Sorry this is late, I had to wait and write it on a campus computer because my home laptops seem to have some kind of virus that is blocking Blogspot. Anybody know how to fix computers?
Several years ago, I wrote a senior thesis at my undergrad, Wells College, about soldier's motivations for enlisting and fighting in the Civil War, and one of the soldiers that I focused on was very similar to the young New England men that Rothman uses in the first section of her book. His name was Charles Russell Lowell, and he was considered a "Boston Brahmin," a member of the well-educated, wealthy elite of Boston society. Lowell came to mind while I was reading this book because he always seemed not to totally fit in with his peers: he did go to college, but after graduation, when his friends and cousins were becoming lawyers and ministers, Lowell decided to pursue business and led a relatively physically active life working in iron mills and foundries. He also spent two years traveling through Europe. I always wondered why he chose a labor intensive career instead of studying, like so many other Boston Brahmin seemed to do. While reading Rothman, it occurred to me that much of his letters and diaries are concerned with his health. He often wrote to his mother to reassure her that he wasn't studying too much, that he was getting outside often, or to tell her about how when he did study too much, he felt very ill. He was always sick, or avoiding being sick, and was very preoccupied with always leading a health, balanced life. Perhaps he pursued his travels and more labor intensive career because of (as Rothman argues) this idea that physical labor or activity was more healthful for peope struggling with disease. I would have to do more research to see what the nautre of his illness was, but it seems possible that it could have been consumption.
I'm sure I have now thoroughly bored you all. See you next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment