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https://www.c-span.org/video/?466542-8/abraham-lincoln-emancipation

Super informative lecture.  Please view and discuss in your reflection.  What did you learn that you didn’t know before?  How does this change your thinking on Hannah-Jones and Wilentz?

Hannah-Jones and Wilentz

Hannah-Jones, p 18.
“Yet in making the argument against Britain’s tyranny, one of the colonists’ favorite rhetorical devices was to claim that they were the slaves — to Britain. For this duplicity, they faced burning criticism both at home and abroad. As Samuel Johnson, an English writer and Tory opposed to American independence, quipped, ‘‘How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?’’

Here Hannah-Jones criticizes the 1776 founders for claiming they themselves were slaves to the English king; meanwhile they either held African slaves themselves or allowed others (the Southern planter class) to hold slaves.

Yes, this was hypocritical, and it seems that those in this 1776 period were aware of it.

On the other hand, we can also see that there was no simple way in 1776 the break away colonists could have simply abolished slavery at this point. The southern colonies were committed to this economic method of agricultural production. So what did they do? Were they concerned with the injustice of slavery as the first priority? No. They weren’t. Should they have? Perhaps.

Does this make it true that the U.S. was founded on the basis of racism?

Wilentz says that at the time, the people in 1776 did not know what the future would be. This is the “relentless unforeseen.” His article discusses the abolition movement in the 1776 period. He claims that the U.S. revolutionary period was part of and perhaps the major movement towards abolition of slavery.

Wilentz:

“More and more in these pessimistic times, we are learning once again, and with a sense of justice, that the United States and its past are rooted in vicious racial slavery and the lasting inequities that are slavery’s legacy. We learn too little or not at all that the United States and its past are also rooted in the struggle against slavery, and in the larger revolutionary transformation of moral perception that produced that struggle.” (Wilentz p.3)

“…the United States was defined, from the start, neither by American slavery alone nor by American antislavery but in their conflict .”(p.4)

“But to those who believe that the United States was based on racism at the beginning and has always been racist and always will be,
Slavery, in this view, wasn’t simply an important part of American society at the founding and after; it defined a nation born in oppression and bad faith. While this view acknowledges the ideals of equality proclaimed by Jefferson and others, it regards them as hollow. Even after slavery ended, the racism that justified slavery persisted, not just as an aspect of American life but at its very core.” (Wilentz p.5)

“This (view) is vulnerable to an easy cynicism. Once slavery’s enormity is understood, as it should be, not as a temporary flaw but as an essential fact of American history, it can make the birth of the American republic and the subsequent rise of American democracy look as nothing more than the vindication of glittering generalities about freedom and equality founded on the oppression of blacks, enslaved and free, as well as the expropriation and slaughter of Native Americans. It can resemble, ironically, the reactionary proslavery insistence that the egalitarian self-evident truths of the Declaration were self-evident lies.” (Wilentz, p.5)

“Some of that cynicism is on display in The New York Times Magazine’s recently launched 1619 Project, enough to give ammunition to hostile critics who would discredit or minimize the entire enterprise of understanding America’s history of slavery and antislavery.” (Wilentz p.5)

So this is the big difference between Hannah-Jones and Wilentz. Wilentz points out there was a significant anti-slavery mentality in the 1776 period. To just sweep that away, or dismiss it as hypocrisy, is unfair. It also tends to agree with the southern pro-slavery view, later the confederate belief system, which openly argued for slavery of an inferior race. The confederacy claimed that the true United States was a racist one.

The new things that we need to do for the COVID-19 are unusual is something that we can forget o how the author says that we can think that is exaggerated ourselves. This virus is changing completely our lives. We are unconsciousness of simple things, like shake your hands could be the transportation of millions of viruses before, we didn’t have to worry about that but now we have to. I saw in the news yesterday that the packages also con be a way that you can get the COVID19. Are something that many people don’t know and Amazon’s company doesn’t care at all. Many workers complain about that problem because in that company 2 workers showed positive in the COVID19 test and they didn’t do anything they don’t want to close the company for 2 weeks it is the best season in the year because the people do more online shopping. But the problem is if the workers are sick and they cough in the package the consumer can get the disease. Nothing is safe now it is something that scares everyone. The article is something shocking that made me feel very strange. It gave me chills. I can’t believe everything that can happen before you realize that you are sick and everything that happens is even worse. I hope that soon they find the cure for this deadly virus and everything goes back to normal.
The genre that calls I think that for everyone both young and old. It is something that we all must read in order to know everything we expose when we are close to something or someone.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/the-story-of-a-coronavirus-infection.html

It’s a more creative genre, but as far as I know, the facts of the scenario are a possible case.  Feel free to comment.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF9IOB2TExg3QIBupFtBDxg

This person is a PhD in nursing, I believe, retired in north of England.

