Annotated Bibliography
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” — Ernest Hemingway
Every family goes through a journey to end up where they are today. I decided to use my annotated bibliography as a way to tell the story of who my family is, and why. I divided my research into two main sections: the American south and Scotland. These two places had the most important cultural impacts on my family and share the deepest roots in our history. If you were to ask any person in my family today what they identify as, they would answer with “a southerner.” That statement would continue to hold true for many generations, but at the start of the 1800s it would be getting some mixed answers. When did my family become southerners? When did we stop being Scottish? Did we ever stop being Scottish? These are the questions I want to know the answer to. I plan on using my annotated bibliography to examine the background of my family and determine what their lives were like back when they had no question as to who they were. I plan on researching everyday Scottish life from Scotland, to emigration in America, and up until present day. I am looking into the effects of culture, religion, and work to see how they have impacted my family, as well as myself.
Foyster, Elizabeth A., and Christopher A. Whatley. A History of Everyday Life in Scotland 1600 to 1800. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2010. Print.
https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_Everyday_Life_in_Scotland_1.html?id=UVRZ6JiQEyQC
Thanks to the Internet and technology everyday life in Scotland is easy to research if you are interested in their current lives. Unfortunately for me, I needed to know about life during the 1700s and before. Record keeping was not top priority at this time in most Scottish lives, because they had more important things to worry about like finding work and avoiding starvation. My ancestors chose to sail to America and settle down in North Carolina to achieve those tasks. During the 16th and 17th centuries around a quarter of a million Scots left in “Growing numbers — in a series of waves — crossed the Atlantic to America and the West Indies, which, by the eighteenth century, were drawing disproportionate numbers of skilled and educated Scots from the Lowlands: merchants, managers, lawyers and doctors…Whatever their background was, Scots were considered to be industrious and adaptable workers.” The seven Fleming brothers arrived in the states from Scotland over 300 years ago. While I don’t know every specific thing they were doing, I have an idea through the different records available and U.S. history classes that I have sat through over the years. Before this decision though, they lived a much different life.
I decided to use this book as a source because I thought it would be beneficial in my understanding of what their lives were like back in Scotland. Life in Scotland was not for the light hearted. Work was subsistence driven and required flexibility. The weather and seasons played a role in work and food; much like they did once my ancestors started farming in America. Other aspects of life, like religion, depended on region and time period. The Scottish culture can be separated into lowlanders and highlanders. The separation is mostly due to language, but they also differ in customs and history due to their geographic divide as well.
I found that Scottish life has many parallels to American life. The weather and seasons played a big role in the success of the people. Religion held an important place in their lives. Most interestingly, both cultures can be separated by north and south. My ancestors’ decision to settle in North Carolina during the late 1700s had an affect on their entire lineage. The choice to settle in the south led to a whole culture being implemented into our lives. Culture has a lot to do with where you came from originally, but its biggest influence is where you were raised.
Braveheart. Dir. Mel Gibson. Prod. Mel Gibson. By Randall Wallace. Perf. Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, and Patrick McGoohan. Paramount Pictures, 1995.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braveheart
There are plenty of books and articles that give a historical account of Scotland. When I tried to think about what source would scream Scottish heritage to me though, Braveheart was the first thing that came to mind. Braveheart is a movie about a warrior that led an army in the fight against England during the First War of Scottish Independence. This movie has it all. There is action, love, war, kilts, and a large amount of bloodshed. It’s all done for a noble cause though; it’s for independence from a tyrant.
I’m not sure how historically accurate this movie is, but it is entertaining. It provides a sense of pride to those of Scottish heritage, and a few mental scars if you are like me and watched this movie when you were still a child. When I think about this movie, I think about lazy Sundays bonding with my dad. No matter the fact that I was a child, or a little girl, he wasn’t going to sit around and watch “that princess stuff.” When it came to father-daughter movie time, I became well-versed in movies like Braveheart and Dances with Wolves.
The struggle to overcome is used as a storyline in many movies, but that is because it is one that is so relatable. This movie is meant to inspire the underdogs. If my Scottish ancestors are anything like the portrayal of the Scots in this movie then I know I came from an incredible people. It takes an extraordinary amount of strength to struggle through something and come out on top when no one was expecting you to finish at all. When I think of this movie I think of strength, pride, and heritage.
