PART 1: CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPERS AND ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Question 1: Topic and Connection to Course Themes
1A- The Ripple Effects of the Slave Trade
1B- Connection to Course Themes
The slavery system remains central to the history of the United States and highlights the perceptions of white superiority that warranted the enslavement of an entire race. Naturally, such an arrangement affects the understanding of equality and the traits of civilization only because it places the interests of one group over those of another by skin color. Now, the intricate nature of slavery in the United States pitted the Northern States against the Southerners to beget the American Civil War of between 1861 and 1865. Moreover, the same institution defined the social, political, and economic spheres of the South, a fact that propelled them to declare war against the Union and form the Confederate States. The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade introduced Africans as the ideal persons for bondage, but Britain’s decision to abolish the importation of slaves propelled the English Monarch to assume the role of international anti-slavery police. Racial divisions remained palpable in not only the United States but also other nations in which black people coexisted with other ethnic groups. Apparently, the abolition of slavery was theoretical as injustices against the black populace permeated the invisible gap between centuries to reappear again in the twentieth century. To that end, the ripple effects of slavery manifested in the form of social and economic injustices witnessed in the social divisions of the United States, Britain, Brazil, and other regions in which the system had existed. For that reason, an exploration of the foundations of African abductions and the conditions under which people of color became the ideal persons for the slavery will shed more light on the phenomenon that is racial discrepancies in Western countries.
Question 2: Contemporary Documentary Source
Finkelman, Paul. "How the Civil War Changed the Constitution." The New York Times, June 2, 2015. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/how-the-civil-war-changed-the- constitution/?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FSlavery
Question 3: Specialized Encyclopedia Entry
Jacobs, Charles. "Slavery in the 21st Century: Year In Review 2000." Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Slavery-in-the-21st-Century-715992 (accessed May 12, 2016).
Question 4: Preliminary Research Questions
What were the economic, social, and political foundations of slavery?
