Tuesday, March 16, 2010
An Empire for Slavery
I found chapter 3, An Empire for Slavery (78-116), to be very moving and sad. I think that reading about the lives of the runaway slaves really helped to make it real to me. I hope that if I had lived during that time (mid 1800's) that I would have had the strength to help slaves escape from such a retched life. I wrote in the margins comments like "thank goodness", "my hero", and alright!", when Northerners helped or sent ex-slaves to England. I also learned more about the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin"(88-91). Even though I show the students the movie during the time we are studying about slavery, I gained a whole new perspective on the importance of this book and the impact it had on the world. I am excited to share this new knowledge with my students.
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When you get to Chapter 18 and read how both sides treated free-men and contraband as well as blacks in the army it is very disheartening to realize the racial bigotry that was rampant at the time. Even those opposed to slavery seemed to be bigoted. The way Davis' government treated captured blacks and their officers gives an indication of the era.
ReplyDeleteI've just been learning about that, Mark. I was surprised to hear about about it and how much bigotry seemed to be so common place back then.
ReplyDeleteBCOF pages 594-595 sums it up: "'In the name of God,' cried a former governor of Illinois in December, 1862, 'no more bloodshed to gratify a religious fanaticism.' An Ohio editor branded Lincoln a 'half-witted usurper' and his Emancipation Proclamation 'monstrous, impudent, and heinous...insulting to God as to man, for it declares those 'equal' whom God created unequal.'" (Cox,"Puritanism in Politics"
ReplyDeleteFor a great book of primary source material, look at To Be a Slave by Julius Lester. It has recorded accounts from slaves of their experiences. These show the perspective of the slave which for most of us is a totally new view. I think that it is important for students to be exposed to as many different viewpoints as possible. I question whether 5th graders could digest some of the material, but middle and high school students could explore and discuss, I believe.
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