EdCafe Day

This past week in class we did an activity called an EdCafe. With a partner we discussed slavery based on different narratives and sources. Together as a partnership we created questions which we would ask the attendees of our EdCafe based on an aspect of slavery. Once all the partnerships in class choose when and where they would like to hold their EdCafe, we could pick which EdCafe interested us and attend it. I really liked how each EdCafe wasn't very big unlike a socratic seminar which I dislike because there are too many people.  I also liked how the EdCafe was independent for the group presented. The group leading it had the job of keeping the group on track and keeping the session moving by not getting tied up on a single question. To make the EdCafe better next time I think that the groups should have a wider range of topics. The two EdCafe sessions I attended and the one I presented all had similar questions so it was repetitive at times.

When I presented it went well. The other students attending had very detailed answers to our questions which sparked up good discussions. With the questions we had quotes from the Solomon Northup Slave Narrative which added to the answers. To improve next time I would include more visuals since we only had a minimal amount. The visuals would help the attendees to understand the questions more or add to the answer.

I think that I was a good attendee to the sessions I attended. I contributed the best I could to the questions asked by the presenters. What helped me was my group had similar questions to the questions that were asked by the presenters. This was also not beneficial because at times I wasn’t expanding my knowledge of slavery because of the similar questions. My notes are a good representation of what I learned because on the questions that were alike I have ample notes and good notes on the topics that only came up once.

Slavery in the North

Slavery in the North was not frowned upon nor was it promoted. Inhabitants of the North knew slavery was wrong morally but knew that if it wasn't present then their business would suffer. Even though slavery wasn't allowed in the North, the people of the North still benefited greatly from slavery.  There was a cycle between the North and the South where the North needed the slaves in the South to pick cotton. That cotton is sent to the North and then cloth is sent back to the slave owners for their slaves. People from the North knew that if there wasn't slavery then they would have to pay more for cotton or not receive the amount needed to make sufficient cloth. If there wasn't slaves in the South then there would be not cheap labor to harvest the cotton. The Northers knew that slavery was wrong t they couldn't not support slavery because they had to continue to buy cotton so their business wouldn't suffer. In the "Public [Anti-abolition] Meeting" Broadside, August 21, 1835 Abbott Lawrence, mayor of Boston held an anti-abolition meeting. He said  “We believe that the sectional jealousies are thereby engendered, which threaten to disturb the harmony of our political system.” Anti-abolitionists knew that slavery should be abolished, but they didn't want to ruin their political system. The Americans in the North were only morally against slavery while they knew it had to be present so their profits didn't decrease. Recently in class we watched the movie "Traces of the Trade" which is about the DeWolf family and their slave trade. The DeWolf family was the largest slave trade in the United States. They brought over 10,000 slaves from Africa through a process of the triangular trade. The DeWolf's had a sugar plantation in Cuba where sugar was produced for the rum the made in Rhode Island. They traded rum and sugar to gain possession of African slaves. They were successful in the slave trade business and made very much money because the people in government that could put a stop to them looked the other way. Overall the Americans in the Antebellum North where only morally against slavery but let slavery help the profits of people's factories and business'. 

This is a picture of DeWolf's trade route.