Town Hall Meeting Reflection

The town hall meeting presented different sides to slavery back in Civil War times. I took the side of anti-slavery through the perspective of Harriet Tubman. Many people who were once pro-slavery later became anti-slavery like Jefferson and Lincoln. In Jefferson's pro-slavery time, he believed slaves didn’t know how to not be under servitude. He sees slaves as inferior, and less intelligent and capable than children. This was the view of many pro-slavery individuals. Pro-slavery people believed slaves would not be able to survive outside slavery. After being in the institution of slavery for so long, slaves were used to the life they were living. 

Another pro-slavery view was state rights. Southern slave owners wanted each state to be able to make its own decisions. This was a 10th Amendment argument. They believed the federal government should not be able to make the Southern states abolish slavery. 

Another pro-slavery figure was Jefferson Davis. He was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America. Davis fought for slavery, along with the Confederate army he had. 

Another pro-slavery argument was the economic argument. At the time, slavery was a large part of the Southern and even some parts of the Northern economy. Plantations were the main food source in the South and the labor behind the plantations was completely run by slaves. Southern slave owners feared the abolition of slavery for the idea that their economy would be destroyed. 

The last main argument for pro-slavery was the religious argument. The Bible frequently allows slavery. Religious pro-slavery individuals believed it was their God-given right to own slaves. 

Overall, there was a great divide between those who wanted to abolish slavery and those who wanted to keep slavery. Pro-slavery arguments remained strong to those in the South. The anti-slavery arguments were beginning to grow to combat the pro-slavery movement.

Slavery in the 1830's, Anti-Slavery Spin

 Slavery in the 1830’s had many different views. The presence of slavery was less than most would expect. The opinions on slavery remained divided between the North and the South. In the South most still supported slavery. In the North, most were fairly against slavery. The conditions of slaves were horrible and relentless. 

In the 1830’s slavery lay primarily in the South. Three-quarters of Southern white people did not own slaves anymore, and those who did mainly owned 20 or fewer. However, Southerners who did not own slaves still supported the institution of slavery. There was a bond between the families of slave owners and the slave families. Many enslaved children would form close bonds with the white children and caretakers, and the white children became attached to black nannies. 

The conditions of slaves remained poor. Heat and humidity in the South created numerous health problems. The presence of unsanitary conditions, inadequate nutrition, and unrelenting hard labor made disease in the slave community a problem. Child mortality within slavery was around 60% and on rice plantations, child mortality reached as high as 90%. Families were being separated through being sold and never being able to see each other again. 

In the 1830’s, slave codes were in place in the South. The slave codes considered slaves as property and treated them that way.  Slaves couldn’t testify against white people in court. They couldn’t leave the plantation without permission. They couldn’t defend themselves or own firearms. They couldn’t buy and sell goods. There were many more rights that slaves did not have that free people did. If a slave was killed, it wasn’t seen as murder. Overall, the rights of slaves were completely stripped away, and they were not being treated as people at all in the South. 

In many places in the South slaves and free African Americans completely outnumbered white people. Some slaves got themselves hired out by their masters. The contact slaves had with free black people gave them a new view and resistance against slavery. In this time slaves truly began to resist slavery. Slaves were boycotting work, purposefully making their property value lower, and running away. Slaves were sabotaging the entire slave system. 

Overall, the idea of slavery was fairly opposed, or lowered in existence. Slavery was becoming less normalized, and slaves were beginning to fight for their own freedom. The civil war would begin in around 30 years, and the fight against slavery was just beginning. Slaves, freemen, and whites were starting to see the wrongs of slavery. With the differing views across the North, and South, the future of slavery seemed uncertain. Slavery was a moral wrong. There were also many religious arguments against slavery. Slaves started turning back to their religious roots. Religion gave slaves inspiration for something better and gave solstice to them. Some slaves would hold their own religious gatherings and began to resist bondage more and more. 

With the downfall of slavery, there was less reason to keep the institution in place. It was not benefiting people as much as it originally did. The need for slavery decreased. The moral arguments against slavery were getting stronger than ever.

Town Hall Meeting

Hello, am Harriett Tubman. I was born between 1820 and 1822 in Dorchester county Maryland. I was born into a family of slaves. I had 8 brothers and sisters whom I was separated from early on in my life due to slavery.

I began my fight for justice against slavery when I was just twelve years old. I witnessed a slave owner about to throw a brick at a fugitive slave and tried to intervene. The weight ended up striking me. The weight broke my skull. They carried me to the house all bleeding and fainting. I had no bed, no place to lie down on at all, and they laid me on the seat of the loom, and I stayed there all day and the next. This incident left me emotionally and physically scarred. For the rest of my life I struggled with narcolepsy, where I would randomly fall asleep in the middle of doing things. 

In 1849 I escaped from slavery to Philadelphia Pennsylvania by the underground railroad. Shortly after I myself became a conductor on the railroad. Making around 13 trips from Maryland to the South and back, I was able to free around 70 slaves. My anti slavery efforts were rooted by my strong connection to God. I believe that slavery is an evil created by man. During my time as the underground railroad conductor, there was a $40,000 reward if I was captured or killed. 

