breach of Privacy ... 1980-1985 207
• 27 The Secret of Immortality ... 1984-1995 212
• 28 After London ... 1996-1999 218
• 29 A Village of Henriettas ... 2000 232
• 30 Zakariyya ... 2000 241
• 31 Hela, Goddess of Death ... 2000-2001 250
• 32 "All That's My Mother" ... 2001 259
• 33 The Hospital for the Negro Insane ... 2001 268
• 34 The Medical Records ... 2001 279
• 35 Soul Cleansing ... 2001 286
• 36 Heavenly Bodies ... 2001 294
• 37 "Nothing to Be Scared About" ... 2001 297
• 38 The Long Road to Clover ... 2009 305
• Where They Are Now311
• Afterword 315
• Acknowledgments 329
• Notes 338
• Index 359

References:

• Publisher's Web Site for Book
  Book Groups guide to book
• Author's Web Site
  Author's Articles
• Wikipedia-Author
• Wikipedia-Book
• Amazon-Author
  Amazon-Book
• Barnes and Noble-Book
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
• Twitter-Author
• New York Times March 23, 2013 opinion piece by Rebecca Skloot titled:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the Sequel
• NPR interview on Fresh Aire with Rebecca Skloot on February 2, 2010.
• NPR Author's interviews list
• Smithsonian Interview with Rebecca Skloot on Januaray 22, 2010
• The Daily Beast - How I Write Interview
• Jodi Miller's blog on why Skloot is the worst part of the story
• University of Maryland Henrietta Lacks site
• Open Notebook-science journalist guidance page. They have copies of Rebecca Skloot's notebooks, plus many interesting articles on writing scientific articles.
• Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield - bogus lawyer
• University of Maryland site
• Baltimore Sun article
• 'Electric Law Library frivolous suit site
• Justia site on Cofield's suit's
• BBC article on a statute of Henrietta Lacks replacing one of Robert E Lee.
• APNews-August 1, 2023-Lacks family recieve compensation from Thermo-Fisher
• 
   

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

Book: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Author:Frederick Douglas
Edition:Gutenberg, eBook
Read:December 2013
160 pages
Rated: 4 1/2 out of 5

Synopsis:
 The book is autobiographical of Frederick Douglass' time as a slave in Maryland and a few years as a fugitive in the north. It pays particular attention to how slaves were treated in Maryland, and the hardships they endured. Douglass tells of his rising involvement in the empancipation movement.

Thoughts:
The first understanding of this work is to see that slavery can never co-exist with any sense of human dignity. The first count on this is the treatment of the slave. Whipping, beating, starving slaves is not congruent with human dignity. This is what Paul was writing about to Philemon in the New Testament. To treat his slave as a brother in Christ. But as religious as the South portrayed themselves to be, Douglass showed that it was just a facade. While preaching love and brotherhood, while sending missionaries to Africa, they were beating their black brothers and raping their negro sisters who lived with them, whom they had authority over. This was the fruit of slavery.

The second count which Douglass showed is that even those slave owners who were "good" ones, even they were reduced to barbaric treatment of their slaves. Douglass showed that this enslavement of another human reduces any goodness a person has to the need to oppress.

Both of these counts are true today. While slavery may not be in America, there is plenty of ownership. There is the ownership which happens as the employer. We get more concerned with getting the job done than to be concerned with the staff as people.

Beauty can be found both in joy and in sorrow; in pleasure and in pain. We must not mistake one for the other. Douglass informs us that the beauty in signing of the blacks was neither from beauty nor joy, but from misery and suffering. The sound which whites heard wass the sounds of release and yearning to be free of the oppression. (38)

Even in slavery, w have a caste system. It is better to be the slave of a rich owner than a poor one. Douglass does not make it clear if it was because of conditions were better or because of pride of being owned by the rich. I suspect it is more pride and association. Sort of funny, it is like a city with a winning baseball team. The men on the team are mercenaries, the owner of the team has loads of money, but the city still enjoys being the home of the winning team, even if they have not attended a game.

In the Appendix, Douglass has some harsh words towards Christianity, especially the Christianity of the South. This is particularly true of the hypocrisy  he saw  of preachers in church talking about following Jesus, the meek and lowly one. Then going back to his slave robbing him of any earnings, selling women into prostitution, separating families and killing men. He saw the religion of America as being the religion of the Pharisees.

