History According to Barbauld

When people are discussing their accounts of any situation and how it developed, person to person memories always are different. For Anna Barbauld, her account of the war between France and England and other things England has done lie differently than we would think. We would expect the author to portray her homeland in a positive light and to depict it as a strong and proud nation, but she decides to be honest with her readers about her own thoughts and what she recalls of England's historical actions. Due to this honesty, Barbauld lost readers and faced harsh criticism, giving this poem a terrible reputation.

England has risen to power in this time and holds many imperial nations. In a usual native English perspective, the colonized are better off being taken over and taught the 'right' way to worship, eat, work, and ultimately live. Imperialism is expected to be beneficial to everyone. Considering this, Barbauld has a very different view of England's rise to power, realizing how little autonomy the nation has within its own citizens and what it chooses to spread among the places it conquers. Giving examples of the past imperialism to the reader allows understanding of its vast effects, "Wide spreads thy race from Ganges to the pole/ O'er half the western world thy accents roll;/ (81-82). People are speaking in these accents across the world not because they had the choice - but were given no option to live their own lives. This continues with the memories of living inside of England and the inequality that comes from this. The readers are given a new slant on England and its hypocrisy, "Whose image to my infant senses came/Mixt with Religion's light and Freedom's holy flames!" (68-70). The author is explaining how freedom does not actually exist for the Englishman and despite the bright and proud history the population may claim, she recognizes the reality of the government that she and her fellow citizens are under. Freedom of religion does not exist for English men and women, and the author herself feels that pressure as she believes differently than Anglicans do. To pride themselves as a progressive nation and a supreme world power, it appears to be thought that the English should allow their people to worship as they wish and live independently of any harsh structures making the average person unhappy by the author. Barbauld is writing to subtlety let her feelings known on the history of England as to how they pride themselves on freedom and a great life for the citizens but actually oppress people's beliefs and force people to conform.

Another memory of history within the poem is when the author discusses the Battle of Trafalgar with the heroes of the battle and the perspective history takes versus the perspective of the author. In history it seems that the naval officer, Nelson, and his crew are put on a pedestal of great service and upheld as the highest of bravery and valor. The author is pointing out such acts of violence that this naval battle committed and the entire ill-humanity of war is not as glorious or well-meaning as England would have its citizens and readers of its acts believe, but are hugely harmful and wrong. When describing the aftermath of the battle and the real consequences of it, Barbauld references other negative points in history, "And Nature's coyest secrets were disclosed;/ Join with their Franklin, Priestley's injured name,/ Whom, then each continent shall proudly claim" (202-205). Unlike history likes to paint these public figures with great courage and discovery, Barbauld remembers the reality of the damage done, humanity lost, and problems caused by these wars and imperialistic actions England takes.

Discussing "Eighteen Hundred and Eleven,” a Poem requires us to look at what the author's real opinions are and how she describes past events and upcoming events, and the warnings she gives to England's way of life and government. Barbauld warns her readers that all that glitters is not gold, and that the empire that England has tried to create can fade, "And when midst fallen London they survey/the stone where Alexander's ashes lay,/ Shall own with humbled pride the lesson just/ By Time's slow finger written in the dust" (211-215). The author recognizes history for what it is, knowing that it is the biased version of what her country has done. Within this account of great knowledge, art, and morals that England has supposedly made, she states to the reader that this will not last because the wars and imperialism are not sustainable, and this nation will turn to dust just as ones before it if there is no reform.

While thinking about Anna Barbauld's account of her country's lack of insight to its own history, I could not help thinking about the United States and the recent movie I saw, Selma. When established, it was justice for all, equality, the pursuit of happyness, and the United States still likes to brush over its own history with how freedom flies and we are all equal. The movie remembers the history differently, with a reminder of how civil rights were a problem only fifty years ago, and are still very much in progress now. The song from the movie, "Glory," can be found here, with lyrics that speak to these issues. 

Questions:

1) Does Barbauld make her readers appreciate her viewpoint? Do you think she was right to use her methods of comparison and rhetoric to give history a realistic element?

2) Does the author succeed in her accounts of history, or is she too far on the other side? Are her negative thoughts well-received by a neutral audience (like that of our class)?