129 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2015
    1. while in the process shattering the longstanding assumption that African slaves could not also be rulers.

      This should have proved that slaves are capable of governing their selves.

    2. Southerners demanded a national commitment to slavery

      It just seems that even though the southerners demanded slavery, they morally knew that it was wrong.

  2. Nov 2015
    1. They no longer shared the bonds of their trade but were subsumed under a new class-based relationships: employers and employees, bosses and workers, capitalists and laborers.

      People were not viewed with high regard unless their status was high.

    2. Soon ten thousand workers labored in Lowell alone.

      modern American factory with ten thousand workers.

    3. Many Americans distrusted these new, impersonal business organizations whose officers lacked personal responsibility while nevertheless carrying legal rights.

      but yet these businesses still developed and today big businesses are untrustworthy

    4. Income became the measure of economic worth

      money becomes a staple of who people are

    5. By the 1830s, for instance, New England was losing its competitive advantage as new sources and locations of power opened up in other regions.

      Competition

    6. Economic growth, however, proceeded unevenly. Depressions devastated the economy in 1819, 1837, and 1857.

      People wanted too much and did not want to wait for things to develope.

    7. In 1816, for instance, $9 could move one ton of goods across the Atlantic Ocean, but only 30 miles across land.

      Strange but it is about $10 to go some places on bart today.

    8. Class conflict, child labor, accelerated immigration, and the expansion of slavery followed.

      Now children work for very low wages as well as expansion of slavery

    1. [“Intellect,” whispered someone near.] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negro rights?

      Very good point.

    2. I have borne thirteen children, and seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And aren’t I a woman?

      I can't imagine a woman going through this today and it wasn't uncommon a little over 150 years ago.

    3. I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And arn’t I a woman?

      She could take anything a man could take and works hard. How come she is not given rights?

    1. but they had souls large enough to feel the wrongs of others, without being scarified in their own flesh.

      They could see the wrongs in others, while others were looking for, but could not describe, the wrongs in them.

    2. The reports of Peace, Temperance, and Anti-Slavery conventions were examined, but all alike seemed too tame and pacific for the inauguration of a rebellion such as the world had never before seen.

      They are saying that the world was not ready for these causes to go into action.

    1. They argued that if women were to take charge of the education of their children, they needed to be well educated themselves.

      Simple and very valid point

    2. Additionally, women could not initiate divorce, make wills, sign contracts, or vote.

      Women had a lot to fight for

    3. Women were expected to be pious, pure, submissive, and domestic, and to pass these virtues on to their children.

      Women were expected to be these things while men were expected to be what?

    4. The prominence of African Americans in abolitionist organizations offered a powerful, if imperfect, model of interracial coexistence.

      They defended their cause by example.

    5. Moral suasionists, led most prominently by William Lloyd Garrison, felt that the United States Constitution was a fundamentally pro-slavery document, and that the present political system was irredeemable.

      The nation was set up to maintain slavery

    6. colonization was an inherently racist project and that African Americans possessed a hard-won right to the fruits of American liberty.

      African Americans deserved the fruits of American liberty just as much as anyone else.

    7. Abolitionists fought to save slaves and their nation’s soul.

      Their nation's soul

    8. This effort was ultimately unsuccessful, but was significant for its introduction of the kinds of arguments that would pave the way for women’s political activism for abolitionism and women’s rights.

      Unsuccessful but a starting point for women's activism.

    9. In the 1830s, Americans drank half of what they had in the 1820s, and per capita consumption continued to decline over the next two decades.

      The movement was a success.

    10. As alcoholism became an increasingly visible issue in towns and cities, most reformers escalated their efforts from advocating moderation in liquor consumption to full abstinence from all alcohol.

      This was probably a good idea at the time

    11. hard liquor became a staple beverage in many lower- and middle-class households.

      If it's made cheaply and people enjoy it then they will consume more.

    12. cheap whiskey that was frequently more affordable than milk or beer and safer than water,

      was the water dirty?

    13. It supported lecture campaigns, produced temperance literature, and organized revivals specifically aimed at encouraging worshippers to give up the drink.

      Aimed to alter one's way of life

    14. They built orphanages and free medical dispensaries, and developed programs to provide professional services like social work, job placement, and day camps for children in the slums.

      Good deeds

    1. And the Negroes found fault, and murmured against me, saying that if they had my sense they would not serve any master in the world.

