Slavery and Anti-Slavery: Part III: The Institution of Slavery
Slavery: Paternalistic Domination / Writing Workshop 2
description
Transcript of Slavery: Paternalistic Domination / Writing Workshop 2
SLAVERY: PATERNALISTIC DOMINATION / WRITING WORKSHOP 2ETHN 100 Week 6 Session 2
Last Time Explored the concept of social structure by
listening to a brief lecture on some its key dimensions and analyzing a clip from the video, “A House Divided.”
Reflect on WA1and discuss elements of WA2
Today Brief Lecture on African Americans and
slavery Developing your thesis
What you’ll need:(1) Sample theses(2) Key Terms from Part 2 of Week 6 Online Session
African Americans No other group entered the US as involuntary
immigrants No other group was victimized by two centuries of
slavery. During the twentieth century, the study of race and
ethnicity in the US focused primarily on the relationship between Blacks and Whites. The American racial-ethnic system, it has been argued, was
essentially a binary system, in which people were classified as either black or white.
Other groups existed in too small numbers. Today’s diversity has required more complex and
broader theorizing about race and ethnicity in society.
The Development of the Black Minority
As with any collective experience, the African American experience is subject to a variety of interpretations.
Prevalent themes in the social sciences, humanities, and interdisciplinary theory and research has often focused on tensions between White and Black Americans in three historical eras: Slavery, the Jim Crow period, and the modern
era.
Slavery: Paternalistic Domination
African Americans first entered American society in Virginia in 1610. Their legal status was undetermined for at least forty years.
In 1660, their status was not much different from others, including some whites. Forms of bondage had been prevalent in all the colonies almost from the founding of the society.
Voluntary servitude and indentured servitude (bound by contract) was prevalent.
Though no specific date marks the establishment of chattel slavery, slave codes and statutes evolved piecemeal. By the 1660s, laws had been enacted in the southern region defining Blacks as slaves rather than as indentured servants.
The Choice of Blacks Other groups seemingly could have served as
slaves. The Irish were treated particularly severely. Attempts were made to enslave Native
Americans. Why Blacks?
Labor, Ethnocentrism, and Differential Power Relations
(1) Labor Need for labor in the mid-seventeenth century
led to more humane conditions for servants to encourage greater immigration from Europe. (Historian Oscar Handlin)
The relationship between master and servant gradually evolved into a contractual one.
Blacks did not benefit from these changes. They were not placed under this legislation
The number of voluntary immigrants from Europe increased.
(2) White Ethnocentrism The physical and cultural traits, or “markers of
difference,” of Africans was more distinct and obvious compared to other groups.
English settlers interpreted these cultural differences as “heathenism,” or savage and bestial, and sexually wanton. This served as a vital rationale for enslavement.
Differences between religions were especially significant to this justification (Historian Winthrop Jordan). European servants who were considered
Christian could not be dealt with as nonhuman. The negative images of blacks held by whites can
be traced to the first contacts between the English and Africans in the sixteenth century
(3) Power Relations Comparing African Americans to Native Americans gives
some suggestions as to why Blacks were selected as slaves.
Why not Native Americans? Not accustomed to settled agriculture and therefore not
suited to plantation labor. Their familiarity with the terrain made it difficult to
contain them. They could escape easily. Most significantly, Native Americans could offer greater
political resistance because—unlike African Americans—they were on familiar soil, organized into nations, and could survive outside of the colonial system.
The lack of a viable community from which they could muster counterforce to resist slavery.
American Slavery The American form was unique and had no precedent
in seventeenth-century England. Slavery of Africans in Spain and Portugal occurred
beginning in the early fifteenth century and was imported to the western hemisphere (Brazil and other colonies) The status of slaves in these societies differed
from their American counterparts. Slaves in these societies maintained certain
property and family rights and were often freed. In the American form, the slave was essentially an object not to be afforded common human privileges.
American Slavery (cont’d)
Some term the emergence of American slavery as a consequence of “economic rationality” (Political Scientist, Martin Marger). Prompted above all by cheap labor in underpopulated
colonies. Southern agriculture required slaves because the men
who used their labor “…sought greater returns than they could obtain from their own labor alone.” (Historian Kenneth Stampp)
Though at one time slavery occurred in all areas of the colonies and states, the Northeast region abandoned slavery for moral and political reasons. The plantation agriculture was the foundation of the regional economy in the South. Slavery, therefore, was central to maintaining the elite class’s status.
