Oceanus Hopkins

Oceanus Hopkins

This storybird doesn't offer embed code. I think it might tomorrow. It is under review I'm gathering. You could look next week and see what is up with it! Siri

The link to the story bird is above. I changed many parts of the story, but am unable to make it meet the requirements of Storybird Administration reqirements.

(To embed your storybird you must make it public, then go to share it, grab the embed code. Come here, click edit. Put your cursor where you want the story to appear. Click insert, choose HTML, click allow javascript.  Click next and then click save. The storybird should appear when you click save. Delete this text when you are done! )

Oceanus Hopkins Explanation

This storybird represents the time in history when the separatists leave England and come to America. On the way Elizabeth, one of the 3 pregnant women on the ship, has a son. She names him Oceanus after being born on the ocean journey.   In The Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, this is represented on pages 11-12. "Taking their cue from Paul's admonition 'come out among them, and be separate,' the separatists were puritans who had determined that the church of England was not a true church of Christ. If they were to remain true to their faith, they must form a church of what were known as visible saints...". 

It explains one of the reasons they are leaving for America is to have religious freedom. It also is represented on page 4 where they mention Oceanus being born."Elizabeth had given birth to a son, appropriately named Oceanus..."

This is important to consider because at the time the Church of England was difficult for many people to work with. Many people did not agree with the decisions being made, which cause people to sail to America. If the Pilgrims did not sail, would we exist? Immigration has caused many ethnicity's to mix. Many Americans can trace their lineage back to the mayflower or groups who came over shortly after that. If they didn't come would we be here? If we would have been born, would we be living in this free (not so free) country?

When I think about it now I realize that If it weren't for these adventurous people I would not be here today. Both sets of my grandparents would have never met I wouldn't be here! The control of America would be in someone else hands. China would most likely be the only world power because they had a connecting land mass (during winter-Ice) that could have allowed them access to this fertile, enormous land mass. We are, for the most part, a peaceful nation. I believe this world would look disastrous if This group didn't sail to America. I also learned that if we want to continue to learn in this world, we need to have our students be courageous, adventurers.

Another way to read this turning point would be to consider, If we didn't invade America would the Native American Indians be a world power? I question this because they helped us advance in a new and strange land and we helped them advance in technology and trade. But could the Natives have risen to a high power or even England rise to a high power with out the 2 groups of people joining together?

I still wonder what happened to Oceanus. What did he grow up to do? Was he important? Or was he just a man in the crowd? Did he do great things? What happened to him after his mom, dad and him got off the ship?

Created by: Alys Mosher

Return to Turning Points