Thoughts and Questions for Those Posting on October 28

1. What are the major challenges that are faced by African Americans in the modern United States? How are these challenges related to the tacit acceptance of slavery in the United States Constituion?

2. Both Native Americans and slaves were left out of the rights granted by the United States Constitution and both groups have had to fight for recognition and rights under the United States government since then. Which group is better off now and why? How are the Native American and the slave experience similar and different?

3. Early American feminists saw themselves as being in similar positions to the position of slaves in the early American republic. How were the conditions of women similar to those of slaves? How were they different? Do these groups still share some charateristics and challenges? Why or why not?

Thoughts and Questions for those posting on 10/21

1. Explain how slavery became a problem at the Constitutional convention. How did the framers handle the problem of slavery? Could they have solved the debate in a more effective way without tearing the country apart?

2. In what ways did the compromises of the Constitutional convention lead to the Civil War? Should the framers have avoided compromise and pushed harder to force the Southern States to get rid of slavery. What would the economic, social, and political effects have been in the long run?

3. What role did slaves play in the American Revolution? Were they properly rewarded and recognized for this role? How could slaves and free blacks have played a more significant role in the Revolution? Would playing a more significant role have won slaves their freedom?

Thoughts and Questions for those posting on 10/14

1. Why didn't the American colonists choose to end slavery in the colonies when they were fighting the British in order to establish and protect individual rights?

2. Why did the Second Continental Congress convince Thomas Jefferson to remove his denunciation of the slave trade from the declaration of Independence?

3. How could Thomas Jefferson write that all men are created equal while justifying slavery? Could these two be consistent?

Thoughts and Questions for those posting on 10/07

1. If the economics of slavery predicts that slaves would be treated tolerably, since they were a huge investment, why have so many narratives about horrible treatment of slaves survived? How would you describe the treatment of an average slave in the American colonies?

2. Why was slavery different in the three unique regions of the colonial United States? What was the connection between industrialization and slavery?

3. Compare the living conditions of slaves, indentured servants, and poor immigrants in the American colonies. Which lived under the best conditions? Which lived under the worst conditions?

Questions and thoughts for those posting on 09/30

1. Who should be held most accountable for the slave trade? Africans? Muslims? the Portuguese? the British? Colonists? Is the responsibility shared? Who benefited the most?

2. What were the significant differences between indentured servitude and slavery in the American colonies? What were the significant differences between the treatment of slaves and the treatment of immigrant laborers in the colonies? How were these differences reflective of race relations in the American colonies?

3. Slave owners in the Americas justified the practice of slavery by claiming that they were Christianizing and civilizing the African slaves. Was this a valid argument or a significant misrepresentation of African culture? explain.

4. What role did the Middle Passage play in breaking the spirits of African slaves shipped to colonies in the Americas? How were slaves dehumanized in the transportation and selling process?

5. How did a unified African American culture develop so early in American history, even as slaves came from many different parts of Africa, spoke many different languages, and had a variety of beliefs and practices?

Have fun :)

Thoughts and Questions for those Blogging on 09/23

1. Can African Americans take pride in Africa as the birthplace of human civilization or are African Americans so far removed from their cultural history as to be unable to claim a relationship to this status?

2. How have ancient African cultures influence modern African American culture? What beliefs or practices seem to have carried over from the old continent to the new?

3. How did the geography of the African continent affect both the development of African cultures and the interactions between those cultures and European and Asian cultures? Did the geography of the African continent provide opportunities or obstacles to development and trade?

4. Why and How did Europeans develop such a low opinion of the African continent? How did European preconceptions of the value of African culture shape interactions between Africans and Europeans? Why were the Europeans able to take control of the African continent so easily?

5. How were African, Muslim, and European systems of slavery different prior to the exportation of African slave to Europe and the Middle East? How did the European system change when Europeans began importing African slaves? How did racism and slavery become intertwined?

6. Most intracontinental and intercontinental interactions with ancient Africans was based on trade of precious resources. African countries still trade some of the most valuable resources in the world: precious metals (esp. gold), gems (esp. diamonds), and oil. Why, then is Africa a poor continent with many countries that are struggling to overcome poverty, corruption, and violence?

7. Ethnic conflict is quite common in many areas of the African continent. Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and the Sudan have all been deeply affected by the violence associated with such conflict. How deeply rooted in African culture is this conflict? Is it something inherent in Africa or has it been made worse by intervention by and interaction with people from other continents?

8. In the 1960's Kwanzaa was invented as an African-American holiday in the spirit of some of the beliefs and practices of ancient Swahili people. In seeking to define the African American culture, how much should modern African Americans delve into the beliefs and practices of ancient African peoples? Are African Americans helped or hurt by an exploration of ancient African customs?