Town Hall Reflection

 Never did I think that I would have been standing in front of a class full of students acting as an early 1600s English philosopher preaching why I think slavery shouldn't be abolished. I did that though and I prepared a lot and it ended up being a great result. At first, I was nervous when I was picked to be on the pro-slavery side since I have never done any research on the reasons why early Americans believed slavery was okay. It was almost funny to see some of the reasons plantation owners and old government officials used to justify slavery.  

Of course, all of this was just a project assigned to me but I still did not feel right saying a lot of stuff that I said. It was a very cool concept for a project though nonetheless and I learned a lot from both sides. One of the interesting things I learned was that Benjamin Franklin owned about 300 slaves and that he also had an affair with one of them. It was crazy to me because I was always taught that he was a leader and he made America what it is today. Another gruesome fact was about Harriet Tubman and that when she would care for her owner's baby she would get whipped every time he/she cried. This made me view idolize Harriet Tubman even more because she had the will to risk going back to that so that other slaves never had to experience it.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this town hall presentation because of the many things it taught me. I believe that activities like these benefit most students much more than studying and taking a test. I had to go out of my way to research many different things about a guy I never even heard of until that project.

Gone With The Wind Movie Reflection

Gone With The Wind is a movie that still impacts American cinema almost 100 years after it was made. It has managed to win eight Academy Awards as a movie about war and love. The videoing and editing skills are what make it so ahead of its time but the characters and plot are what make this movie so impactful. The movie's main protagonist is Scarlett O'Hara who lives on a plantation in the south pre-Civil War. She falls in love with a man named Ashley Wilkes who is the son of her father's friend. When Ashley does not feel the same way Scarlett attempts to make him jealous by marrying a friend of his. Later in the movie war is declared and all of the men hurry to enlist so they can make their families and country proud. This is where the movie really gets interesting, because of a switch from a love story to the destruction of war. 

Gone With The Wind shows an amazing way of how people in the south were affected by the invasion of the Union soldiers. One of the most impactful scenes was when everyone in the town of Tara waits outside the post office to grab one of the newspapers. They are waiting for them because each newspaper has a list of all the Southern soldiers killed in battle. This scene really stood out to me because it helped me realize how many families were emotionally affected by the loss of their fathers, brothers, sons, and more. 

Slavery was also a very prominent factor in this movie, but it is not the usual way that I am used to seeing. In this movie you are on the other side of the argument in slavery, the South. Everything was run by the slaves on the plantation where Scarlett lived in. You see them dressing the people of the house and always making sure everything is clean and neat. It did surprise me however that the owners and the family members did not treat the slaves harshly at all. It also seemed like the older the slave and the closer you are to the owners you have a lot more say and "freedom". In the end, I really enjoyed this masterclass of a movie and it really made me look at slavery in the South and the Civil War a little differently.

Gone With The Wind Plot Summary

John Locke and His Hypocritical views on Slavery

John Locke’s ideas and theories that he invented are still important to how the people and government coexist. He went to Westminster school in his early years and then eventually studied at Oxford where he taught as a professor for many years as well. He wrote many award-winning books that are still relevant today. The reason he was so widely known is because of these books and the ideas in them. He was responsible for some of the first thoughts of democracy, liberalism, and the separation of church and state. These thoughts made him loved by the people but not the higher-ups because it gives them the thought that they’ll lose power. In fact, Locke had to flee England to Holland because King Charles II believed he was plotting to kill him. He then lived the rest of his days out in Holland. 

I was confused however because with John Locke’s theories of liberalism and democracy it surprised me that he was pro-slavery. You would think a man that comes up with ideas of respecting everyone’s thoughts and beliefs would also be anti-slavery. That was not the case his three basic human rights he believed were life, liberty, and property. The property was anything from a gold pocket watch to a human being. He did say in his later years that slavery should mostly happen only to someone who has committed a punishable crime. Also, one of his reasons for not condoning slavery was that he had a lot of stock in the African slave trade in England. I think he was making so much money off slaves that his thoughts about it all were solely based on money. He had 3 main reasons why he didn’t think about abolishing slavery, he was a protestant, the economic benefits of slavery, and he thought it was a basic human right. His protestant beliefs didn’t allow slavery, but it didn’t not allow it as well. His mind was like the confederates in the Civil War, they saw slavery in Paul’s letters and immediately thought it was ok. The economic view on slavery was probably his main reason I think, he was making so much money that he must’ve never looked at it the other way around. He understood that forced labor was the most efficient way to produce profitable goods because he didn’t have to pay the workers. Lastly, John Locke’s three human rights included slavery. He said in some of his writings that he believed a slave is born a slave, a subject is born a subject, and a king is born a king. Then he tied them all by saying that each one as they were born has a responsibility to obey their master.

