Given how Locke said "Property" becomes "Private", is there any logic to believing in owning people?
"Born in England in 1652, Samuel Sewall moved to America at the age of nine and obtained two degrees from Harvard before marrying into a wealthy family. As a prominent member of the merchant class, Sewall was selected by Governor Phips to sit as a judge for the witchcraft trials on the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Five years after the trials concluded, Sewall issued a public confession demonstrating personal remorse, taking in his words the "Blame and Shame" for his part in condemning innocent people. He was the only judge to do so."
The Selling of Joseph was written 8 years after the witchcraft trials of 1792. Massachusetts recovered from the witchcraft panic, and never again was a person tried as a witch in that colony. In Pennsylvania there was a witchcraft trial after 1800.
Sewall was not afraid to speak his mind. Slavery was perfectly legal at the time he wrote his memorial, and his position did not win him any friends among his wealthy friends. What reasons does he give against the practice of slavery? Note them as you mark up your reading. Which are the most convincing to you?
He kept a diary for most of his life, and it is quite interesting. You can take a look at it by clicking on the picture to the left.
Fifty-Four years have passed since Samuel Sewall spoke out against slavery. Now it is John Woolman's turn. John Woolman was a member of the Society of Friends, otherwise known as the Quakers. They generally believed in equality of all. There were no priests or ministers. People would gather and sit silently until one felt inspired to speak. Yet some Quakers fell into the habit of becoming Slaveowners. Woolman believed this was against their general beliefs, and spoke out against it. It took some time, but some Quaker congregations followed his beliefs, and Slaveholders were told to free their slaves or be expelled from their congregations.
Compare Woolman's thoughts with those of Sewall, a half century earlier. In what ways do they seem the same, and in what ways different.? Note these differences in your markups and your sticky notes.
This week we turn our attention from equal rights for women to equal rights for African-Americans. One thing you'll notice is that the centers of "abolitionism" and "women's suffrage" were similar. Many were descendants of New England Puritans, and many others were Quakers. This week we'll meet one of each.
A pre-civil war picture of a punished slave. Think back to the question of obeying one's reason or obeying a human law. If you could have help this man escape, would you?
The Nat Turner"Rebellion" shook the nation to its core. There had been slave rebellions before and there would be more later, but this still remains the most famous. As you read and markup the "confessions" try to split your brain. Try to think about the slave population--the condition in which they found themselves. We'll do some more thinking about this next week.
Think also about what a rebellion like this meant to the white population in slaveholding states. The video below may help you with this. (Caution: the language is explicit.)
The Rebellion of Nat Turner, may have in the back of Abraham Lincoln's mind when he gave the address to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield. It wasn't the most recent example of mob violence. The incidents he mentions happened in Mississippi, and also his "neck of the woods"-- first in St. Louis, and then in Illinois. Lincoln was 28 when he gave this speech. Was it coincidental the victims about which he spoke primarily were "Negroes" and "Mulattos"? Was he right in the solution he gave against "mob law"? Did later history show him right? Write your thoughts about this in sticky notes on your .pdf before you drop it in your dropbox.
Looking Ahead, we'll consider the situation of slaves and another viewpoint on what to do in the crises of the 1830-1860 period.
History and the Modern World