      They told Nat that he should not believe what his master says, that he has a greater purpose.

    2. I began to direct my attention to this great object, to fulfil the purpose for which, by this time, I felt assured I was intended.

      Felt a meaning in life

    1. Fearing the use of loud instruments to communicate rebellions, Europeans created laws in the Americas to prohibit large numbers of enslaved people from gathering on their own time for funerals or other events.

      Europeans constantly feared rebellion

    2. In this way, those belonging to distinct groups, lineages, and ethnicities tended to view others as “foreigners.”

      Africans labeled each other.

    3. Similarly, the folklore which evolved, normally in the adopted language of the Americas, was itself shaped by contact with other, non-African peoples of the Americas.

      Language was a key part of folklore.

    4. folklore of Africans and their descendants in the Americas was crucially fashioned not simply by an African past, but by the complex ways African cultures interacted with European and American peoples and cultures in the New World.

      their folklore was based on their lifestyle and encounters

    1. Finally, at a late hour, they reach the quarters, sleepy and overcome with the long day's toil.

      How did they have the strength to perform these tasks?

    2. they are not permitted to be a moment idle until it is too dark to see

      There would be consequences otherwise.

    1. Here was capitalism with its most colonial, violent, and exploitative face.
    2. First, and most immediate, was the fear and risk of rebellion.

      Slave owners constantly feared rebellion

    3. In many cases, cotton growers, especially planters with large lots and enslaved workforces, put up slaves as collateral for funds dedicated to buying more land.

      Slaves were in demand.

    4. Perhaps the most important aspect of Southern slavery during this so-called “Cotton Revolution” was the value placed upon both the work and the body of the slaves themselves.

      The slaves were an in-demand object but the lives of the Africans were not valued at all.

    5. The free population of the South also nearly doubled over that period—from around 1.3 million in 1790 to more than 2.3 million in 1810.

      Does this free population include Africans? How were Africans capable of being free at this time?

    6. Although slavery arrived in the Americas long before cotton became a profitable commodity, the use and purchase of slaves, the moralistic and economic justifications for the continuation of slavery, even the urgency to protect the practice from extinction before the Civil War all received new life from the rise of cotton and the economic, social, and culture growth spurt that accompanied its success.

      Americans were looking for an excuse to keep slavery alive and the rise of cotton gave them their reason.

    7. Some even sent their own agents to purchase cheap land at auction for the express purpose of selling it, sometimes the very next day, at double and triple the original value—a process known as “speculation.”

      This still happens today, with sporting tickets, the iwatch, shoes...

    8. Throughout the 1820s and 1830s, the federal government implemented several forced migrations of Native Americans, establishing a system of reservations west of the Mississippi River upon which all eastern peoples were required to relocate and settle.

      How can you just tell someone to leave their home?

    9. Perhaps most importantly, though, it came up at a time when land in the Southwest—southern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and northern Louisiana—became readily available for anyone with a few dollars and big dreams.

      Similar to the tech industry today

    1. How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on such conditions!

      They do not have the same values or lifestyle as the whites. Jackson referred to them as savages so he should not compare them to whites.

    2. now occupied by a few savage hunters.

      Savage hunters is how Indians are described.

    3. It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments on account of the Indians.

      Yes, there will be no war if the Indians give up their land peacefully.

    4. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress,

      What would have happened if they had not accepted the provision? They may have been forcefully removed.

  3. Oct 2015
    1. Article VII and the resolutions adopted by the Federal Convention required that the proposed Constitution be adopted not by the state legislatures but by specially-elected ratifying conventions that would represent the people of each state.

      Were the specially-elected ratifying conventions created just for this or did they exist already?

    1. The pro-ratification “Federalists,” on the other hand, argued that including a bill of rights was not only redundant but dangerous; it could limit future citizens from adding new rights.

      I don't really see the reason that the Federalists point out here

    2. The Constitution itself had been a controversial document adopted to strengthen the government so that it could withstand internal conflicts.

      Yet they seemed to celebrate it.

    1. we know better than to repeal our masculine systems.

      men do not want to give up full control.

    1. The moderates worried that supporting the Massachusetts militia would be akin to declaring war.

      Not wanting war.

    2. ollowing the Association, a number of these colonists began to worry that the resistance was too radical and aimed at independence.

      fearful of creating an enemy in Britain possibly.

    3. At the same time, British goods and luxuries previously desired now became symbols of tyranny.
    4. Hence, many authors asked: once the colonists assented to a tax in any form, what would stop the British from imposing ever more and greater taxes on the colonists?

      Only resistance or if necessary, a revolution could stop it.

    5. These acts increased the presence of the British government in the colonies and circumscribed the authority of the colonial assemblies, since paying the governor’s salary had long given the assemblies significant power over them.
    6. But to save face and to try to avoid this kind of problem in the future, Parliament also passed the Declaratory Act, asserting that Parliament had the “full power and authority to make laws . . . to bind the colonies and people of America . . . in all cases whatsoever.”

      Learned from their mistake and decide to make a law giving them power to make laws however they want. Very oppressive.

    7. With no one to distribute the stamps, the Act became unenforceable.

      Successful and smart protest.

    8. some colonists began to fear a pattern of increased taxation and restricted liberties.

      beginning to see Great Britain take more control.

    9. These factors led Britain in the 1760s to attempt to consolidate control over its North American colonies, which, in turn, led to resistance.

      An attempt to oppress the colonies and take money from them.

    10. These political, intellectual, cultural, and economic developments built tensions that rose to the surface when, after the Seven Years’ War, Britain finally began to implement a program of imperial reform that conflicted with colonists’ understanding of the empire and their place in it.

      Not on the same page

    11. Only a small fringe in Britain held these ideas, but in the colonies, they were widely accepted.

      Probably why the eventually wanted independence

    12. n both Britain and the colonies, land was the key to political participation

      You had to be wealthy in order to be involved in politics.

    13. They sought to eliminate Britain’s growing national debt by raising taxes and cutting spending on the colonies.

      This doesn't seem very fair.

    14. The revolution created politicians eager to foster republican selflessness and protect the public good but also encouraged individual self-interest and personal gain.

      This must be what was paradoxical about it.

    1. Parliament started legislating over all the colonies in a way rarely done before. As a result, the colonies began seeing themselves as a collective group, rather than just distinct entities.

      The beginning of a nation

    2. During the war, the British Crown issued the Royal Proclamation Line of 1763, which marked the Appalachian Mountains as the boundary between Indian country and the British colonies.

      The British colonists provoked the Natives when they crossed this line.

    3. However, the British General Jeffrey Amherst discouraged this practice and regulated the trade or sale of firearms and ammunition to Indians.

      This shows that they do not want any kind of association and at this time it means preparation for war

    4. This gave the British a larger empire than they could control, which contributed to tensions leading to revolution.

      The French realized they could not control so much land.

    5. These victories were often the result of alliances with Native Americans.

      So the Natives were not neutral?

    6. In 1754 a force of British colonists and Native American allies, led by young George Washington, attacked and killed a French diplomat. This incident led to a war

      Why was this done, was it a mistake of not knowing what it would lead to?

    7. Leaders like Edwards and Whitefield encouraged individuals to question the world around them.

      Something we haven't seen encourgaed yet

    8. The spasms first appeared amongst known sinners in the community

      Seems strange that it was just the sinners

    9. for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy

      Oppression. Just wants people to obey and not be a threat

    10. However, all the colonies dealt with threats of censorship and control from imperial supervision

      Very similar to today

    11. While in practice elites controlled colonial politics, in theory many colonists believed in the notion of equality before the law and opposed special treatment for any members of colonial society.

      Does this mean colonists as the common person? Or does it mean elites opposed special treatment?

    12. The assembly was composed of elected, property-owning men whose official goal was to ensure that colonial law conformed to English law.

      They wanted to keep things under control bu electing property-owning men.

    13. Political structures in the colonies fell under one of three main categories: provincial, proprietary, and charter.

      How did the king decide which colony would be in what category?

  4. classicliberal.tripod.com classicliberal.tripod.com
    1. were it not for the corruption and viciousness of degenerate men, there would be no need of any other, no necessity that men should separate from this great and natural community

      greed, cruelty and corruption causes separation.

    2. make them take sanctuary under the established laws of government, and therein seek the preservation of their property.

      They want to protect their property for fear of someone trying to take it from them.

    3. Such resistance many times makes the punishment dangerous, and frequently destructive to those who attempt it.

      Those who pose a threat to the powerful will face consequences.

    4. The great and chief end, therefore, of men uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property

      They do this to protect what they have.

  5. Sep 2015
    1. During many voyages, however, the enslaved rebelled and attacked their captors.

      Were they chained while they attacked their captors?

    1. working from dawn to dusk in groups with close supervision by a white overseer or enslaved “driver” who could use physical force to compel labor.

      Ultimate suffering. I could understand a slave not wanting to go on in life anymore with these circumstances, with the only hope of being free one day.

    2. Virginians used the law to protect the interests of slaveholders.

      Creating laws to protect the wealth of the wealthy.

    3. it was a violent reminder to South Carolina planters that their slaves would fight for freedom.

      This must have frightened slave owners.

    4. South Carolina also banned the freeing of slaves unless the freed slave left the colony.

      One of the most oppressive rules that I've read so far. Even if a white slave owner wanted to free his slaves that he purchased, he couldn't.

    5. By 1750 there were approximately 100,000 African slaves in Virginia, at least 40% of the colony’s total population

      Nearly one slave per European.

    1. The presence of Africans who bore arms and served in the Spanish militia testifies to the different conceptions of race among the English and Spanish in America

      This is a good statement regarding the way Africans were perceived differently by the English and Spanish

    2. Dysentery, known as “the bloody flux,” left captives lying in pools of excrement

      You have to have some evil in you to look at this and not become sick.

    3. Some were not wars at all, but merely illegal raids performed by slave traders.

      Did they raid in order to find slaves?

    4. Seventeenth-century European legal thought held that enslaving prisoners of war was not only legal, but more merciful than killing the captives outright.

      It was also more profitable

    5. For Phillips, the profitability of slavery was the only justification he needed

      Phillips was honest with why there was separation between whites and blacks but still contributed to African enslavement.

    6. “I can’t think there is any intrinsic value in one color more than another, nor that white is better than black, only we think it so because we are so.”

      You never heard Africans say that they are better than whites they just want their own freedom.

    7. While Penn never doubted that the English would appropriate Native lands, he demanded his colonists obtain Indian territories through purchase rather than violence.

      This could have helped avoid a lot of previous violence in other colonies.

    8. with Indians and English alike struggling for supremacy and survival.

      People can't coexist or respect each other. They always felt the need to compete which caused a lot of wars.

    9. Building contracts for the forts went to Berkeley’s wealthy friends, who conveniently decided that their own plantations were the most strategically vital.

      This still happens in politics today where politicians give contracts to their wealthy friends.

    10. The war’s brutality also encouraged a growing hatred of all Indians among many New England colonists.

      They hated the Indians for defending themselves. What the don't realize or even care about was that the Indians were there first.

    11. The English compounded their problems by attacking the powerful and neutral Narragansetts of Rhode Island in December 1675.

      What if they had called for peace instead?

    12. As Pequot men, women, and children tried to escape the blaze, other soldiers waited with swords and guns.

      A brutal plan of attack. The Pequots were defenseless.

    13. Referring to themselves as the “Sword of the Lord,” this military force intended to attack “that insolent and barbarous Nation, called the Pequots.”

      These Europeans always used the excuse that they were doing the work of God.

    14. This left the colony vulnerable to English attack during the 1650s and 1660s, resulting in the hand-over of New Netherland to England in 1664.

      This may be why this piece of ;and remained unoccupied.

    15. The Dominion’s governor, Sir Edmund Andros, did little to assuage fears of arbitrary power when he forced colonists into military service for a campaign against Maine Indians in early 1687.

      This may have been a starting point for the colonists wanting their independence.

    16. Parliament sought to bind the colonies more closely to England, and deny other European nations, especially the Dutch, from interfering with its American possessions.

      Could the colonies have declined to take part in these acts or did they feel they needed to keep close ties with England?

    1. the Puritan had made a covenant with God to establish a truly Christian community, in which the wealthy were to show charity and avoid exploiting their neighbors while the poor were to work diligently

      Did the Puritans decide this themselves? Did they know for a fact that the poor were supposed to work diligently or was this just something that they decided?

    2. Even marriage itself was regarded as a covenant. Connecticut granted nearly a thousand divorces between 1670 and 1799.

      Very Similar today. If Marriage was supposed to be sacred, then why were they so tolerant?

