Graduation Speech: African American Slaves

After reading Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, it is clear to see the true horrors behind the entirety of slavery. It is one thing to learn about it from a textbook or to sit through a lecture, but it is a completely different experience to get an account of how grossly inhumane, frightening, and appalling slavery really was from someone who experienced the terrors first-hand. Reading this narrative provided extremely descriptive details of how slaves truly were treated. Douglass recounted the time where he had often:

After one last look over from Drill Instructors and roll call in formation. We stepped off en route to the parade deck. I was in front as the second squad leader. It was a slow march, meant to help us stay in step and to emphasize the of our heels hitting the deck. Even though I was staring straight ahead, I could see the groups of people cheering for us. We marched to "sing-song" cadances, like the Pink

I have chosen to write about chapter three due to my fascination about the slavery period in our country; the reasons it happened, why it happened, and some of the missing history behind the period. As for the missing history, I have always been captivated be the underlying history that made slavery possible in America.

I stood and waited for my fellow battle buddies to do just exactly as I had. We all stood at

Slavery is a taboo and often neglected subject in the American education system. It is occasionally brought up throughout the year, only to be explained in “depth” in February during black history month. These events have disfranchised the black American to a level of sub-humanity that has never been seen before. The way that black Americans have been disfranchised after slavery has destroyed the black psyche even worse than slavery has. During slavery, the African had no choice but to accept their subhuman status. Freedom was a slave’s main priority and/or aspiration; it was something that was often discussed on a day to day manner. Although it was a central topic, Slaves

When you are standing in the hallways, having a reunion with your friends and talking away in the break between classes, when you see a crowd of people waiting to get past you; why would you not move and talk somewhere else? (Rhetorical Question) My mind ceases to comprehend the stupidity of these students who think the hallways, of all places is best to chat. The students who commit this terrible, heinous crime are; in fact, not only freshman, but students from every grade! If you have been in Hudson High School for more than a year, the Hudson High School Code of Conduct would tell you to that the hallway is not the best place to converse.

Luke was dressed in a black T-shirt with the words u mad bro? written across the front. He had dark pants on and a ratty old tennis shoes.

I think that you do a very good job teaching slavery. Compared to the numbers and statistics shared in the article I think that you are doing a great job. I am surprised that many students know half of the information that you taught us. I think that it is important to not only learn about what a slave is but talk and learn about the impact that slavery had on america. It is also important to talk about the civil war and how slavery caused it. I think you hit lots of important key points that were talked about in the Article. I think we could maybe talk more about Abraham Lincoln I don’t really know much about him or his major significance during the Civil War. We really talked about the constitution and i think our conversations during class

Me as a 8th grader, I learned about most of my history and is soon to learn more. Now sense I’m African American I Know a little bit more of my history. After reading the life of Frederich Douglass, an American slave I realized that Frederich had been through a lot. He had a determine mindset to learn to read and learn about the immoral of slavery. He also realized that enslaver’s where criminals, and that if he was an animal he wouldn’t have any feelings and emotions.

Although logically I knew that the existence of slavery was wide spread throughout all the Americas and that the many layers of “whitening” in Latin America had happened, and as a student I wrongly never questioned the disappearance of slavery. The class movie brought my ignorance to light as I learned that one half of slaves in the New World disembarked in Mexico and the economically a slave was equivalent in price as a

Kay’s initial responses to the primary source revealed that although she could read and understand the individual words, she was unable to make sense of them because she did not understand the historical relevance and the context of when the letter was written. However she was able to express her thoughts and her thinking with regards to what she read. Although Kay lacked full comprehension of what she was reading, she was able to formulate some thoughts about what she believed was happening and why Mr. Douglass had written the letter. Her ability to effectively engage directly connects to the Alabama Course of Study (ACOS) English Language Arts standard 4.32. This standard emphasizes the ability to “explain their own ideas and understanding.” Kay was able to draw certain conclusions about what was happening to blacks during this time period. Although she was off by more than one hundred years, she connect that at some point in history blacks or “different colors of people” were not treated equitably. This demonstrates that some level of background knowledge with this student exists, in regards, to Social Studies. Furthermore, there is a scaffolding of knowledge being formed within her which directly connects to ACOS Social Studies standard 4.6. This

Franklin, John Hope (2010-01-20). From Slavery to Freedom (Page 85). McGraw-Hill Higher Education -A. Kindle Edition.

giving a brief history of slavery and shifts to discussing the way in which it revolutionized the

Deciding not to listen to this conversation in particular as it is inconsequential, I pretend to be reading a random book that had been on the shelf. Looking up I notice Skeeter is walking towards the shelf, she quickly grabs Frederick Douglass an American Slave. “I wouldn’t look at that if I were you.” I murmur quietly, Skeeter looks at me

The warm sunshine that was streaming through the classroom window was doing nothing to help my concentration as I sat in class trying to pay attention. The teacher’s monotone voice droning on about some dead men who fought in a battle hundreds of years ago was slowly putting me to sleep.