Dobson, David. Scottish Emigration to Colonial America, 1607–1785.
Athens: U of Georgia, 1994. Print.
On the more serious side of things, David Dobson’s book, Scottish Emigration to Colonial America, offers an account of the history behind the title. It approaches the broad subject of emigration by separating the research based on geographic location (Ex: The Northern Colonies, The Middle Colonies, etc.). The book examines the emigrant tradition, as well as the opportunities and lives of Scottish Americans.
Dobson’s book was useful for my purposes of understanding what life may have been like for my ancestors living as emigrants in a new and foreign land. The sections on Georgia and the Carolinas were especially pertinent in helping my specific research purposes. Until this year I had always believed my family was of Irish origin, now I know that is incorrect and this book has helped to enlighten me as to the roots of my actual heritage. I can assume from his book that my ancestors were Scottish Highlanders instead of Lowlanders. They settled in North Carolina in the late 1700s. Dobson says “The Highlanders clearly wishing to maintain their traditional culture and society, preferred to emigrate to the New World rather than be assimilated into the culture and society of Lowland Scotland. For many, the Carolinas were the preferred choice. Not only was there an established Highland community along the upper Cape Fear valley, but the governor of North Carolina was willing to class them as foreign Protestants. This enabled them to receive land grants and be exempt from local taxes for four years.” The choice to settle in North Carolina had major positives surrounding it.
This idea would make sense with the history I could find on my ancestors. They had several hundred acres of farming land in North Carolina and I know that they were part of the first wave of Scots to immigrate to America. This book also touches on one of the most important topics of my family history, religion.
The Holy Bible. Atlanta: Philips-Boyd, 1902. Print.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and
He shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear
The Lord, and depart from evil.” — Proverbs 3:5–7
I decided to use the bible as a source, because the scriptures within it have had such a tremendous impact on shaping my family. The particular bible I used was given to my great-great-grandfather in 1902 as a wedding gift. During those times, having a family bible was important not just for religious purposes, but for record keeping as well. In it, you can find the marriage certificate for Narve Fleming and his first wife, Tennessee. This bible holds the birth, marriage, and death dates of all of the children that resulted from their union. It holds a large significance in my family because it represents the lineage that is the reason we are all here.
Religion has impacted culture since the first time man had questions. It is used as an explanation for how things came to be the way they are. Despite the different forms that exist, it serves a similar purpose to all those that believe in a higher power. It gives hope, and it gives answers for when you have none left. In Scotland during the seventeenth century, there were three main religions: Presbyterianism, Protestantism, and Catholicism. During this time, politics played a large role in what people believed. I’m not sure what my ancestors believed, but I know that they continued to pass the general idea of Christianity down through our family line.
When looking for sources I asked my memaw if she had a favorite scripture or verse from the bible. She ended up giving me a list of five different scriptures that she had drawn hope from lately. I think it’s interesting to look at the importance that religion has continued to play throughout history. It has been such a significant factor in social, political, and cultural beliefs. Religion has shaped my family and myself over time. It provides hope, strength, and compassion. It is one idea that continues to last and be passed down time and time again.
MacLean, J. P. Scotch Highlanders in America. Cleveland: n.p., 1900. Print.
After decided that it was more than likely that my ancestors are of Highlander descent, I thought I should look further into what that really meant. MacLean’s book provides an in-depth look into the lives of the Scotch Highlanders. It gives a general background into the causes leading up to emigration to America as well as the lives they led depending on their settlement. MacLean even goes as far to describe the Scotch involvement in the American Revolution and the historical events that were comprised in it. MacLean uses his knowledge on the subject to produce a helpful narrative of life and the significant events of the Scotch Highlanders in America.