Some said he was a hypocrite because of his liberalism views and then his views on slavery which I think is very possible. It’s the fact that he devoted his life to his teachings and his work but failed to see the biggest blunder in history right in front of him. John Locke was interesting and fun to learn about because of the reasons he’s still relevant today. In the end, though I am happy I learned and became him for this activity. Although it was tough to stand in front of a class and talk about how much I (John Locke) preached slavery I, thoroughly enjoyed this game. Also, my script is below but I didn’t really read it word by word because I didn’t know we could have it in front of us while we presented.

"Hello everyone, my name is John Locke and I was born in England in 1632. England is where I grew up attending school, and it is where I lived most of my life. I am an English philosopher and author of many important books. Some say that I was one of the main inspirations for the creation and influence of liberalism in early English times. I also am one of the main reasons that this country has democracy, separation of church and state, and its western culture. I am for slavery because I think it is a basic human right. I believe that there are three basic human rights and those are life, liberty, and property. By property, I mean land, property, and also owning people. I am a protestant and a believer in the Holy Bible and it tells us that slavery should be among us. “Obey your masters” is a common theme in Paul’s letters. I believe this because I think that a slave is born a slave as a king is born a king. And once someone is born, they have the duty to serve their master. Although I think that slavery should happen when someone commits a punishable crime, I also think that it is a basic human right. Another reason why slavery should be upheld is the fact that it is making our economy grow faster than ever. Forced labor allows a property owner to collect crops produced by their slaves at no pay.  This allows for massive economic growth and massive profit. Again Slavery is a basic human right and that is what I preach, I hope you guys can get on board with me because of all of the benefits slavery comes with. Again thank you for listening and I hope that you all side with me"

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John Locke

How Religion Played a Factor for Both Sides of the Civil War

Most people think that the Civil War started because of slavery but history tells us it started because of religion. Two sides who were getting their beliefs from the same religions and books believed two opposite things. One side says that it is clear and obvious that slavery is wrong, and one other says it's clear that it is okay and even a basic human right! In this blog we evaluate both sides and what they believed and why. 

In traditional religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), arguments against slavery are abundant and clear. It is shown in the Bible and Quran that slavery is not just, and should be abolished. A large portion of abolitionists in America, before the Civil War, were Evangelical Christians. This means that most of the people against slavery would use religion as a support system for their views on slavery. Not only does Christianity have evidence of being against the roots of slavery, but Judaism and Islam show evidence of being anti-slavery also. For Judaism, the Bible is anti-slavery when the subject of the Exodus, and freeing the slaves from Egypt is told. It is even stated in Deuteronomy 24:18: ”Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there. Therefore, I command you to do Justice.” For Islam, the Quran is also against slavery, and that all people are equal. The Sura 90 states that the righteous path involves “the freeing of the slaves.” 

The Antebellum Period to its end after the Civil War was a time like no other where southern slave owners defended slavery with religion. The Civil War obviously started with slavery, but both sides had different arguments using the same excuse. The north and the south both used their Bibles in defense of what they believed. Most of the south took to their bibles for reasoning because of what they believed was in there. They believed that God built slavery for humans and the confederates thought the words in the bible confirmed this. In fact, the Bible has multiple passages that condone slavery, Paul’s letters are a great example of this. In Ephesians 6:5-8 Paul states “Slaves, be obedient to your masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ.” This is one of the many examples of writing in the Bible condoning slavery and the confederates took this literally. They used these writings to justify the use of slavery because they still wanted to be good Christians, and this made them believe they were. The confederates lost this war which answers that God was on the side of the union.

As you can see, religion was a large factor in starting the civil war. Both sides of the war had gone to the Bible or other books and interpreted them in completely opposite ways. The way each religion talks about slavery is interpreted by its followers in different ways, which causes conflict. Although the views on slavery have changed over time, the way that each religion sees and interprets the Bible and other books will stay the same.