It should be noted that an A.C.C. Thompson wrote a letter called  Letter from a Slave Holder. It can be found in the University of North Carolina's collections. Thompson was a neighbor of one of the people who held Douglass-then known as Bailey. Thompson argues that Douglass was not intelligent enough to know how to write, let along something as well-put as this Narrative. Also Thompson knew many of the whites who had dealings with Douglass (Bailey). His relationships with these people were of a different picture than what Douglass paints.

How do you reconcile the two pictures? I think that Douglass points the way here. Douglass notes that these were fine church go'ers. Those who subscribed to the teachings of the church. But that they did not practice these teachings concerning their slaves. This comes from treating humans as property, rather than holders of the image of God. As property, we use, abuse and eventually get rid of our cars and computers. But these do not have God has their father. While humans have a line of heredity back to having God's breath blown into them making them alive. So the question is, are blacks human? We say today they are. I would think that in the South at this time, they chose not to believe they were.

Douglass' ending sentiment was this retelling of his history would be a stone on the path to removing slavery in America. It was not only a stone, but a large amount of the pavement on that road. Even though the United States was 50 years later than Britain, Douglass lead the way by telling his story and the treatment he saw in his eloquent way.

Evaluation:
 I am removed some 170 years from this writing and it still has the power to move me. Douglass describes the slave conditions of a more "gentle" slave state, such as Maryland which borders the North. The conditions here was barbaric at best. Douglass writes in a way of intelligence, eloquence  and emotion of a witness and reluctant participant of slavery. Through his eyes, there is not one good thing which can be said of slavery. He demolishes any thought of a "good" slave owner. Instead, he shows how even good men and women are enslaved by slavery, even the slave owners.

Through this book, and other writings, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, the North's eyes were opened to slavery's conditions. The whippings, the legalized murder, the total depravity which slavery was leading the South into.  The advantage of Douglass' writing was that he was there and experienced the effects of slavery. So there was no romance of slavery in this story, only the gore of backs whipped raw.

Even now, I would recommend this book to be on the reading list, so that it can be understood why the Civil War needed to be fought. That slavery needed to be abolished. That real people were involved in this struggle.

 

New Words:

• gewgaws -  a small thing that has little value 

Allusions:

• The Columbian Orator - First appearing in 1797, The Columbian Orator, a collection of political essays, poems, and dialogues, was widely used in American schoolrooms in the first quarter of the 19th century to teach reading and speaking. Many of the speeches included in the anthology celebrated "republican" virtues and promoted patriotism, and this was typical of many readers of that period. The Columbian Orator is an example of progymnasmata, containing examples for students to copy and imitate. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the former slave and abolitionist writer Douglass describes how he "got hold" of a copy of the Columbian Orator at age 12, an event with far-reaching consequences for his life. The Columbian Orator, became a symbol not only of human rights, but also of the power of eloquence and articulation.    Wikipedia
• “Lady of the Lake - Poem by Walter Scott, published in 1810. Frederick Douglass was named after  James Douglas in the poem. Wikipedia Poem from Gutenberg
• Liberator -  abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison in 1831. Garrison published weekly issues of The Liberator from Boston continuously for 35 years, from January 1, 1831, to the final issue of January 1, 1866. Wikipedia  Collection of Liberator papers

Good Quotes:

• First Line:   I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland
• Last Line:     Sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds—faithfully relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my humble efforts—and solemnly pledging my self anew to the sacred cause,—I subscribe myself,  FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
•  The competitors for this office sought as diligently to please their overseers, as the office-seekers in the political parties seek to please and deceive the people. The same traits of character might be seen in Colonel Lloyd's slaves, as are seen in the slaves of the political parties.   Pg 35
• I have often been utterly astonished, since I came to the north, to find persons who could speak of the singing, among slaves, as evidence of their contentment and happiness. It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake. Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy.  Pg 38
• It was considered as being bad enough to be a slave; but to be a poor man's slave was deemed a disgrace indeed!  pg 43
• To be accused was to be convicted, and to be convicted was to be punished; the one always following the other with immutable immutable certainty. pg 45
• Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me.  pg 62
• The moral which I gained from the dialogue was the power of truth over the conscience of even a slaveholder. pg 65
• As I writhed under it, I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. Pg 66.
• I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,—a justifier of the most appalling barbarity,—a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds,—and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection. pg 103
• ...if we did not intend to move now, we had as well fold our arms, sit down, and acknowledge ourselves fit only to be slaves. pg 113
• Every man appeared to understand his work, and went at it with a sober, yet cheerful earnestness, which betokened the deep interest which he felt in what he was doing, as well as a sense of his own dignity as a man.  pg 139
• They love the heathen on the other side of the globe. They can pray for him, pay money to have the Bible put into his hand, and missionaries to instruct him; while they despise and totally neglect the heathen at their own doors. pg 148.

References:

• Wikipedia-Author
• Wikipedia-Book
• Amazon
• GoodReads
• PBS Biography

Amazing Grace

Book: Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery
Author: Eric Metaxas
Edition: Paperback, 2007
Read: February 2013
297 pages
Rated: 3½  out of 5

Synopsis:
There is 23 chapters spanning Wilberforce's life from birth to death. Metaxas makes the connection between Wilberforce's life and his Christianity. You wonder if Wilberforce had not become a Christin, would he had cared about ending slavery? Metaxas traces how Wilberforce's early influences caused him to be sympathetic towards evangelical Christianity, even if his mother and grandfather was not. Through his uncle and aunt he encountered a great many  mid-18th century great Christians. But this was not proper, so he was brought back and feel into the normal upper class English debauchery until going on a trip with Issac Milner who showed Wilberforce a different side of Christianity and brought him back.

Metaxas shows how Wilberforce thought about leaving politics but was convince by people like John Newton that was where God wanted him to be—in the battle. From there, Wilberforce fought for the rest of his life to bring the end of slavery and start goodness to England.

Table of Context:

• Foreword
• Introduction 
• Little Wilberforce
• Into the Wide World
• Wilberforce Enters Parliament
• The Great Change
• Ye Must Be Born Again
• The Second Great Object: The Reformation of Manners
• The Proclamation Society  
• The First Great Object: Abolishing the Slave Trade
• The Zong Incident
• Abolition or Bust
• Round One
• Round Two
• The Good Fight
• What Wilberforce Endured
• Two Loves
• Clapham's Golden Age
• Domestic Life at Clapham  
• Victory!
• Beyond Abolition
• India 
• Enforcing Abolition
• Peace and Troubles
• The Last Battle
• Epilogue 
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgments 
• Faith Discussion Guide 

Thoughts:
One of the things which turned the fight against slavery was the abhorrent conditions which the slaves were kept—both in the slave ships and the plantations in the West Indies. One wonders about the success of the abolitionist if conditions were more humane? Would there have been a need for the abolitionists?

How Wilberforce engaged his opponents was with respect and facts. This is a far cry from today's dealing. Whom do I see working this way today? I do not recall anybody on either side of the aisle doing this. Certainly not Obama. I had hopes for Romney, but he fell into the same routine. Wilberforce brings to remembrance that we are to treat each other as Jesus would have. You wonder if this is what John Newton saw in Wilberforce—the ability to treat others as God would have them be treated.

Wilberforce did not relegate himself to just one task, but wanted to spread throughout England what it would be like to be a Christian nation. He called his twin drives was the abolition of slavery and the bringing about of manners. The manners he was speaking about had to do with morality and ethics rather than just courtesy. This spread from providing a sense of justice in the criminal justice system of the time to preventing cruelty in animals. Wilberforce understood how Christianity needed to be the leaven in society.

This leaves the question of what do I see around me which is abhorrent to God's eyes and how will I work to change things? This is the main take away for me from this book.


Evaluation:
 Wilberforce is dynamic and powerful-powerful not in the sense of having the position of a king, but from his talents and his character. That is very evident from the book. But I did not find the writing having that magical quality which made me “fall in love” with Wilberforce. The book does want me to know more about the man—previous to reading this book, I had read Wilberforce's book, A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.I found the book hard to read, but well worth it.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, it is a good introduction. But I suspect one should dive in deeper to truly feel the magic of this life.