His distinct focus on the Highlanders of North Carolina and Georgia is useful in the research of my own ancestry. The chapters dedicated to these two states provide helpful insight as to what life was like as an emigrant during the 1700’s. It’s similar in technique to Dobson’s book, but MacLean supplies a vivid description of the developing history of these two states in a very story-like manner. He describes the rocky outline of the Highlands and I can picture it in my mind, “The southern face of these mountains is bold, rocky, dark, and precipitous. The land south of this line is called the Lowlands, and that to the north, including the range, the Highlands…The scenery is nowhere excelled for various forms of beauty and sublimity. The lochs and bens have wrought upon the imagination of historians, poets and novelists. The inhabitants living within these boundaries were as unique as their bens and glens.” This book is like a window into a very far away past, back when the people were divided into clans and the idea of the New World had yet to be formed.
Times were much simpler then. They were also more extreme. As the years go by, our technology and knowledge of the world continues to expand. We aren’t faced with the fear of the unknown world. We have everything at the touch of a our fingertips. One of the most important things that I received from this book was that we continue to always hold ourselves to certain values and remember our culture. Despite having the world at our hands, it’s important to remember what part of the world you actually came from. This book provided a connection to a culture that I don’t usually get a chance to celebrate, because it has been so long since my ancestors called Scotland their home.
Reece, Byron Herbert, and Jim Clark. Fable in the Blood: The Selected Poems of Byron Herbert Reece. Athens: U of Georgia, 2002. Print.
While looking into my family’s background I found that Blairsville served as their original homestead in Georgia. Several generations of Flemings called this town their home, so I decided to find out more about it. One of the most significant things I found was about the poet, Byron Herbert Reece. He lived and farmed in the same area as my ancestors, the only difference is he took the time to write about it. Reece’s poetry has a large focus on nature and his working life.
I chose this source because it gave a new look as to what life was like for my family back in Blairsville. Reece’s poetry was inspired by the environment around him and by reading through his poems I can imagine what my ancestors saw when they looked around them. He was able to connect me to a home that I’ve never seen, but can now experience through written word. Reece offers a description of the harvest time, the summer, the autumn, etc. He describes this place I’ve never been, but I already know it feels like home.
This particular book was essential in my understanding of Reece, because it’s a collection of several different books he wrote. The author took the time to analyze some of the selected poetry and explain the meanings behind them. One poem that stuck out to me was “Now to the Fields.” It’s about the religion of harvesting season and the importance of the weather during this time. It reads, “The autumn sun is all the god they know and labor all the rite of worshipping that deity of weather.” Experiencing this first hand, I know my grandfather and all of those that came before him can easily relate to what this poem is talking about. The final line reads, “They worship, and till harvesting is done God is no farther than the fields to search.” Working as a farmer requires a large amount of dependence on the sun, the rain, and all the prayers that things will work in your favor. I gather from Reece’s poetry that farm life there was much the same as it is here. The only difference seems to be that of a mountain backdrop and several decades between us.
Gone with the Wind. Dir. Victor Fleming. Prod. David O. Selznick. By Sidney Coe Howard, Max Steiner, and Ernest Haller. Perf. Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia De Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, and Hattie McDaniel. Loew’s Incorporated, 1939.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind_(film)
If there were one movie that people all over associate with the south, it would be Gone with the Wind. Everyone knows the plot of this classic movie that depicts the life of the O’Hara family, most importantly Scarlett, and the trials and tribulations that occur while living in the American south in and around the Civil War. Watching this movie growing up I did not really consider how much it related to my own life, but I find that my family’s story mirrors it in many ways.
My family moved to Georgia in 1850 and has lived here ever since. Gone with the Wind is set at a plantation in Georgia in 1861 and beyond. My family is of Scottish descent, and the O’Hara family is as well. Scarlett’s Mammy is always urging her to act like the southern belle she is supposed to be, and my memaw always made sure to tell me when I “was not acting very ladylike.” Although this film is an adaptation on a work of fiction, it still plays as a large representative of the south and its culture.
I chose this movie because like the main character, Scarlett O’Hara, my family has always shown a prevailing spirit. When times were hard and work was nowhere to be found in Scotland, they moved to America. When working as a laborer was no longer supplying for their family, they became farmers. When farming was tough and war was on the horizon, they said their prayers and dealt with it like the hard workers they were. History has shown that no matter where you live, life is not always easy. Even today my grandfather still struggles with life on the farm sometimes. I know that when I ask him during our interview if he’d change a single thing that he will not hesitate a second to tell me that he is happy with his choices. That is all that we can really hope for: to be happy exactly where we end up.
