Rick Lee's Questions for May 4/5
Is it the end of the semester already? I don't know about you, but I wish we had more time! In lieu of the coming final we will spend the last week thinking in broad synthetic themes: coming to terms with our partriarchal arc for the semester, talking about the coming Civil War, and (if time permits) discussing the recent commercial boom in Confederate symbols (I've seen them in North Dakota, no kidding).
To discuss and blog your hearts out:
1. Was the Civil War fought primarily over slavery? Feel free to explain your position.
2. In the same vein, take a look at the Mississippi Declaration of Causes of Secession. How did the people of Mississippi (or at least the politicians) explain their justifications of secession? Don't stop at the beginning just b/c it says "slavery."
3. How has this semester's "patriarchal" approach affected the way you understand American history before the Civil War? How is it different from what you learned in high school or from watching the History Channel?
Blog away my babies, blog away.
To discuss and blog your hearts out:
1. Was the Civil War fought primarily over slavery? Feel free to explain your position.
2. In the same vein, take a look at the Mississippi Declaration of Causes of Secession. How did the people of Mississippi (or at least the politicians) explain their justifications of secession? Don't stop at the beginning just b/c it says "slavery."
3. How has this semester's "patriarchal" approach affected the way you understand American history before the Civil War? How is it different from what you learned in high school or from watching the History Channel?
Blog away my babies, blog away.
posted by Anonymous at 3:12 PM
4 Comments:
(here's a few questions about Clotel from our very own Taylor Mitchell)
1. Do you think that Thomas Jefferson’s alleged interactions between himself and his slave women had anything to do with his reluctance to free his slaves in accordance to the implied principles of the Declaration of Independence, or do you believe he continued to own slaves in his attempts to “live beyond his means” as Jefferson was normally apt to do? Explain.
2. Do you think that slaves mentioned in Clotel considered themselves property, or that they generally viewed themselves as equal to whites, just merely oppressed? Do you think these ideas were in essence "bred" into them? Do you think this state of mind is what prompted some slaves to run and others to stay?
I think that the slaves viewed themselves to be less than the whites and certainly as property. Many of them knew nothing else. So I guess it was, in a sense, "bred" into them. They simply knew nothing of freedom or rights as human beings. I think many of the slaves just accepted slavery as a part of life. Some of the slaves were too scared to run away. Kind of like the scene in "The Shawshank Redemption" when the old dude was going to be released from prison... he attempted to kill a guy, just so he wouldn't have to leave. He grew to be afraid of the idea of freedom, especially since he had been incarcerated for so long. He was too scared to start a new life outside of prison. I think that is what many slaves experienced...
P.S. "The Shawshank Redemption" is a great movie...
-Pat O'Mara
POST
Contrary to other posts, slavery was part of the reason for the civil war, not becuase of the fact that the north thought it was inherantly bad, but the fact that it was part of the differences that seperated the north and the south, slavery somewhat embodies the souths agricutlural ties, while the north is more of an industrial area. A greater reason the south left the union was the difference in lifestyle, such as the view of "southern gentelman" and the idea of nobility in the south, as well as political differences.
In response to question 3: This semester's patriarchal approach gave me a better understanding of the way life was at the time and how it affected or influenced events that occurred. In high school I don't remember my teachers going into detail about patriarchy. The teachers seemed to stay focused on us knowing terms and wars. It was more memorization that understanding and applying. They never really put an emphasis on the way that life was during that time or how it affected the huge events that took place.
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