Good Quotes:

• First Line: On August 24, 1759, William Wilberforce was born into a prosperous merchant family in the city of Hull.
• Last Line: On that historic morning, as the sun rose, that new world was revealed at last as real, as having existed all along on the far side of the mountains through which William Wilberforce had been our guide.

References:

• Eric Metaxas web site
• Eric Metaxas Amazing Grace
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble
• Harper and Collins (publisher)
• Wikipedia-Eric Metaxas
• National Review
• Goodread

Escape From North Korea

Book: Escape From North Korea, The Untold Story of Asia's Underground Railroad
Author: Melanie Kirkpatrick
Edition: First, hardback
Read: Jan 2013
316 pages
Rated: 3 out of 5

Synopsis:
In the 1800's, before the Civil War, there was an underground railroad which would bring slaves out of the South into Canada. Kirkpatrick talks about an underground railroad from North Korea, through China to various countries surrounding China. There are stories of North Koreans who have escaped, along with some who did not. Kirkpatrick goes through the conditions in North Korea, both the oppression and the economic and agricultural conditions there which are causing more North Koreans to consider leaving there land of birth, even at the risk of death and torture.

She talks about the people in China who assist the Koreans escape. Also about what a North Korean will face in China. China's policy is to return Koreans back to their lands and not treat them as refuges, but opportunists, looking for a better life, similar to our immigration issues with Mexico. Also if a young women or a girl makes her way to China, she may be bought as a bride for female-poor China.

In addition, she talks about activists in both the United States and in South Korea. These are people who are looking at changing the policies in these countries to allow for a better reception for the North Koreans. Also to pressure China to be more receptive to the flow of North Koreans through through territories.

Kirkpatrick feels that there are three main goals in helping North Korean refugees. The first is humanitarian—to rescue people from the most oppressive, closed nation currently in the world. The second is more ambitious. She feels the more refugees are able to escape, the more the North Korean story will be known, causing, eventually the downfall of the current North Korean leaders. The third goal is as the refugees are able to communicate with those left behind, there will be a realization within the country that there can be a better life. This is not a short term project, but more the planting of seeds which will be ready to blossom in time.

Thoughts:
There are two things which I was wondering about while reading the book:

• What am I to do about this situation? Kirkpatrick does not really address that. She does provide links for the reader to do further research. The links are shown below.
• Most of the groups and people she talks about helping to run the underground railroad are  Christian. I can easily believe that, but I would be interested to know is this a representative sample. Kirkpatrick seems to say yes—that the people are usually either Christians or professional human smugglers. The publisher looks like it is a conservative leaning company, but not necessarily Christian.

Evaluation:
 This book is a good look at how North Korea treats its citizens and the extent which they will go to escape.  Her writing is pretty common, but clear. She tells the story. But that is the extent which I see in this book. It is an introduction to those of us who do not think about North Korea. It should get us to think about others besides ourselves.


Good Quotes:

• First Line: In the spring of 1857, the antislavery Vigilance Committee of Philadelphia copied into its confidential Underground Railroad Record and and excerpt from a letter it had received from Abram Harris, a former slave who had escaped from his master in Charles County, Maryland. (2)
• Last Line: Meanwhile, the escape to freedom of a small number of its people is a rare good-news story that foretells a happier future for that sad country.
• The first survival tip a North Korean leans when he reaches China is: find a Christian. (41)
• “No dictatorship can tolerate jazz,” he said (Dave Brubeck) at the time of what Cold War visit. “It is the first sign of a return to freedom.” (63)
• The example of Christians who put their faith into action is a powerful recruiting tool. (160)
• Where you live shouldn't determine whether you live. (217)

References:

• Encounter Books (publisher)
• Senator Sam Brownback
• Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
• Crossing Borders
• Defense Forum Foundation
• Good Friends: Research Institute for North Korean Society
• Helping Hands Korea
• Korean Church Coalition
• Liberty in North Korea
• North Korean Refugee Services Mission
• 318 Partners Mission Foundation
• The Underground Railroad by William Still – Gutenberg
• Melanie Kirkpatrick's Web Site
• Hudson Institute biography