Ram Trucks. “Official Ram Trucks Super Bowl Commercial ‘Farmer’.” Youtube. Youtube, LLC, 3 February 2013. Web. 9 October 2015.
If there is one thing the Super Bowl is famous for besides football, it’s the commercials that are aired during the breaks. During the 2013 Super Bowl, Ram Trucks displayed this commercial to the nation. The video has been viewed over 18 million times, and that is only on Youtube. It depicts images of the hard-working men and women who are the “caretakers” of this nation, while excerpts from Paul Harvey’s speech, “So God Made a Farmer,” plays over the background.
This commercial was made for the people who lead simple, but demanding lives. The people that never get a day off, but always get their work done. It was made to honor those that put the wellbeing of their families, animals, and crops before themselves. It’s for the farmers that hold together and support this country. It’s for the men like my brother and the six generations of farmers that came before him.
The video is meant as an advertisement for Ram trucks, but it seemed to strike a chord with many people, including myself. The speech used was from 1978, as an address to the Future Farmers of America Convention. At this time, my grandfather’s farm consisted of soybeans, cattle, chickens, horses, and pigs. I’ve always been amazed at how hard working he is. He doesn’t get to take a day off and I know he’ll never retire. Only certain people are cut out for this life “And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain’n from ‘tractor back,’ put in another seventy-two hours.” I was lucky enough to be raised by one, and to be descended from several generations that also know the struggle that comes with this life. This advertisement recognizes the large impact the farmer has had on American culture, and serves as a reminder for the huge one it has had on mine.
Wilson, Charles Reagan. “Overview: Religion and the US South.” Sevaa. Southern Spaces, 16 Mar. 2004. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.
http://southernspaces.org/2004/overview-religion-and-us-south
One of the most important aspects that helped shaped the south, is religion. Christianity holds a large role in turning the south into what it is today. Church was not just viewed as a religious gathering, but as a social one as well. There are multiple denominations, but they all seem to hold the same core values. Faith, family, and hard work could be found at the core of the southern household. This article studies the change and impact of religion in the south from the beginnings of emigration, up until the 2000s.
The writer compares how the location, time period, and culture affected religion. In turn, he studies how religion impacted the social and political views for the southern people.
This source was interesting to compare to previous sources used that depicted the early Scottish religious style. I consider the importance placed on religion by both the south and Scotland to have a direct impact on my family and how I was raised. While researching my ancestry I discovered that my 4th great grandfather was actually named in honor of their family’s Baptist preacher. Not only that, but my family has always played a large role in the church. Currently they make up 1/3 of the congregation of our family church back home.
Over the years my ancestors changed their religious habits beginning from those of Scottish origin, which I have no direct account of, to those first used in their new beginnings in the states. They went from Baptist, to Methodist, to currently Congregational Holiness. One thing does not change though, and that is the morals and values that Christianity has instilled in my family. My grandfather taught me many lessons in life, but some of the most important were those of the Church. He taught me to always do good, to admit when I was wrong, and that forgiveness is always given to those that ask for it. The way religion is viewed may change over time, but it will always serve a key role in the molding of my ancestry, as well as myself.
Craig Morgan. “That’s what I love about Sunday.” My Kind of Livin’. Broken Bow, 2004. MP3.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/craigmorgan/thatswhatiloveaboutsunday.html
“That’s what I love about Sunday:
Sing along as the choir sways;
Every verse of Amazin’ Grace,
An’ then we shake the Preacher’s hand.
Go home, into your blue jeans;
Have some chicken an’ some baked beans.
Pick a back yard football team,
Not do much of anything:
That’s what I love about Sunday.”
One song that has always particularly resonated with me is “That’s What I Love About Sunday” by Craig Morgan. This song was actually the inspiration behind my project proposal, because I related to it so dearly. Craig Morgan’s song is more than just about attending church. It’s about a simple way of life and taking the time to slow down if only for one day. His song is about how Sunday brings people together, much like it does for my own family.
