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?