Thomas Swann Woodcock
Ricardo S. Hernandez
Professor Wildoner
History 104-61
31 October 2012
The Ship Has Sailed
As Americans living in the United States, we don 't often get to see or experience what others think of us in other parts of the world. Most can only speculate and wonder. Thomas Swann Woodcock came to the United States in 1830 from England. In his writings, he left us a short passage in his life through the Erie Canal. These writings left us his opinions of what he was seeing in the U.S. as an outsider trying to understand a new land. He couldn 't find his own words to quote what he had seen, so he quoted someone else to say that what he saw was “indescribable.” Thomas Woodcock saw an incredible country that had accomplished great scientific and architectural feats. Yet, he had also seen what horrible lows the American people had succumb to in order to accomplish their feats.
A person living in Mr. Woodcocks time could marvel at the many feats the Americans had accomplished. In the opening of his short account, he describes luxuries we strive for in current days. We currently pay extra for everything. If we raise a fuss about our situation, nobody listens. Instead, prices go up because of unrest. But, in his writings he describes how he was able to travel from stop to stop, and from ship to ship quickly, and was always provided “first rate” accommodations. Even more so, prices had dropped due to “opposition” of the project.
Reading Mr. Woodcocks accounts, one could only guess who where opposing anything, or what. He initially describes such a wonderful journey, and then he starts getting deep into thought about what he is actually seeing. He starts to see what the toll of the construction has brought about.
Thomas saw the land tore up. There were old log cabin houses that were now decaying and littering the landscape. For the creation of these artificial river systems and dams, the ground was brought up and trees were uplifted. Instead of cleaning up the mess in those days,
Professor Wildoner
History 104-61
31 October 2012
The Ship Has Sailed
As Americans living in the United States, we don 't often get to see or experience what others think of us in other parts of the world. Most can only speculate and wonder. Thomas Swann Woodcock came to the United States in 1830 from England. In his writings, he left us a short passage in his life through the Erie Canal. These writings left us his opinions of what he was seeing in the U.S. as an outsider trying to understand a new land. He couldn 't find his own words to quote what he had seen, so he quoted someone else to say that what he saw was “indescribable.” Thomas Woodcock saw an incredible country that had accomplished great scientific and architectural feats. Yet, he had also seen what horrible lows the American people had succumb to in order to accomplish their feats.
A person living in Mr. Woodcocks time could marvel at the many feats the Americans had accomplished. In the opening of his short account, he describes luxuries we strive for in current days. We currently pay extra for everything. If we raise a fuss about our situation, nobody listens. Instead, prices go up because of unrest. But, in his writings he describes how he was able to travel from stop to stop, and from ship to ship quickly, and was always provided “first rate” accommodations. Even more so, prices had dropped due to “opposition” of the project.
Reading Mr. Woodcocks accounts, one could only guess who where opposing anything, or what. He initially describes such a wonderful journey, and then he starts getting deep into thought about what he is actually seeing. He starts to see what the toll of the construction has brought about.
Thomas saw the land tore up. There were old log cabin houses that were now decaying and littering the landscape. For the creation of these artificial river systems and dams, the ground was brought up and trees were uplifted. Instead of cleaning up the mess in those days,