GWTW Reflection

    I had always heard of the movie Gone With The Wind but I had never seen it until now.  Very few movies made back then can be timeless, enjoyable and informational still today.  The movie was made 84 years ago but still has such an effect today.

    We begin by meeting a plantation owners daughter named Scarlett.  She is a character like I've never seen before.  I think this type of person isn't thought of when you look back at history.  You think about the soldiers, the plantation owners, the slaves, but you rarely think of the perspective of the plantation owners daughter.  I think that is a brilliant way to tell the story and show the time period in a non cliche way.  I think it is interesting to set the stage as to how the women were effected by the war not only the men.  

    I think the portrayal of how the slaves operated "alongside" the plantation owners was quite interesting.  Like I said, when you think back to this time period, you think about the extremely violent and unfair mistreatment of slaves.  In this movie you can see how the female slaves kind of coexist with the plantation family and I think that is something I and most people didn't think about. It's safe to say this movie makes you do a good amount of thinking about things you don't usually think about.  

    A specific scene that I think stood out to me was the scene with all of the hurt soldiers in the church.  The sheer amount of them and the little amount of room they had is such a powerful picture.  This scene can make you really think of the struggle that these soldiers and doctors had to go through.  

    All in all, this movie was extremely relevant to our class and I am glad we were able to watch it and learn from it. 

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.  

State v. Mann

    It is important to understand that as a slave in this time, you aren't given much room for error.  Lydia learned this the hard way.  While we all feel for Lydia and can understand why she would make the decisions she did, we need to understand that these decisions come with risks  The famous case State v. Mann was born and has an impactful meaning.  John Mann won this case, and he won it for a reason.  

    Lydia was frustrated with what was going on and showed that in her emotions.  This had John Mann very angry because he believes she should go with the flow and do what he says.  He decides to punish her by whipping her.  In his mind this will fix whatever problems she has.  As he is trying to punish her, she tries to escape.  Obviously John Mann doesn’t like this so he attempts to yell at her and try to get her to stop.  After this verbal attempt fails he decides there is no other way to stop her so he decides to shoot her.  While these acts are violent, you have to look at the time period and understand the way things were.  Back in this time period it was understood what is expected from you as a slave, and it was understood how you would be treated and punished if you were out of line.  Lydia chose to take the risk of escaping, and she understood this was a risk.  She took the risk and John Mann made the decision that most slave owners would have in that situation. 

    John Mann cannot be punished for holding her accountable.  As an owner of a slave he is in charge of controlling and monitoring the progress of his slave.  John Manns profits came from his slave owning, should a man be punished for trying to make a living?  Is it fair to try and get in between a man and his pay?  Lydia knew this and still made the decisions she did and the result is the result.  

    As a result I think John Mann is innocent and should not be punished or scrutinized for the reasons I have stated above. 

Town Hall Meeting

    Hello, my name is Abraham Lincoln.  I was born on February 12th, 1809.  I am the 16th President of the United States.   I was born in Kentucky in a log cabin.  I was very poor which then taught me how to self educate and change my life.  I have had much success in law practice and I became a leader of the new Republican party in 1854.  I wrote a little something known as the Gettysburg Address and is widely known as one of the most influential American statements ever.  I will say that I did have a good amount of haters and nay sayers. Specifically speaking of the "Copperheads" or the Anti-War Democrats. They were more interested in a peace settlement with the Confederates and they plotted on my eventual assassination. That is besides the point. Later in life I had an anti-slavery point of view, and that is what I am going to talk about today.

    

    I would like to start with something I said on April 6, 1859 in my letter to Henry L. Pierce... "This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.” I have said many great things in my life, but I think this is one of my favorites. It is important to have empathy and when reading that statement it becomes obvious that putting yourself in the shoes of a slave is not something you or I would want to deal with. This was important in my movement of freeing slaves because if you can make people empathize with slaves, they will understand why it is morally wrong.

    

    My main philosophy for preventing and eventual extinction of slavery in the United States was to stop the spread of slavery to other individual states. I accomplished this with the well known Emancipation Proclamation of 1862. This said that in states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, slaves would finally be free.  The freed slaves would serve for the United States.  At this time I was working on ending the war.  I then gave the Gettysburg Address where I stated that the nation was born not in 1789, but in 1776, "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal". Every man deserved liberty and that was established when this country was formed.  

