Mary Rowlandson and Benjamin Franklin's Significance in Colonial America (Essay Sample)

Mary Rowlandson and Benjamin Franklin
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Mary Rowlandson and Benjamin Franklin
The range of unfreedom in Colonial America as told by Rowlandson’s captivity and Franklin’s indentured service
The story of Mary Rowlandson and Benjamin Franklin documents how brutal and unfree the people were during the colonial era, especially in the 1600s and 1700s. As Franklin's Indenture Services puts it, the term freedom as advocated by the European was just wording that even the Europeans never meant it at all. During the colonial period, the vision for creating a new America that is free, liberal and with edible economy was the dream of the European settlers and Indians in America. During then, the Indenture services reminds us that both North Indians and Western Indians traded together with the Europeans in which during the interaction Europe was perceived to be the earthly paradise. Franklin’s Indenture Services reiterated on the definition of the term “freedom” as not only confined to the political connotation that many perceived it to be. According to the Europeans and their religion, “Christianity,” freedom meant being free from sin and controlled by anybody. In the works of Rowlandson, she narrated how she was captured by the native Americans and the brutality she underwent as the evidence of lack of freedom in the land. While referring to the definition of freedom from the religious perspective, she acknowledged that God punishes the backsliders or sinners but still has mercy to forgive the same sinners whenever they repent. Therefore, with the changing dynamics in the governance and evolving religious doctrines, this essay evaluates the themes of unfreedom in the Franklin’s indentured Service with a view to establish whether human beings has ever been fully free or has attained freedom with their domain.[Marcus, Greil. New Literary History of America. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009]
According to Franklin's Indentured Service, the definition of the term of freedom has got a great limitation in the citizens’ wellbeing. Even though the Christianity’s view with regard to human freedom was paramount towards achievement of spiritual nourishment, the laws of the land never consented to the doctrines advanced by the religious rulers. The accounts of Rowlandson’s captivity indicated the level of brutality, forced labor, male dominance and lack of liberty as some of the indicators of unfreedom in the land. For instance, on Rowlandson’s captivity, she was convinced that nothing bad will happen to her if she submits and comes along with the oppressors. However, she narrated how brutal the treatment was minted on the prisons whereby their heads were being knocked and exposed to severe punishment without any clear reason behind their torture. Interestingly, she wondered whether the definition of freedom as only being submissive to Christianity was enough since their torture was not out of their sins as put in the religious doctrines.[Stein, Jordan Alexander. "Mary Rowlandson's Hunger and the Historiography of Sexuality." American Literature 81, no. 3 (2009): 469-495]
Franklin’s Indenture Services reminds us that freedom and authority in its secular form was equated to liberty and obedience to the higher authority. Whether in religious connotation or political ruling, freedom was only tied to obedience to authority. For instance, Rowlandson reiterated that God punishes the backsliders (the disobedient to God) while political rulers ensure that people who are not loyal to their regime never enjoy any freedom. Unfortunately, the story also argued that some indicators of unfreedom were as a result of the natural law known as the law of salvation or coverture. The study indicated how the European communities were hierarchical which justifies the existence of unfreedom as the people considered to be less fortunate in the order of hierarchy will be forced to be obedient to their superiors. This was perpetuated by the claim that the King is ruled by the authority of God. To justify this kind of unfreedom, Franklin’s Indenture Services highlighted that even within the families, freedom was never enjoyed as defined by Christian doctrines. Men in every family exercised authority over their wives and children. The coverture doctrine contributed to the escalation of unfreedom in the land by requiring women to surrender their legal identity to their husbands.[Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Theme of Wealth." Shmoop University, Inc. Last modified November 11, 2008. Accessed June 7, 2018. https://www.shmoop.com/autobiography-benjamin-franklin/wealth-theme.html]
To prove the extent of unfreedom in families, the coverture law ensures that women do not own properties under their names, they cannot sign any legal contract in their own name or control wages they have worked for or even write a separate will. In this context, men have exclusive rights over their wives without limit to their company, sexual relationships and domestic labor among others. for example, Marry Rowlandson decided to run away from her brother to avoid him reigning on her. After the brutal death of her son, she decided to get away from her people to exempt her from the male dominance aspect of her brother. During this time, history tells us that male dominance over women was justified by the same Europeans and Christians that advocate for freedom. Sixteenth century was marked by a lot of unfreedom in which even within the family, women faced oppressions from their husbands without getting help from anywhere. For instance, many commentators such as political writers of the sixteenth century and Philosophers compared the political authority like kings with the husband and wives. Similarly, Christianity did not make the situation better when the Bible puts it to women to submit to their husbands, but extends it to order husbands to love their wives. The Christianity concept asserts that both were ordained by God in which man is the head of the woman just as Christ the head of the Church. This is true with Rowlandson’s observation that nobody has a right or freedom to life as many people were captivated, brutalized, prisoned and killed mercilessly.[Bennett, Bridget. "The crisis of restoration: Mary Rowlandson's lost home." Early American Literature 49, no. 2 (2014): 327-356]
The concept of servitude and liberty is connected to the existence of the many unfreedom during the sixteenth century. During the colonial era, people were detained under the pretext of freedom and dis