| Description |
This thesis discusses the existence of mixed-race communities in the United States in colonial and antebellum times. With a primary focus on the New Jersey community of Gouldtown, it highlights the surprising number of these communities and traces their histories. It also discusses the things that they did well and the issues that they faced, both internally and from the mainstream society around them. As it introduces the reader to these diverse and surprising communities, it also discusses a very different issue in how we often learn, or do not learn about the past-the erasing of history. Required history class curricula from elementary school to college often touch on the same aspects of history. The events that have been deemed important and relevant are learned repeatedly, while other portions of history are brushed to the side if they do not fit in with the common narrative. These communities are a perfect example of this issue. They did have an impact on the development of the country as it is known today, but they are not discussed in any core curriculum and, in fact, many ideas presented in most curricula go against their existence. The thesis discusses the pattern of erasing inconvenient history both in a general sense and in this specific case. Learning about this history raises new questions about the history of interracial relationships, the lives of early colonizers and settlers in the United States, and wider questions about the notion of race in general. |
