I’m working on a literature discussion question and need support to help me study.
Transcendentalism:
A new concept idealizing the freedom of people in reference to religion, politics and philosophical beliefs.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries many writers discussed their patriotism and identity within America. The culture and love for the society created but lacking the freedom to choose as Christianity was an assigned religion and everything in regards to being taught were already in books. 
But Samson Occom argued the day Moses Paul was executed and overtime when his people were silenced and converted to “Praying Indian” communities that God uses all people as instruments for his work and the era of Transcendentalism was the right time for Occom. As insignificant as he thought he was, he felt the necessity to talk about the identity and “culture” they were forced to be yet throughout his life he used self reliance with same religion to adapt his people to this new upcoming and rising society whether wanted or not. We will discuss how Occom defined his version of American identity and speak about how he used his source of American history as a sense of self reliance and an ally towards transcendentalism. *ps the gif only works if you click it :/
Samson Occom was a citizen–even better described as a victim of Christianized Europeans who pushed their religion onto Native Americans. In 1772 he published a Sermon preached at the execution of Moses Paul, his fellow Native American, and before speaking to his now dead brother he states:
“As it was your own desire that I should preach to you this last discourse, so I shall speak plainly to you”.
Alright remember this statement,
we’re going to come back to the sermon and this specific quote but remember he is speaking PLAINLY.
Let’s start with a proper introduction to our guest, Reverend Samson Occom was born from 1723-1792. He was apart of the Mohegan nation in Connecticut and eventually became an ordained cleric in Montauk, LI. Growing up he grew into the culture of Europeans and saw how different his was in comparison, more importantly how much their heritage and history was disapproved. The first encounter Occom deals with is in 1765 as he goes with Nathaniel Whitaker to gain money for Eliza Wheelock, his mentor in hopes of providing Indian charity schools. Instead once gained the money Wheelock not only shunned Occom’s family and treated them poorly but also used the money to establish Dartmouth College, made specifically for white people. This has to be mentioned throughout the history of getting to know Occom because this was one of the first encounters aside forced European culture in general, that exemplified American culture and how they identified themselves. They portrayed themselves to Native Americans as savages who not only took over their land, but their culture and taught their ways as inhumane. They were also given the name “Praying Indians” as an outsider from the culture they were taught so they were installed with the information that they will never be equal to the Europeans but they must follow their Christian mindset. These acts helped define how he viewed America’s culture before Moses was killed and he wrote his sermon.
Revisiting the prior statement, when Occom started writing he mentioned how everything that needed to be said was already said in prior books by white people and in sermons the lectures are broken down but slightly. This is a strategy to keep majority of common people involved and entertained with information and scriptures but not enough to fully grasp it when reading it on their own. However, he had an influence that convinced himself otherwise and proceeded to write an autobiography. In everything he read and viewed he saw European culture in it’s bold, high and defined language incapable of common people understanding fully. Occom viewed his voice as the people’s voice, a simplistic everyday talk with a clear message to be God’s instrument and help in the best way he knew how. This led to him being the second Native American to publish his writings and first to write an autobiography, it was a testament as a Native American to speak for his people as “plain” and uneducated as he was in comparison to his superiors. However on the day of Moses’ execution, he asked Occom personally to speak on behalf of him and this was a form of self reliance. In the era of transcendentalism, him speaking as the minority in the room questioning their ethics behind their speech not only gave himself a voice but allowed others to speak on the colonized teachings taught and the unfair double standard justice played in the white European country. As plain as his language was at least he spoke for the purity of Christianity and not the version taught by others as it was full of sin. His view of America’s identity not only provided the flaws in humanking specifically Europeans but also brought to light by self reliance how religion and culture can be pushed upon people but can still not b accepted. Vice versa people can accept the culture and religion such as Occom but still not be respected as a person.
“Sirs, We may plainly see, from what we have heard, and from the miserable object before us, into what a doleful condition sin has brought mankind, even into a state of death and misery. We are by nature as certainly under sentence of death from God, as this miserable man is, by the just de|termination of man; and we are all dying creatures, and we are, or ought to be, sensible of it; and this is the dread|ful fruit of sin”.
My question to you is, can someone else’s culture become your own or would you feel as if you’re appropriating their beliefs? Is it easier to accept what is in front of you as history and all there is to one’s culture or would you have to live the culture and figure out if you wanted to deny the cultural background or not?
Occom, Samson. A sermon, preached at the execution of Moses Paul, an Indian; who was executed at New-Haven, on the second of September, 1772; for the murder of Mr. Moses Cook, late of Waterbury, on the 7th of December, 1771. : Preached at the desire of said Paul. / By Samson Occom, Minister of the Gospel, and missionary to the Indians. T. & S. Green., [1772], http://name.umdl.umich.edu/N09814.0001.001
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