Slavery Without Submission

Reading this article was very interesting to me, I find it intriguing how Zinn exposes or tries to explain history from the point of view of those who have never gotten the chance to tell their story. Starting off, Zinn challenges the story of slavery itself and instead of painting it racially, the way we have all been told, he explains that the country and its greatness has been built on the backs of slaves. Capitalism itself has systematically kept African Americans down and they are in fact the ones who built it up. Further, Zinn dives in-depth into the horrors of slavery and tells the story of a slave rebellion which led to the deaths of 55 white slave owners. This ended up prompting worse treatment of slaves because white masters wanted to discourage any resistance in the future.

In terms of leadership, however, one part that stuck out to me was the section about Abraham lincoln. “Lincoln could skillfully blend the interests of the very rich and the interests of the black at a moment in history where these interests met.” This reminds me of MLK and his ability to appeal to not only African Americans but also White liberals and ultimately this skill is something that tends to be very useful. In the history of America, the larger the audience a speaker can represent, the more successful they are in the long run and they tend to be more influential. Also, it says that Lincoln did not denounce the fugitive slave law because he knew to pick and choose his battles. He knew that he was an on a thin line that connected his two audiences and it would be destructive for him to anger one group if he really wanted progress.