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4.6 Discussion Board 4 Colonial America, Slavery and the Great Awakening (Graded Discussion)

Hello All,
For this discussion board I want you to review the materials for the past 2 weeks on Colonialism as well as slavery, the great awakening, and colonial warfare.
Remember your initial response is due by Thursday at 11:59 PM. You also need to respond to at least two other students. The two student responses are due by Sunday at 11:59 PM. Your initial response must be a minimum of 250 words. Responses to fellow students must be a minimum of 100 words.

Please select one of the following questions and respond:

1. There are many aspects of life in the American colonies that greatly influenced the development of Colonial America into the United States, Select one, Colonial life, Early Slavery, the Great Awakening or Colonial Warfare and write a brief discussion on why you think it is the most important influence from this time period on U.S. History. Note* you may select more than one, for instance, Slavery and the Great Awakening (race relations and religion and religious influence) etc.
2. What can we learn from the primary source reading Sarah Knight and her travels to Connecticut? What can we learn about the time, what can we learn about her, what can we learn about us as humans?
3. After watching the Movie: The Amistad, what are your impressions of the movie? What are your impressions of the legal debates and the fight on all sides of the legal battle? How does the movie portray the difficulty of the slavery debate and political problems it caused during the time period? How does this show resistance to slavery?

Example 1

What can we learn from the primary source reading Sarah Knight and her travels to Connecticut? What can we learn about the time, what can we learn about her, what can we learn about us as humans?

In the primary source from reading Sarah Knight and her travels to Connecticut was that she wrote journal that showed what the 18th Century of America and what was going on because during those times it was physically rough and there was so much happening all over the place. Sarah knight had provided to show us what she did as a person and showed how she got to Connecticut. She showed us information of what life was like of that time period which is very interesting. In the source I learned that women could show more independence than it might show. She describes in her journal that she had passed by multiple Indian Natives and says most where Savages that she had seen that had no care at all. Knight says they would marry their wives and them put them away as they there just treated as trash. During that time period it was very common for people to get married young. Men would be married before the age of 20, Slavery was a big issue and she says that farmers were very nice to enslaved people. She also Criticizes people for letting the enslaved people to sit and eat at the same table. Her journal shows that Connecticut is not very nice and Boston is way better town.

Example 2

Sarah Knights account of her travels through Connecticut provides valuable insight into the customs, attitudes, and social norms of the time. She begins by discussing marriage practices, noting clear differences between settlers and Native Americans. Settler men tended to marry at a very young age, while Native men were expected to take multiple wives. Her observations reflect not only cultural differences but also the judgments Europeans made about them. When describing Black people, she uses animalistic language, suggesting that interactions between Europeans and Black people were excessive or indulgent, stating, for example, that into the dish goes the black hoof as freely as the white hand when describing shared meals. She characterizes Native Americans as the most savage of all the savages of that kind that I had ever seen. These examples show the dehumanizing attitudes and assumptions Europeans held toward people they considered different.

In addition to social customs, Sarah Knight documents economic practices, including trade and barter. Meats such as pork and beef, along with grains, were commonly exchanged, and she mentions a developing regional currency known as Boston shillings. She also notes the use of Wampum, Native American beads, as a form of exchange, illustrating the blending of European and Indigenous economic systems. Overall, Sarah Knights account highlights that unfamiliar customs and peoples were often met with suspicion or prejudice rather than curiosity and understanding. Her writings reveal both the social hierarchy and ethnocentric attitudes of the period, offering a window into how Europeans perceived and judged those who were different from themselves.

Example 3

From the primary source of Sarah Knight and her travels through Connecticut we can learn many things about the time period. Knight gives a glipse into customs abided to by the people living there at the time. She starts off with highlighting marriage and the differences she has seen/been told between natives and settlers. Settling men tend to marry very young whereas native men were to take many wives. She also depicts how non europeans were viewed at the time, the examples being black slaves and the natives themselves. Both she compares to animals with the language she uses. When referring to black people she says that the mixing of europeans and them were too indulgent and goes onto say, “into the dish goes the black hoof as freely as the white hand” when expressing the ways in which they ate together. Similarly, when she refers to the natives she expresses that they are “the most savage of all the savages of that kind that I had ever seen”. From this we can learn the popular prejudices that europeans had during the era. Later in her accounts she also discusses economy and trade within her travels. Goods were traded and bartered with by means of meats like pork and beef as well as grains. There was also a budding currency she mentions known as Boston shillings, a seemingly regional currency and an intermingling of currency with Wampum Indian beads being used for change. Overall this account tells us that things we see that are different from ourselves are not regarded in a good light. The unknown becomes a thing of prejudice rather than a means of expanding knowledge and acceptance.