Modern Day Slavery Presentation

Thesis:

Harriet Tubman's greatest achievements were working with the Underground Railroad, working with the Union Army, and having time to help a better cause.

Paragraph 1:

Harriet Tubman helped slaves escape from their plantations by being a conductor of the Underground Railroad.

Paragraph 2:

She also helped free slaves during the Civil War with the Union Army.

Paragraph 3:

Finally, Harriet Tubman helped people after the Civil War.

Textbook Reading pages 476 - 481

New Land Renews Slavery Dispute:

• After winning the Mexican-American War in 1848, the United States added more than 500,000 square miles of land, but it was divided into two parts, one free and one enslaved, after President James K. Polk wanted to extend the 36°30' line to the West coast
• Popular Sovereignty- The idea that political power belongs to the people
• Representative David Wilmot offered the Wilmot Proviso during the war, but even though the northern-controlled House passed the document, the South had more power in the Senate, so the Wilmot Proviso did not pass. This debate showed growing sectionalism
• Wilmot Proviso- A document stating that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of [the] territory"
• Sectionalism- Favouring the interests of one section or region over the interests of the entire country
• When the Democrats and the Whigs did not take a clear position on slavery in the presidential campaign of 1848, antislavery northerners formed the Free-Soil Party because they worried that slave labour would mean fewer jobs for white workers. They chose former president Martin Van Buren as their candidate, and they won 10% of the popular vote, but Whig candidate Zachary Taylor won
• Free-Soil Party- Antislavery northerners formed this party, which supported the Wilmot Proviso
• Since California's population grew rapidly due to the California gold rush, they applied to join the Union as a state instead of as a territory
• Most Californians opposed slavery, and many forty-niners came from free states. However, if California became a free state, the balance between free and slave states would change, favouring the free states
• Jefferson Davis, a senator of Mississippi, said, "We are about permanently to destroy the balance of power between the sections." He and many other southerners did not want California to enter the Union as a free state

Compromise of 1850

• Since Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky had experience in proposing compromises, he proposed that California would enter the Union as a free state, popular sovereignty would decide on slavery in the rest of the Mexican Cession, Texas would give up land east of the upper Rio Grande so that the government would pay Texas's debts from when it was an independent republic, The slave trade, but not slavery, would end in the nation's capital, and a more effective fugitive law would be passed
• Senator William Seward of new York defended antislavery views and wanted California to be admitted without conditions, but Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina said that it would destroy the nation's balance and warned people of issues that would later start the Civil War. He also asked that the slave states be allowed to secede from the Union
• Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts favoured Clay's plan and criticised northern abolitionists and southerners who talked of secession
• A compromise that achieved the majority of Clay's proposals was enacted that year and seemed to settle most disputes between free and slave states
• Texas agreed to give up its land claims in New Mexico in exchange for financial aid from the federal government, and the compromise outlawed the slave trade in the District of Columbia and established a new fugitive slave law
• Secede- Formally withdraw
• Compromise of 1850- The compromise that enabled California to enter the union as a free state, and it divided the rest of the Mexican Cession into two territories, Utah and New Mexico, where popular sovereignty would decide whether to allow slavery or not

Fugitive Slave Act

• Due to the newly passed Fugitive Slave Act, slaveholders were permitted to take suspected fugitives to U.S. commissioners, who decided their fate
• Slaveholders could use testimony from white witnesses, but accused enslaved African Americans, as well as people who hid or helped a runaway slave, could not testify. Commissioners who rejected a slaveholder's claim earned $5, but if they returned suspected fugitives, they earned $10
• In September 1850, the same month the law was passed, federal marshals arrested African American James Hamlet and returned him to a slaveholder in Maryland, even though he had lived in New York City for 3 years
• Thousands of northern African Americans fled to Canada. In the 10 years after Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, 343 fugitive slave cases were reviewed, but in only 11 cases were the fugitives were declared free
• Northerners were upset with the commissioners' power, the idea of a trial without a jury, and commissioners' higher fees for returning slaves
• In 1854, Anthony Burns was arrested in Boston. Abolitionists tried to rescue him from jail using force, but a federal ship was ordered to return him to Virginia, which outraged many northerners and persuaded many to join the abolitionists
• Anthony Burns- A fugitive slave from Virginia, arrested in Boston

Antislavery Literature

• Abolitionists in the North used slave narratives of slaves like James Hamlet and Anthony Burns to gain sympathy for their cause and educate people about slaves' hardships
• Fiction like Uncle Tom's Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stow, was used to inform people about the evils of slavery
• Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852. The main character, an enslaved African American named Tom, is sold in Louisiana to Simon Legree, who has Tom beaten to death
• The novel sparked outrage in the South, and Louisa McCord, a famous southern writer, questioned the "foul imagination which could invent such scenes."
• More than 2 million copies of Uncle Tom's Cabin were sold in the U.S. within a decade. Stowe later wrote A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin to answer those who had criticized her book
• The impact of Stowe's book is suggested by her reported meeting with Abraham Lincoln in 1862, and her book is still widely read today as a source of information about the harsh realities of slavery
• Uncle Tom's Cabin- The anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Harriet Beecher Stowe- Daughter of Connecticut minister Lyman Beecher, moved to Ohio when she was 21. She met fugitive slaves and learned about the cruelties of slavery, and the Fugitive Slave Act greatly angered her. She wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin to educate northerners about the realities of slavery

Issues With Millie

Religion:
P5
Food:
P
Living Condition:
P3
Life Style:
P4
P6
Duties:
P12
Jobs:
P7
Clothing:
P9
Crops:
P10
P11

Quote Reaction

To Be A Slave Quotes
Section: Resistance to Slavery 3

pg. 145 Freedom turned into another kind of slavery, for many slaves were forced to return to their former plantations and ask ‘ol’ mass” for a job.  The former slave owners were happy, of course, to see the ex-slaves return, for the fields needed plowing and the crops planting.  Instead of paying the ex-slaves wages, however, the former slave owners let them work on “shares.”