The fugitive slave act made the underground railroad a more challenging feat. The fugitive slave act required that fugitive slaves must be returned to their owners even if they were in a free state. After the fugitive slave act was put in place, I moved further North to Canada, and operated at night. 

During the civil war, I had a role in the Union army as a scout, spy, nurse, and confidante of generals. I was the first African American woman to serve in the military. I learned about confederate troop placement and supply lines from the enslaved population in the South. I dispensed my own herbal remedies to soldiers to prevent them from dying from infection. 

After the war ended I moved to New York. I married a union soldier, and we adopted a daughter. I began raising funds for women’s suffrage. I also opened a nursing home for African Americans in New York. 

Slavery Bible Debate

  The argument for and against slavery was fought over in America for many years. Using the bible, abolitionists and supporters of slavery had formed arguments for their respective sides. Religion and slavery have many connections, and the interpretation of the bible depends on who you would have asked at the time. 

Since the creation of the first civilizations and empires within society, humans have found a way in justifying the issue of slavery. Of course the purpose of the creation of slavery was for faster work due to industrialization and these new massive fields of crops that were being planted, now needed to be mass harvested. So eventually the slave industry grew overtime, and by the time the United States of America relieved itself of the detriments and debt the Revolutionary war caused, the slave industry was booming. However, at this time as well, with the freedom of America from Great Britain, this idea of freedom started becoming a regular part of American culture and soon was involved in almost every conversation of every aspect of life, soon this idea of freedom even started to slowly be questioned and involved within the slavery industry. Even sooner this new abolitionist movement started growing in popularity throughout the country, eventually the end of slavery came into question and many slave owners became enraged and constantly put effort into trying to justify the issue of slavery especially out into the public. Slave-holders would claim that the African Americans they held as their slaves were in fact being saved from the horrors of society. During this time of course it would have been nearly impossible for any African American individual to nevermind become successful in society and own land, but to find a job to make enough money to buy food and support themselves. In fact slave-owners were convinced that they were instead saving these individuals from inevitable poverty and suffering and made the argument, “natural slaves are much better off than the poorest non-slaves,” and in that god would if anything not just want but expect his people to care for others and “take those in need under their wing,” 

(https://time.com/5171819/christianity-slavery-book-excerpt/). 

The abolition movement was fueled by many different forces. Christian abolitionists used the bible to support their movement. Harriet Tubman, a famous abolitionist linked to the underground railroad, had a strong faith and believed that slavery was an evil created by man. Many abolitionists took an overall look at the bible and believed that slavery was simply an immoral and un-christian system that denied basic human rights. There are two main points in the bible; Creation and Gospel. Viewing creation, all humans are created equal in God’s image. Slavery puts a vast strain on equality which abolitionists viewed as against God’s image. Viewing the gospel, God has overcome racial, social, and religious divisions at the cross. These divisions are against God’s gospel. Slavery is at “war with the image in which man was created” (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-wrong-say-bible-pro-slavery/). Another biblical point brought up by abolitionists is that man was not created as a slave to anyone but God. Slavery creates a system where masters are a “God” to their slaves in a sense. Another point that abolitionists made was the difference between the institution of slavery in the bible versus in America. Slavery did exist in the bible and abolitionists acknowledge that, but also point out the differences between the institutions. In the bible, Leviticus 25: 46, scripture says, “Your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule, one other another rigor”, servants were seen as family. The bible also does not condone the violence involved in slavery in America. Exodus 22: 21-24 says, “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him.. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, i will surely hear their cry. And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”. Abolitionists point out these institutional differences when speaking out against slavery.

Supreme Court Blog

The supreme court video gave insight into how the supreme court works, and what goes on inside the court. This video taught me a lot about the supreme court that I didn’t know. The justices read around 100 case proposals a week, and only take around 100 a year. Once the case gets accepted and goes to the supreme court, lawyers have 30 minutes to make arguments before the court. While they make these arguments, the justices are asking clarifying questions about the case to make sure all justices are on the same page. The justices frequently use the lawyer as a bridge to talk to the other judges to make sure they are all on the same page. The questions are asked to bring out information that was not presented in the briefs. Once both 30 minute arguments are made the justices have a private conference where they try to come to a decision. This discussion is completely private with no clerks or secretaries present. They find a majority decision. Once justice from the majority side is chosen to write an opinion explaining the legal reasons for the decision. Law clerks help to assist with this decision and it is an extensive process. Separate decisions are often written from the minority side. There are many revisions and different drafts of the opinion. Oftentimes the majority decision becomes the minority after several drafts. The process involves lots of compromise. After the decision is made, it is released to the press and they can have it printed in hours. 

The most important take-away from the video was the extensive process of how the court works. From just putting justices in the court, they are chosen by the president, and the senate has a confirmation role. This is what gives the public some sort of say in the court. The actual process in the court takes months. After the trial there is much to discuss between the judges. 

The most surprising thing I learned is the amount of cases they get and have to choose between. Only taking 100 cases a year is hardly anything compared to the amount they receive, 100 a month. 

This video changed the way I thought about the Supreme Court, because it put into perspective all the decision making the process is. I did not realize how much work and time goes into making the decisions. There is also a lot of thought put into who can become a supreme court justice

.