He posts a video daily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6t7vVTxaic

“Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination was still rampant in certain areas, making it very difficult for blacks to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.” (Wikipedia)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-young-people.html?algo=top_conversion&fellback=false&imp_id=625462567&imp_id=465074382&action=click&module=Most%20Popular&pgtype=Homepage

Research as inquiry is your inquiry.  What do you want to know about the readings, Hannah-Jones, and Wilentz?

One main thing is the difference between the two positions:  Hannah-Jones says the U.S. was based on, founded on, racial inequality.  Wilentz says that the abolition of slavery was not guaranteed, that it took a lot of conflict, effort, and circumstance that could not be predicted, yet it slavery was abolished.

You can start with a review of each article.  Break down each article to 3-4 sections and summarize the main point of each.

What questions do you have that come from your reading of the two articles?  Start a research group with another person or persons in the group, if you’d like.  Do an open source web search on your questions.

I for instance wanted to know more about Frederick Douglass, and I found the text where he described his meeting with President Lincoln in order to discuss the recruiting of the African-American brigades in the Union army in the civil war.  From there, I found about the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the Wikipedia article, and the film, Glory, form 1989.

This does connect back to Hannah-Jones; Douglass, who escaped enslavement himself, advocated and fought politically for abolition of slavery and racial equality.

But Douglass’ work to recruit African Americans into the war against the confederates also shows how unpredicted events made this necessary, and that it didn’t just happen on its own.  This is an example of “relentless unforeseen.”  In history, as in life, we improvise to achieve our goals.  We don’t know what is going to happen in the future as a result of our actions.  Yet we must push for our goals.

Lincoln was trying to win the war and preserve the country.  Many people thought African-Americans would not be able to be effective fighting men against the confederates; many had escaped from enslavement in the south.  But the war was not going well, and morale in the north was weakening, and Lincoln had a shortage of new “white” volunteers to join the U.S. army.  Frederick Douglass was a emphatic voice for abolition of slavery and for African Americans to join the U.S. armed forces and fight the confederates.

This was the context of the 1863 war-time Emancipation Proclamation–see the wikipedia article.  This created havoc in the south.  At the same time, the African-American brigades went into action and defeated confederate forces.

Imagine the effect on the public.  The idea of equality was advanced by these actions and events–that no one could have predicted earlier.

This article was published today on the Washington Post website.  An excellent introduction on how viruses work.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/23/coronavirus-isnt-alive-thats-why-its-so-hard-kill/

Feel free to comment using best practices for online writing.  What is a virus?

A few days before Chinese New Year’s Eve, I had seen this news broadcast on the news, but I didn’t handle it seriously at that time I thought it would end as quickly as the flu season, but I was wrong and because I was living in the United States I’m not very worried about Coronavirus after all. The only thing I was worried about was grandparents living in China. I thought China would be fine in a few days. Controlled the virus. But by Chinese New Year’s Eve, the virus had infected nearly a dozen Chinese cities, and I’m starting to realize the severity of the coronavirus. I realized that a silent battle had begun and the smoke of the battle had spread.

The earliest cases of virus infection in New York State were in Long Island and were quarantined. I didn’t care too much. I thought that Long Island was so far away from us. The virus would be quarantined before it infected here. Everything is calm. But I was wrong, it started to rag, from the original few cases to dozens, hundreds, thousands, and it infected the entire New York.

Until today Coronavirus started slowly infecting the entire state of New York from Long Island, and I was forced to give up my part-time job plus US stock meltdown I am really lost a lot of money this year. My father ’s restaurant in Atlanta is also starting to close. However, safety is the most important thing. As far as I know, infection with Coronavirus can be very painful. It can almost melt your lungs and make you unable to breathe.

The virus hurts the poor people the most. Although poor people are not infected, they also have a high chance of being infected. Some of them are even working now because they can’t afford to stop work. In the early days of the virus outbreak, no one even raised ask it for a free coronavirus testing. The day before yesterday I saw an article where reporters interviewed President Trump’s rich people who have done coronavirus testing two times already. The poor are still waiting in line. President Trump thinks this is normal. A live broadcaster even claimed that this is a virus that poor people will have. I just hope that when the vaccine is successfully developed, it will be available to everyone for free, If it is to be charged, there will be people who cannot afford it. It may be possible to eliminate the poor people in this way, but I definitely will not agree.

I have to admit that China takes the virus outbreak very seriously and provides free treatment services and free coronavirus testing. China has now become the safest place, is much safer than Italy, Britain. New York State Executive Governor also took the right decision, U.S. House of Representatives Katie Porter want to secure free coronavirus testing for all Americans. During this period, go out less, wash your hands and wear a mask if you have to go out.