Rhetorical ContextsClaims and EvidenceThesis Statements
Writing Workshop 2b
Undergraduate Research Writing Programs
Many universities fail to present students the various rhetorical contexts of academic writing. Programs are usually comprised of LD
courses that focus on basic mechanics and UD courses (like ETHN 100) that focus on quantity over quality.
Most students graduate only knowing the research writing conventions of their major field.
Rhetorical Contexts Rhetoric – Refers to informing,
persuading, or motivating an audience. Audience – For whom are you writing Role – Who are you in relation to your
audience Purpose – Why you are writing
Roles for Research Writers Synthesizer of Current Best Thinking on
a Problem Problem-Solving Detective or Critical
Analyst Original Field or Laboratory Researcher Reviewer of a Controversy Analyzer and Evaluator of a Controversy Advocate in a Controversy Analytical Thinker Positioned in a Critical
Conversation
Writing Assignment 2 Develop a thesis that explores the
relationship between two or more crosscutting themes from our course (i.e. labor and movement, representation and discrimination, intra-ethnic groups and community, etc.) and their significance to the collective experience of Native Americans. Defend your thesis by discussing key events, figures, ideas, and developments presented in course lectures, videos, and texts.
Your Role for WA2 Analytical Thinker Positioned in a Critical
Conversation Role: Writers do their own analytical
thinking about a problem (ethnic conflict and struggle) but must relate their views to others who have addressed the same or similar issue. Their focus is on synthesizing and conversing with secondary sources.
Claims
Evidence
Crosscutting Themes
Key Terms from Native American Experience
Intra-ethnic Groups Tribes, Assimilation, “Full-Bloods” vs. “Half-Bloods,” Urban Indians, Reservation Indians
Movement Black Hills, AIM, Trail of Tears, Termination, Red Power, Self-determination, Boarding Schools
Discrimination Goon Squad, Indian Civil War, Indian injustice, court laws, verdict (manslaughter instead of murder), Dick Wilson, Arawak, Dawes Act
Labor Goon squad, government jobs for Indians, Governmnet allegiance, moving to the city for minimum wage jobs, Baffalo, Christopher Columbus
Communities Goon squad, Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee, free Indian society, Arawak, Hispaniola, Dawes Act, Indian Reorganization Act
Representation Ghost dance as a threat; full-bloods as stupid; Poultier, Savages, Caliban (Tempest)
Assimilation/Acculturation
Government jobs for Indians; land versus money, Medicine Man, Spirit of ancestors, Boarding Schools
Sample Thesis - Simple Example – Evolving labor conditions led
to conflict among Native Americans. (Intra-ethnic Dynamics and Labor)
Claims
Evidence
Crosscutting Themes
Key Terms from Native American Experience
Intra-ethnic Groups Tribes, Assimilation, “Full-Bloods” vs. “Half-Bloods,” Urban Indians, Reservation Indians
Movement Black Hills, AIM, Trail of Tears, Termination, Red Power, Self-determination, Boarding Schools
Discrimination Goon Squad, Indian Civil War, Indian injustice, court laws, verdict (manslaughter instead of murder), Dick Wilson, Arawak, Dawes Act
Labor Goon squad, government jobs for Indians, Governmnet allegiance, moving to the city for minimum wage jobs, Baffalo, Christopher Columbus
Communities Goon squad, Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee, free Indian society, Arawak, Hispaniola, Dawes Act, Indian Reorganization Act
Representation Ghost dance as a threat; full-bloods as stupid; Poultier, Savages, Caliban (Tempest)
Assimilation/Acculturation
Government jobs for Indians; land versus money, Medicine Man, Spirit of ancestors, Boarding Schools
Sample Thesis - Elaborated Evolving labor conditions due to
European American hunger for resources developed cultural conflict within Native American communities.
Evaluation of WA2 In WA1, I evaluated Style and Mechanics. In WA2, we add Ideas. An “A” paper demonstrates the
following:
Excels in responding to the assignment. Interesting, demonstrates sophistication of thought. Central idea/thesis is clearly communicated, worth developing; limited enough to be manageable. Paper recognizes some complexity of its thesis: may acknowledge its contradictions, qualifications, or limits and follow out their logical implications. Understand and critically evaluates its sources; appropriately limits and defines terms.
Next Time Reflexive Commentary – Yang, Ch. 7-9 Reading Notes – Statement by Alabama
Clergymen / A Letter from Birmingham Jail
Week 7 Online Session – 2 Parts (Will be posted by Thursday evening):(1) Finish watching “A House Divided” (2) Selecting Key Terms from Takaki, Ch. 4
and 5