Peter Cartwright

This autobiography of Peter Cartwright is his account of his travels to Kentucky as a child. His family has one of the first families to move to Kentucky which at that time was wilderness. As with that time period battles with indians were common place. As Kentucky grew as a state and more people moved there as Cartwright says "civilization advanced considerably".  To go along with the time period churchs played a big role in there life and it was no different here, with every denomination trying to get as many souls as possible.

Cartwright has a normal kid doing things that is parents didnt approve of, but then one day he fell ill. He gave up his past life and devoted his life to God. Church meetings were held and many people would come from long distances to hear the word of God. The methdist preachers spoke out against slavery in a time were slavery was common place in the south. One reason why they didnt like it, the young master's of these slaves would be tempted as Cartwright put it "young masters are often tempted and seduced from the paths of virtue." They didnt want the masters to be mixing bloods with the black slaves. He goes on to talk about how the "west" has grown since the time he moved out there. How the size of churches and preachers have grown as well.


Peter Cartwright's story is one of the Amercian Dream. He started out with nothing, moved to the wilderness, and was the typical teen growing up. He had a change of heart around the age of 16, left his sinning ways in the past. Went on as an adult to follow the church and try to live his life the way the church and God wanted him too. I dont know if he was well off, but in life a person with all of the money in the world may not be happy. A person with little to no money might be happier if he has his lift in order and i think Peter Cartwright did have his life in order.