    “I think Slavery is wrong, morally, and politically. I desire that it should be no further spread in these United States, and I should not object if it should gradually terminate in the whole Union.” September 17, 1859: Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio.

    I am a firm believer that slaves should be able to contribute to society.  If you look at things the way I do you can understand that enslaved men, if given the opportunity, can be a great deal of help and positive production aside from physical labor.  The idea of never giving them a chance to contribute to society is relatively ignorant and illogical.  We are simply comfortable with the idea of things remaining the same, but only an unenlightened man is truly afraid of change.  

    I think my radical and unique ideas have uplifted our country and have proven to be the right decision.  A lesson to be learned about the world and history itself would be to never be satisfied with the state of the way things are just because it is easy and comfortable.  

    

Supreme Court Video

     The supreme court is the highest level of court in the US.  The supreme court has kind of an underrated value to it, especially to non historians.  In mosts eyes, without research, it has always had the power it does and has been a valuable asset to America for years.  Through this video I myself have learned a bit more about the Supreme Court than I have already known.  

    To begin, I never knew that the Supreme Court started so small.  It began relatively small and wasn't "respected" or "accepted" by the public for a while.  For reference it was only given a small space in the capital building which wasn't even finished at the time.  But what grew the Supreme Court to become what it is today?

    Marbury v. Madison, a case most are familiar with.  This case single handedly gave the Supreme Court credibility and respect that it never had before.  "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is". This quote is written behind John Marshalls statue and holds true meaning to the significance of Marbury v. Madison and the Supreme Court in general.  

    Another thing that I had never really considered was the incredible effect that the Dred Scott case had.  To think that this case partly led to the Civil War.  The Dred Scott case of 1857 is considered to be a major self inflicted wound by the U.S.  This decision led to the denial of black citizenship in America and more importantly, and related to the Supreme Court, declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.  

    I find it very interesting that all of these things can happen and then it eventually leads to war.  When looking at it in the past you can see the steps that went right or wrong, it is almost like a puzzle.  

    Overall I have gained more respect for the Supreme Court that I never had beforehand.  It is a part of the government that will forever hold significance! 

Bible Team Challenge

    In todays society, we can hardly imagine a time when slavery has existed.  This is because we have made such big leaps over the years.  But we as a society cannot ignore the existence of slavery.  Believe it or not, there were plenty of arguments made for and against slavery that may not be considered by folks today.  

Religion is and has been such a big role in the way the world operates.  People of all different religions take them very seriously.  Back in these times there was a lot of justification of slavery in the bible and Cristian beliefs.  And for good reason… I will explain. 

For starters, slavery was introduced as a form of paying back debts.  “When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt” (Exod. 21:2).  In addition the past slaves would be provided with the tools to start a new life.  Violent treatment of slaves was frowned upon and it was not common until later in slavery's existence.  This is found in 1 Timothy 6:2 and Colossians 4:1 specifically.  

Now as for female slaves they were chosen as slaves mainly to become the wife of the buyer or buyers son.  This gave them more protection as they became socially equal as the buyer and is treated as a normal wife  (Exod. 21:8-9). 

These aren’t necessarily positives, but they all give you a bit more understanding on the side for slavery and how it is vastly different from the type of slavery that we are all familiar with.  As for the side of slavery that is much different and perplexing, that has its issues.  

I’ll start with this quote from Ephesians 6:5–7 “Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ.” While I feel that quote stands for itself, I will further explain my choice to use it.  When reading that, you don’t quite get the feeling of social equality.  You feel a strong superiority and personally I get a little queasy reading it.  This type of mentality and culture is ultimately what made slavery so unjust, and led to its ultimate extinction from the United States.

    Over time, religions have moved away from slavery being acceptable.  In the early modern period, slavery was questioned by many ministers.  It became more common to see ministers and christians becoming abolitionists and following the movement.  Quakers were also very active in the abolition movements and this had a wide spread effect on the beliefs of other christians This shows great change in the views of slavery in religion.    

    It is safe to say slavery has been, occurring, condoned, and supported throughout history.  Whether that being terrible kinds of slavery, or less violent and demeaning types of slavery.  But religions have also moved past their strong belief in the idea of slavery over time.  It is important to know about the existence of slavery and what it really means with its tie to religion.