The use of energy has been common in all of the readings we have discussed thus far. While in class today, we were discussing our feelings about Hank Morgan and his treatment of others. His ability to motivated the masses and persuade them into doing work, and to stop wasting their human power. As i sat there, i began to relate Hank’s experience in the 6th Century with the social changes we have observed between the 19th Century and present day. When Hank arrived in the 6th Century, human power was being wasted; people were unproductive (by Hank’s modern sense of the term). Being from the future, Hank knew that each person was of greater worth than they were at the time. Increasing productivity by giving people greater self-worth and harnessing their power, Hank was able to create enormous amounts of social construction. Similarly, the enslavement of humans in the 19th century was a waste of human power, and it wasn’t until the realization that slaves were capable of more than their current societal worth that social reformation and growth came about.
In “The Connecticut Yankee,” Hank is dropped into the 6th Century where there is no work being done. Hank, coming from the industrial future, views all of the non-workers as lesser humans than he. His judgements are based upon their inability or unwillingness to work and contribute to production. To change this, he begins to educate them, they learn to speak more like he does, and eventually he also puts them to work. These changes that Hank imposed upon the 6th Century people brought them greater value by his standards. Their work and education led to Hank’s heightened opinion of their worth.
This transformation in Hank is similar to the transformation in American society from the days of enslavement to present day. During the 19th Century, slaves were (just as the people seen in Connecticut Yankee) uneducated and underused. The use of human beings as slaves for manual labor was a complete waste of human potential and power. As an underused power source, slaves were looked down upon. Just as Hank looked down upon the “lazy” people, people also looked down upon slaves. A change in perception was created, however, by a realization of their capabilities, just as happened in “The Connecticut Yankee.” As the man-power potential of the slaves was realized, they began to gain more rights and have access to education and language and writing. These elements (also seen in the book) added value to the slaves as they began to gain recognition as humans. As the years passed, the capabilities of slaves was realized, their energy was harnessed, and their powers were used for more constructive systems than that of slavery. And it is through this phenomenon that the link between “The Connecticut Yankee” and American slavery can be drawn as a relationship of human energy and power being harnessed to generate increased production and worth.