Philadelphia. Our last full day in the city. This painting was done of early 19th century Philadelphia and hangs in the 2nd Bank of the United States.
We were given a lot to think about as we heard from two professors from Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania address various aspects of slavery. Both lectures were rich with content I can use in teaching AP US History.
Professor Waldstreicher of Temple University spoke about the complexities surrounding Ben Franklin and slavery. Franklin, a leader,politician, Renaissance man, pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps kind of man, was faced with the question of slavery. Franklin, who had been bound to serve his brother, broke away from servitude and became a self-made man. Could Franklin allow emancipation for his own slaves? The short answer is no. He never freed a slave. His slaves either died or ran away and ultimately Franklin did not replace them. Franklin did make strides throughout his life, particularly near the end of his life, in raising the abolitionist movement into the limelight. Many questions remain.
Questions for students:
Why didn’t Franklin discuss slavery in his autobiography? Was he, as Professor Waldstreicher suggests, reluctant to discuss the matter because slavery in the colonies had become embarrassing to him by 1771? Did Franklin’s travel abroad to Paris allow him to think, as Europeans thought, that slavery was a backwoods concept that was outmoded in places like sophisticated France and England? When Franklin begins to speak out against slavery- what about Peter and Jemimah, his own slaves until ? Franklin’s own newspaper profited off advertisement regarding slave sales. How did Franklin view the slave trade in this light? Was Franklin an original spin doctor, carefully criticizing slavery in some company while doing nothing to challenge the institution personally until very late? Did he want the Parisians to believe Franklin to be antislavery while at the same time demurring on pubically criticizing the institution for fear of criticizing America? What about the argument put forth that the slave trade is the fault of British policy? Is this idea a copout or is it valid? Did Franklin dress in a brown suit with plain hair to present more Quaker-like, and by that connection anti-slavery?
Professor Robert Engs spoke about the “Great American Slave Rebellion” known to most as the Civil War, or in the South as the War of Northern Agression.
He made a strong case for the 200,000 former slaves and free African Americans who helped the Union win the war, serving as a 5th column of resistance and providing aid, intelligence, and military service to the cause. All this at a time when, in New York City, draft riots were taking place and it was difficult to fill positions following such massive carnage like the Battle at Antietam. Nothing in our history prepared us for the carnage, and some men were hesitant to enlist after hearing the death counts.
Professor Engs also noted that Northerners did not mean equal when they said free, and often former slaves faced worse conditions than while enslaved. Be that as it may, this quote sums up the passion behind the abolition of slavery:
“In slavery I has no worriment. In freedom I’s got a family and a little farm and all that causes me worriment- but I takes the freedom.”-anon.
Professor Engs’ thesis: Don’t let the glory of the Great American Slave Rebellion be eclipsed by the tragedy of the Great White American Reaction.
What rich material to bring back to my students. Finally, perhaps, we can allow history be written by those 200,000 voices that have long been ignored.
