Schiff 1Tyrone Schiff Chandra Bhimull & Janam MukherjeeHistory 22923 February, 2006Together Forever In the film,

Back to the Future II

, the main character, Marty McFly, travels back from the past to an alternative and different future due to the fact that he had disturbed thenatural order of things in a time before his own. His tampering with the abstract conceptsof space and time had tangible effects on the future he returned to. This scenario broachesthe question of what sort of relationship exists between the past and the present. At firstglimpse, the answer may seem somewhat complex, yet just as Marty McFly came torealize the inexorable connection that existed between his past and present, so too shallthe contents of this paper depict that deep rooted and unavoidable relationship. There area number of writings from historians, anthropologists, and historical anthropologists thatnot only show the connection between these frames in time, but also the power strugglethat exists in the documenting of history. Due to the fact that the concept of past and present is so abstract, two empirical cases will be the focal point of this paper. In particular, this paper will address the trial and execution of John Brown and theHolocaust. It will be shown that these two historical events inevitably went on to shape asocietal or cultural identity for each that persisted into the present.In order to gain a more thorough understanding of this relationship between the past and present, E. E. Evans-Pritchard gives us the following context in which to viewhistory, “history is the movement by which a society reveals itself as what it is” (Evans-

Schiff 2Pritchard, 56). This quotation, thus, sets the foundation for the paper, because it assertsthat history is a component of a society or culture’s identity. Historical events formulatean ever evolving concept of one’s society and culture.In order to elaborate on Evans-Pritchard’s definition of history, the story of JohnBrown’s body will be discussed. John Brown was an African-American who was going to be executed during the Civil War. The thing that makes the story of John Brown sointriguing is the impact that his death had on the society and culture that he was apart of.During the Civil War, the way in which a corpse was treated started to have sizeablesignificance. Having one’s corpse paraded around could be interpreted as praiseworthy or sacrilegious. However, John Brown recognized that a “war for emancipation could beviewed as a holy endeavor,” and wished to die for his African-American brethren as amartyr of freedom (Nudelman, 10).Additionally, there existed an interesting power struggle in John Brown’s case.The governor of Virginia at the time, Wise, “defied those who warned that executionwould turn the traitor Brown into a hero” (Nudelman, 9). Wise was so focused ondepicting Brown as a traitor that he even thought about methods of how to manipulate thefuture’s perception of him. By not allowing journalists or the public close to the actualsite of the hanging, and rather surrounding him with military force, Wise tried toindoctrinate the public with a feeling as though John Brown was a traitor. Others wouldargue that this secrecy excites the public more, and thus would become even moreinterested in the case of John Brown. This power struggle between depicting what is realand what someone may want to be real was more than true in Brown’s case.

Schiff 3The reason that John Brown’s death ultimately went on to shape and mold theidentity of his culture is due to the following passage in Franny Nudelman’s book,

John Brown’s Body

, “Brown’s martyrdom prefigured a wartime nationalism that relied onindividual self-sacrifice and took the escalated violence to be a source of collectiveidentity rather than a threat to the state’s identity” (Nudelman, 17). This quote reveals thatduring this tumultuous time of war, the only way to relay anything significant was by thismethod of self-sacrifice or martyrdom. However, when people took notice of this self-sacrifice, they rallied behind its cause, because it represented “bravery…and patriotism”(Nudelman, 14). The people that rallied behind him were sympathizers in the North, butmore so, it was the African-American society that took him in and embraced him. Theactions of John Brown and his attempt to be a martyr for the African-American culture brought the entire African-American society together. Therefore, Brown essentiallycreated a national identity for African-Americans.The implications of this are tremendous. During the Civil War, the slaves wereemancipated. John Brown, although dead, had helped to give these ex-slaves an identityof their own. This ultimately helped band the culture together and work towards acommon goal of equality due to the fact that they all had a common identity that stemmedfrom John Brown and their past. Although not every African-American may know of thelife of John Brown, their past, present, and identity hinge upon his martyr for their freedom.Again it will be helpful to consult with Evans-Pritchard as he explains that, “It[history] is not concerned so much with a succession of events as with the moralsignificance of situations, and is hence often allegorical or symbolical in form” (Evans-