There wasn't really any "freedom" for the African American slaves, even after the proclamation. The former slave owners found a loophole and used the problems of the free African American slaves to their advantage, and essentially turned them into their slaves again. It was actually even more humiliating because they were freed, but they were still working as slaves. Additionally, the slaves did not have any hope of getting out of their situation because they were already free, but they were broke, homeless, etc.

Curiosity Cabinet Project on Tanya Lee Stone's Courage Has No Color

What was the best seed idea that you had that evolved into a component of the exhibit? What text evidence supported that thinking? How does this idea connect to your book’s essence?

     The best seed idea that I had that evolved into a component of the exhibit was the idea of an anonymous paratrooper parachuting into a forest fire. It was inspired by the poster my group made on our last silent literature circle meeting. It depicted some paratroopers jumping into a forest fire. In the book, the Triple Nickels were assigned the job of smokejumpers in an effort to prevent them from fighting in World War II because “The Army did not trust the black soldiers… he [black soldiers] didn’t have the intelligence” (Page 42) to fight in the War. Additionally, I wanted it to symbolize the society at the time, so I thought to make the parachute white and the anonymous paratrooper black, showing that the white people thought they were above the African Americans. It would also symbolize how African Americans in the army had no say during the times of segregation because it would be anonymous, therefore the voice would not be known or heard. The parachute and paratrooper would also be the most eye-catching part of our display because it would have to be above the forest fire.
     In our final museum display, we kept this idea, but instead of the burning trees of the forest fire, the letters of the word “racism” would be the burning trees, symbolizing the African Americans trying to fight the fire of discrimination and racial segregation in the U.S. army during World War II.
     This idea connects to the book’s essence because it shows how society was at the time, and how the African Americans were trying to combat that belief.

Other ideas came up that you didn’t think of during the process of creating your museum display. What was the best one? What made it so effective? What text evidence supported that thinking?

     One of the best ideas that was thought of that I did not come up with during the process of creating the museum display was Rui’s idea of how the letters of the word “racism” could be on fire and would replace the trees of the forest fire. This would symbolize how the African American soldiers fought the fires of racism, discrimination, and racial segregation in the United States army, while still maintaining the image of a literal forest fire. This idea was very effective because it would also create an ideal base for the anonymous paratrooper/smokejumper that would not look out of place with it. This idea represented what the book was about more than a specific piece of text evidence.

Don’t look at the rubric. Think beyond the “grade.” What did you learn by completing this project? Ideas include discussing the creative process, collaborative process, or yourself as a creator, contributor, and artist. Give evidence to support your answer.

     By working on and completing this project, I learned to include other people while working on the project. Usually, when a project involves making a physical thing, I say my idea is the best, then proceed to create the whole thing without letting my partners help out. During this project, I let my partners come up with their own ideas and actually work on the project with me, and this allowed for new ideas to be used that I would never have come up with and our project being completed on time. I also learned that putting in some extra effort, determination, and focus can really help you in the long run. Over the weekend, I bought the supplies for the paratrooper/smokejumper, made that part at home, then brought it to school. By doing this, I saved a great amount of time, which could be spent on painting the whole thing. However, there was a lot to paint, and my group feared that we would not finish on time. Because of this, Rui and I decided to stay after school on Monday to paint most of the project, namely the base and the fiery letters of the word “racism” that would be used instead of burning trees in the forest fire. This saved a huge chunk of time, which was spent putting on the finishing touches on Tuesday, and we finished our project on time.

Take a look at your lit circle reflections (last two meetings) and think about how you worked with your group as you developed your curiosity cabinet (over the last few days). Over the course of your NNF literature circle work, how have you grown as a contributor in discussions? Specifically, how did you NEGOTIATE  ideas? You can refer to our mini-lesson on Thursday, January 21, if needed for help. Give evidence to support your answer.

     Over the course of our literature circle meetings, I evolved from being an observer to more of a conversationalist. During the first two meetings, I mainly just listened to my group’s ideas, sometimes piggybacking on something one of them said, but most of the time I did not contribute. Strangely, during our last literature circle meeting, where we had to be silent and create a poster depicting the important parts and the message of our book, I had contributed many great ideas, two of them being two out of the three main focuses of the poster. This made me realize that I could contribute good ideas, so I was inspired to start contributing more and more in the Curiosity Cabinet project meetings. Without this, I would not have come up with the parachute idea. However, I did not dominate the conversations, and I let the other people in my group talk and share their ideas too.
Our group worked very well together. We pitched ideas, bounced them around, and it either turned into a new idea from piggybacking, became the inspiration for another idea, or was completely scrapped. We also made sure that everyone was clear on what we were going to do. This was to avoid confusion and mistakes that could not be reversed in the future. All of this helped our group work quicker and more efficiently, resulting in a better Curiosity Cabinet museum display that was completed on time.

Problems for Mary

Abuse:

• P9, Solomon whip
• P4, Solomon overseer
• P10, Beatings
• P16/17, Abuse of Mary

Women

• P12/13, Mixed race women
• P14, Treatment of wives
• P3, Parents

Food/Clothing

• P6, Food and diet
• P11, Shoes and clothing
• P12, Seamstress