"The Sot-weed Factor"

The writer, Cook, describes his journey to America and his findings once he gets there.  After his rocky and long voyage to America he was appalled at the status of which the people were living and acting.  The citizens were in very raggedy clothing, their manners were lacking, they couldn't hold a good conversation and seemed to lack some common sense.  Quickly the writer comes to the conclusion that these people must have been fleeing from their past, saying they must have left home to come to this new land to escape their evils.  He also talks about the new experiences he has in this new land, for instance the canoo which he made very clear they did not have in his home country.  He discusses how he stands in this canoo with his arms wide.  Later he talks about the female voice which he follows into greener pastures to find a herd of cattle driven by a youth.  

When Cook writes about coming to America it really gives me a better idea of how everything was set up and how poor Americans really were in the beginning.  As I thought about how poor this country was in the beginning and how far we've come in such a short amount of time compared to other countries it made me think of Americans as well.  Americans love to see people start from nothing and then work their way up to power and fame, but then once they've reached that point Americans want to see those people fall.  In the same way, America was built up from nothing, from the people that were no longer welcome in their home country.  Now some countries around the world would love to see America fall from being a super power and to see us fail. It really shows me how everything ties together from our history to the attitudes of people today.

Reading about the "detested race" made me also think about how this country was really built up.  We were truly started by those who were unwanted or needed to get out of their home country because they were being persecuted.  I feel like the amount of judgement that goes on this country now is ironic because we were truly built up by the very people that we shove our noses up to now.  Although there was a lot of judgement going on back when this country was started, seeing that we were really built on the backs of those who fled shouldn't we be a little more accepting of everyone today?  If America isn't proof that something amazing can come from essentially nothing, what is?

When thinking about this man standing up in a canoo I honestly chuckled.  Where I'm from canooing is something EVERYONE does over the summer.  When my idiot friends try to stand up in a canoo they usually end up flipping the thing over.  As I read this part I half hoped he would flip the canoo and fall in.  I'm not so much of a fan of this man because of the amount he instantly judges the people in American that came before him.