The first time I heard this song I thought about how much it related to my family and how I was raised. I grew up surrounded by the epitome of the traditional southern family. We went to church every Sunday. We participated in every community function. We never missed a Sunday lunch at my grandparents’ house. My dad’s family fits the classic stereotype of the tightknit, friendly, and well-mannered southern folk.
We wouldn’t be who we are today if it wasn’t for those who came before us. My ancestors passed down the importance of religion, family, and hard work. Morgan’s song encompasses the same principles that play such an integral role in my family dynamic.
Williams-León, Teresa, and Cynthia L. Nakashima. The Sum of Our Parts: Mixed- heritage Asian Americans. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2001. Print.
I focused the majority of my annotated bibliography on my Scottish heritage, but like most Americans I am a product of more than one culture. I wanted to tell the journey of how I came to be, and to do that I have to include who my mother is. I found the book The Sum of Our Parts useful in describing Asian American culture and what it entails. I only identify as a quarter Filipino, but because of how I was raised their culture has always had a large role in my life.
According to the book, “Beginning with World War II, U.S. military conflicts in Asia have created an influx of Asian ‘war brides’ in their immediate wake. Since the mid-1960s, specific Asian American ethnic groups (including Japanese, Chinese, and Filipinos) have displayed high rates of interracial marriage.” This holds true in the case of my grandparents on my mother’s side. While my grandfather was stationed in the Philippines as a Navy SEAL, he met my grandmother and presumably they fell in love and got married. After having four daughters they moved back to the states to raise their family together.
The book details how the mix of Asian and American culture is an important topic that sometimes gets brushed aside. When people think of the term mixed, they more than likely assume that it is about black and white, but the Asian American culture should not be overlooked. In the beginnings of this mixed heritage, there seemed to be a struggle with identifying what culture someone belonged to. The book examined questions like this, as well as many others. I find that because it is 14 years old, the view on Asian American culture has shifted even more. Before, it was depicted as something that could produce some confusion, but now it something to be celebrated.
If you were to look at me you would never know that my grandmother is a tiny Filipina woman who can tell stories about how she rode on the backs of water buffaloes. You would never know that every Christmas we skip the traditional ham and vouch for Filipino dishes like pancit, adobo, and gyozas. No, you would never know any of that from my appearance. If you took the time to have a conversation with me though, you would know all of that and more. I take pride in being a mixture of two cultures no matter how vastly different they might first appear.
Younge, Gary. No Place like Home: A Black Briton’s Journey through the American South. Jackson, MS: U of Mississippi, 2002. Print.
Over the course of this project I started to think about the concept of home. It has a simple enough connotation, but what does it really mean. I found this book while searching for another one day in the library and I decided to rifle through a few pages. What I found was an incredibly interesting story about one mans journey across the American south, while taking the same path the freedom riders took. While his story might not directly relate to what I’m trying to accomplish in my project, I found it interesting how his view of home changed over the course of his journey.
The book is designed to explore race relations in America. Gary Younge is a black Briton traveling and experiencing what it means to be a black man in the south firsthand. He struggles with his sense of identity and home due to his own cultural background. His parents are from Barbados, but he was raised in the United Kingdom. Yet somehow he finds he feels a sense of comfort in the American South when surrounded by people that share a similar notion to his own.
This book was a truly interesting read and made me question where I feel the most comfort. This source had a lot to offer, but for my purposes I want to focus on the idea of home and identity. The only Americans that are truly “Americans” are Native Americans. The rest of us are just a stir of the world pot that somehow ended up in this country at one point in time. I identify as an American, but I also identify as part Scottish and part Filipino. We are all the parts of our ancestors mixed into one human being, and that’s pretty incredible.
In the end I’ve decided that home can be anywhere. My home is the house I grew up in, for my great grandfather it was his Blairsville farm, for my ancestors it was a place and time in Scotland that I’ll never know. Home is more than a place though; it is the people you surround yourself with. That’s the one reason I have the same home as my ancestors. Despite being centuries apart, when we surrounded ourselves with family we were surrounded by home.