    1. so that we, who hitherto have had possession of no more ground than their waste and our purchase at a valuable consideration to their contentment gained, may now by right of war, and law of nations, invade the country, and destroy them who sought to destroy us

      Nothing was gained by the attack. Only lives were lost, on both sides

    1. The population spread and grew more diverse as New England prospered.

      Interesting that New England prospered when the population becomes diverse.

    2. Previously forbidden holidays like Christmas were not only celebrated in Church.

      They did end up becoming more tolerant

    3. It saved Virginia from ruin, incentivized further colonization, and laid the groundwork for what would become the United States.

      Tobacco may be the reason the United States exists. or at least a big reason.

    4. “He that will not work shall not eat.”

      A very good philosophy.

    5. Moreover, promoters promised that the conversion of New World Indians would satisfy God and glorify England’s “Virgin Queen,” Elizabeth I, who was verging on a near-divine image among the English

      Seems to be more of a competition with the Spanish rather than satisfying God.

    6. High mortality rates on sugar plantations required a steady influx of new slaves

      Were the slaves worked to death? Was the work grueling? What was it that caused the high mortality rate?

    1. above.
      1. According to King Afonso, what have been the detrimental effects of the Portuguese presence in his kingdom? Portuguese products and customs had caused dissension and instability throughout the kingdom, since most products are prohibited. King Afonso's vassals were caught up in the abundance of products that the Portuguese brought and and became less obedient to African customs. Also, the Portuguese pursuit of slaves undermined Afonso's authority which made his subjects uncontrollable.

      2. What steps has he taken to deal with the problems caused by the Portuguese? He wrote a letter to the King of Portugal and asked him to stop sending the merchants that had been coming to his kingdom.

      3. Why is he appealing directly to the Portuguese king for aid? He is appealing to the Portuguese king directly because he is the one who can send the aid that is needed right away, rather than try to go through middle men to reach the king.

      4. Does King Afonso see the Portuguese presence in his kingdom as a right or a privilege? I think he sees it as a privilege, but feels powerless toward the king of Portugal, which is why he is pleading with him in the letter. If he were more powerful than the Portuguese he would demand they leave or negotiate for the aid that they need.

      5. How does King Afonso distinguish legitimate and illegitimate trade in slaves? To King Alonso, illegitimate slave trade is when the white men enter his kingdom and take slaves and immediately brand them. If they are caught they would then say that they purchased the slaves and would not be able to be proven wrong. To try to avoid this, they passed a law so that any white man that wants to purchase goods has to go to one of three officials and be cleared for a purchase.

      6. What elements of Portuguese culture does he welcome? Why? He asks for some priests, people to reach in schools, wine and flour for the holy sacrament . There was a lot of disease that was brought in and he wants two physicians and two apothecaries and one surgeon to help and try to cure the diseases.

    1. When the Spaniards saw that some of these had escaped, they sent a ship to find them, and it voyaged for three years among the islands searching for those who had escaped being slaughtered

      Seems like a waste of time to be searching for them, but I can only think that they were viewed as valuable slaves.

  6. Aug 2015
    1. But disease was deadlier than any weapon in the European arsenal. It unleashed death on a scale never before seen in human history.

      Even if the Europeans had come over bringing peace, disease would have killed the Native Americans

    2. They were not quite Indios, or Indians, but their lack of limpieza de sangre, or “pure blood,” removed them from the privileges of full-blooded Spaniards

      The Spaniards completely took control.

    3. Motives were plain: said one soldier, “we came here to serve God and the king, and also to get rich.”

      Would God be happy with this statement?

    4. The Indian population collapsed. Within a few generations a whole island had been depopulated and a whole people exterminated.

      Utter destruction.

    5. But Columbus underestimated the size of the globe by a full two-thirds and therefore believed it was possible.

      So was Columbus's success due to luck or not knowing?

    6. Culturally and geographically isolated, some combination of limited resources, inhospitable weather, food shortages, and native resistance drove the Norse back into the sea.

      They settled in the wrong place, otherwise they may be well known like Columbus is.

    7. Elites maintained power through kinship, gift-giving, and by controlled access to the spiritual world.

      You could not be elite if you did not posses much.

    1. She had not been consulted by Obatala, and grew angry that he had usurped so much of her kingdom.

      Olokun's ego gets in the way of admiring what Obatala had built, but it was her kingdom that he was building on. Who was right and who was wrong?