Sylvester Graham

Personal Statement

Hello, my name is Sylvester Graham. Yes, just like the crackers (probably because I did invent them). But before I had created this source of high nutritional value, I was born on the 5th of July in the year 1794 in West Suffield, CT. My father was a clergyman at 72 years of age when I was born as his 17th child, then he shortly died while I was a toddler. This could’ve been the start of my mother’s emotional and mental trauma. I was sent to live in various households because of her instability, I sought out different vocations but I turned to following my father’s footsteps, I joined the ministry, becoming a Presbyterian clergyman. I had entered Amherst College in 1823 but I failed to graduate. Around this time, I had married a woman named Sarah Earl then I joined the Pennsylvania Temperance Society. I had a following called The Grahamites, they supported my nutritional and sexual views. However, even if I did have a good amount of followers, I still received harsh criticism from the media, butchers, and commercial bakers.

Issues

I took after William Metcafe’s ideas of vegetarianism and abstinence. I concerned myself greatly with the Dietary Reform of the Antebellum of the United States, and argued that chemical additives within bread was unwholesome. Use of alum and chlorine to whiten bread though was a common practice among bakeries, causing commercial bakers to hate me. In regards to abstinence, the public and the media thought I was unbecoming of a minister because I spoke so freely about sexual ideas. Some even claim that women have fainted during my lectures because of my opinions on corsets.

Solutions

I believe that an unhealthy diet could lead to increased libido. Therefore, having good nutritional values would lead one to a healthy life free of sexual constraints. Although a lot of people criticized me for my opinions and how I aired them, I stand firmly by them. In fact, I had to leave ministering to pursue being an in-demand lecturer. I had a lot of ideal lifestyles, such as: taking frequent showers in cold clean water, hard mattresses, vigorous exercise, and loose clothing. I was highly in favor of temperance; however, I was often overworked to the point that I had to retire lecturing in 1839 then worked as a writer struggling with emotional and mental issues, similar to my mother. But even with these obstacles, I managed to co-found the American Vegetarian Society in 1850, and published “Lectures on the the Science of Human Life” and “Lectures to Young Men on Chastity”. In the process, I had influenced a lot of people and their nutritional views, one notable figure being John Harvey Kellogg, a man who was later to be known for his breakfast cereals.

Relationships With Others

I had heard that Mary Cheney was an advocate of Graham’s Diet (avoiding meat, alcohol, and spices), so I think it would be interesting to sit next to her (supposedly oppressive) husband, Horace Greeley. I think it would be lovely to sit next to Mother Ann Lee because of our common protest against sexual relations. I would hate to be seated next to Ralph Waldo Emerson because he mocked me in one of his editorials calling me the “poet of bran and pumpkins”.

Robert Owen

Robert Owen

Personal Statement: Hello everyone, my name is Robert Owen. I was born on May 14, 1771 in Montgomeryshire, Wales in England. Although some may say that my intelligence was above average, the reality is that I did not go to school past the age of 10, when I began to work at the new textile mills. I was very fortunate because at the age of 21 I was able to climb the ranks and become the manager of a mill in England. At a very early age, I was concerned with the conditions of factory workers and with the conditions at the mill I was working in in New Lanark, England. This drove me farther and farther into what some may now call utopian socialism. The mill in New Lanark ended up being a great success because of the praise from others. I would say that my mill was one of the great mills in the nation in terms of my relationship with the workers. After this success, I decided that I wanted to create something better for the society. In the early 19th century, I began a community that I believed would be the best for the world. Unfortunately, my experiments in America and England did not work as well as I intended. In fact, none of my experiments lasted as long as I wish they could have. Nevertheless, I can say that I am an important part of England, America, and the rest of the world. I fought for many rights that weren't available to people at the time including, but not limited to, free education, better working conditions, and women’s rights. I contributed to American history because what I am fighting for was and is showing signs of improvement.

        

       Issue: The issues that I believe should be mended are important to me because I believe that, as a society, we should be more civil and have more rights. More specifically, the problems I have with society include the problem with the mills that are spreading around the world, our well being in general, and the rights of everyone in the nation. For example, should we be putting children to work so early and so long without them having enough education? Should we allow our wives and daughters to be slaves to their husbands? And should we be allowing our sons and other men to be tied to alcohol to the point where it is a danger to keep them at work? I don’t think that our society is as good as it should be. We should strive to make it exemplary so everyone can live a great life.

       Solutions: I believe that our society should follow a community of socialism where the distribution of goods can be more evenly spread throughout the nation. This is to prevent the problems facing the lower class of society. Next, the issue of education should be fixed by allowing as many children as possible have free education. The reason for this is so our children can grow up and continue to make our society better for generations to come. As for women’s rights, I don’t believe that how we are treating women should be allowed. Instead of confining the women to be “chained” to their husbands, I believe that they should be free to do more of what they wish. Similarly, I believe that all slaves should be released. We do not need slaves to further the world. As a worker of the mills in England, I have concluded that the conditions presented to the workers are unacceptable. Working for 10-12 hours is not a job, it’s suppression of the people. Finally, alcoholism is a problem that should be solved as fast as possible. Temperance should be enforced in order to make things more peaceful and productive.

       

       Relationship to Others: I would feel comfortable talking to many people at this dinner party because most of the people here are fighting for the same things I am fighting for. The person that I have met and bought land for one of the communities is here, Joann Georg Rapp and I would sit next to him for giving me the opportunity to create my experiment. I would also sit next to one of the co-founders to the American Temperance Movement, Lyman Beecher. Finally, I would probably feel comfortable sitting next to Susan B. Anthony because of her belief in the women’s movement. I would not feel comfortable sitting next to Charles Finney, Joseph Smith, and Brigham Young because I do not believe in their religions and I believe in religious toleration.