Thursday, September 1, 2011

Cartwright


                The autobiography of Peter Cartwright describes to us the life of Mr. Cartwright and his journey towards preaching. In the preface, Cartwright explains that he has felt compelled for quite some time that he should write his autobiography.  Cartwright continues the preface by hyping up the Methodist Episcopal preachers of the West (himself included), claiming the majority of them were illiterate and had few Holy books, but spread religion much better than modern (referring to around 1856) preachers, who had an abundance more resources and easier living conditions than he and his brethren had.
                Cartwright’s autobiography begins as he paints the picture of his adolescent life. As a child, Cartwright’s family immigrated to the hostile land of Kentucky. Kentucky was a prosperous land, abundant with various game and resources, but was controlled by many Native American tribes. The Native Americans were reluctant to lose this land to new white settlers, thus resulting in many vicious battles between the Native Americans and white settlers. Ultimately the white settlers prevailed. I found one line to be particularly ironic in the autobiography. In paragraph three (not including the preface), Cartwright says, “[Kentucky] was chiefly settled by Virginians, as noble and brave a race of men and women…” I find this to be ironic because in Cartwright’s eyes these people are noble and brave, but to the Native Americans, these same people blatantly stole from them land that was rightfully theirs. Another intriguing comment to me that I found biased was the last line of paragraph four:  “…the country soon filled up, and entered into the enjoyment of improved and civilized life…” Again, through Cartwright’s eyes life is improved and civilized, yet, to the Native Americans, life has completely been turned upside down.
                Cartwright continues by describing his life as a child as well as the development of Kentucky, including the rapid rise of the Methodist church. Particularly, Cartwright describes himself as a wicked child who loved to gamble. Ultimately, this would lead Cartwright down a path of self-turmoil and sin until he one day had an epiphany and sought God. Cartwright goes into a state of depression. This must have been odd to the other members of society as there was no such diagnosis as depression at the time. After many attempts at finding salvation, it is not until one of the public church meetings that Cartwright finally considers himself saved. I find it interesting that Cartwright never felt fully saved until he had others witness his salvation. This probably had to do with the rapid spread of Christianity through the new settlement.
                After his salvation, Cartwright becomes a preacher, spreading the word of the Methodist church. The story continues as Cartwright explains the growing of the church and also the struggles of the church. Different denominations of Christianity were springing up, and certain denominations opposed others. In Cartwright’s case, the Predistinarians tried to stop the revival of the church. These splits in the church date back to the time of people like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin. In the time of the Roman Catholic Church, the Church and papacy had become corrupt and these men sought to reform Christianity. They each had their own take on the Bible and how to find salvation, thus creating many different dichotomies in the Church.
                Cartwright also goes into some detail about the Methodist church and its views on slavery. The Methodist church was not in favor of slavery and believed it was a moral evil. Interestingly enough, Cartwright pretty much predicts the Civil War that would soon take place.

Eric Kosco

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