Town Hall Reacts

    The Town Hall discussion was a large success with many viewpoints expressed.  I think the class did an impressive job setting the stage and getting into character.  When listening to everyones presentations I felt like everyone had a good understanding of what they were presenting.  

    I have never been apart of a discussion like this before and I think it was very interesting.  It's not everyday you hear arguments in favor of slavery, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't hear them.  Looking back and understanding the time period is extremely important because now we understand why things were wrong, but to understand why they were done is equally important.  

    On the side "advocating" for slavery there was mainly an economic approach.  An aspect of slavery you often forget about is their huge impact on the economy.  It was such a way of life at that point that it was often a mans way of making a living.  The pro slavery side did a good job of displaying the importance on the economy.  Another part of slavery touched on by the pro slavery side was religion.  Religion, like today, has a strong effect on people and the way they live their lives.  So since we all had to get into this time period, there was a strong emphasis on religion.

    I think my favorite part of this activity was listening to the indifferent point of view of Abraham Lincoln.  I was arguing on the side of anti-slavery, but there was the option for an indifferent Abe Lincoln.  I really enjoyed listening to his portrayal because when you research someone you look for certain things.  In my case I was searching mainly for his anti slavery point of view, when the opposing could be searching for quite the opposite.  I found it interesting because, if you know Abe Lincoln you know he freed the slaves, but his indifferent argument showed his concern with keeping it in place without the true feeling that it was right.  This eventually changed overtime as he eventually went on to change and abolish slavery.