In the book Sam Patch the Famous Jumper, written by Paul E Johnson, a story is told about an American daredevil who risked his life by leaping off of waterfalls during the 1820’s. Sam Patch grew up in a town called Pawtucket, a small-town near Rhode Island. Pawtucket was known for its family owned small shops, textile manufacturing, and snuff mills. Sam’s life began troubled as he grew up with a drunken father who was never around, and a mom who struggled to keep him and his siblings fed and employed. His fathers name was Mayo Greenleaf, and he had owned no land which was one of the most embarrassing things for a father with a family during the 1820’s. With little to no father figure, Sam Patch started working in the mills at a young age, but quickly learned that there was more to life beyond the mill’s walls. Patch believed that a man’s art was “his identity-defining skill” (Johnson pg.91). Any job or strength could be considered an art in Patch’s eyes and it proved a mans worth. Sam Patch created an identity- defining art skill for himself by jumping off of waterfalls, each jump proving his worth to the crowd and proving that there was no height to tall for his bold soul.
Art was an important word in Sam Patch’s dictionary. It was the ruling word…show more content… Patch’s Fourth of July jump at Clinton Bridge is an example of a time he used jumping to prove his worth and make a statement. He jumped to confront Timothy Crane, an entrepreneur who turned a forest into a community park. This jump proved Sam’s worth that he wasn't afraid of anyone and that he “called up a world in which things completely done established a democracy of respect among the doers” (pg. 96) His plan was to distract the crowd from the opening day of the park because he did not agree with the fact that the park was mainly for rich people. Jumping was Sam’s way of telling Timothy Crane
