Anti/Pro Slavery Town Hall Meeting

In class today, my classmates and I participated in a mock town hall meeting where we each chose a historical figure and their views on slavery to represent. Below are some of the historical figures and the arguments that the presented.

Angelina Grimke(ANTI SLAVERY): Grew up in a wealthy family from SC with slaves however later moved to Philadelphia where her and her sister openly protested slavery. Was one of the first female anti slave agents.

Thomas Jefferson: Thomas Jefferson was an interesting figure to be represented in this case because he presented both sides;He had multiple different views and reasoning behind slavery. Jefferson inherited over 175 slaves from his father and believes that slavery was a "necessary evil".

Harriet Tubman(ANTI SLAVERY): As a slave she was beaten to the point of chronic medical conditions that never went away. She Led over 300 hundred slaves to freedom as the conductor of the "underground railroad" after escaping slavery in 1849. Later in life Tubman goes on to be a spy for the union army.

John C Calhoun (PRO SLAVERY): Argues that slavery is good and that the "American dream" cannot be fulfilled without the help of slaves. He even argues that the slaves are better off the way they are because they are cared for, fed, kept safe and given medical care under their masters. Calhoun ends his argument by pointing out that no civilization has ever prospered that did not own slaves.

Samuel Morse (PRO SLAVERY): The creator of Morse Code argues that not only is it not a sin to own slaves, but that it IS a sin to not have slaves.

As my contribution to the town hall meeting the historical figure I represented was Antoine Dubuclet. Antoine was an African american man born to a free family in Louisiana during the early 1800's. He was a sugar planter who's estate was valued at more than $260,000 (1800 dollars not current) which was almost one hundred times what the average white man had accumulated. Not only was he one of the wealthiest black men, he also owned over 100 slaves that worked on his plantations in Mississippi, New Orleans and Louisiana.