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Aaron Hovest Instructor: Shirley Green History 205 February 16, 2009 My Journey to the New World
First let me start by introducing myself. My name is Aaron Hovest. I am a twenty year old German farmer looking for a fresh start. I am not married and have no kids. I associate myself with Christianity. The land that I farm now has become so desolate that I cannot yield a crop anymore. I have no money and therefore I must go to the world as an indentured servant for seven years before I can work for myself. Being the age that I am, I do not feel like this is a bad situation to get into. My whole life I have known nothing but the land that stand on now. I wish to see what lies past the horizon in the new world. I have decided to try and settle in the colony of Jamestown, Virginia. Here I will try my hand in growing tobacco, although I am not used to such a crop. I chose Jamestown for several reasons. The first is that I will receive 50 acres of land outright, and hearing how tobacco grows easily in this place, I feel that I can make a living off of it. I have heard that growing such a crop requires intensive care, but I already know what kind of work ethic I have. I should have little trouble in producing my crops. I was also enticed to go to Virginia when I saw a brochure with some very interesting statistics. On this brochure it read, “We will not condemn your lifestyle,” and, “You have the chance to become very wealthy.” Also on this brochure there was a testimonial from John Hammond that caught my eye. It read, “I affirm the Country to be wholesome, healthy and fruitful.” He also went on to describe the climate and it does not sound like a bad place to live. The part I liked best about his testimonial was, “beer is indeed in some places constantly drunken.” The Massachusetts Bay Colony did not excite me because it was more of a religious colony. Although I am a Christian, I felt that there intentions were good, but too extreme for me. Plus, the land there is not very suitable for agriculture beyond food. I have grown food my whole life so far and I want to venture out into something new. I looked at a brochure for this colony as well and I just did not feel like it was the place for me. My number one concern was how strict I thought they were. I am not saying that I will do and say whatever I please at the expense of the others. I like to think of myself as an honest and decent man. I just do not want to be fussing about making sure I am following all of the rules. And if there is such an instance where I do lose my temper, I don’t want to end up like Philip Ratcliffe. I heard he was ordered to be whipped, have his ears cut off, fined 40 pounds, and banished out of the village for what I perceived as him speaking his mind. There are not enough words in the world to describe how excited I am to venture to the new world. I will arrive in England two weeks from tomorrow and then I ship out the next day. Life is like an unfinished book. There are always new chapters to write. I hope this will work out for me, for this is my one chance to make something of myself. To do something nobody else that I know is doing. May God bless me on my journey and keep me safe. |
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