Month: October 2023 Page 8 of 11

Prep Note 10/10

On October 9, 2023

One thing that intrigued me while reading the book was the burial ground for African-Americans in Richmond. It’s a place where several very different things are put together in the context of a space – and they all play off of each other. First of all, there’s always something a little off-putting about a burial ground that is not meticulously kept – like a graveyard that has fallen into disrepair or an unmarked tombstone. There’s this sense that somehow, we’ve forgotten the dead, which is unsettling to us, because most cultures throughout the world take great care to ensure that doesn’t happen. But there was no care taken, no honoring the deceased, in the burial ground.

Second, the space was once considered sacred ground to African-Americans in Richmond. To be buried anonymously and callously in a space your ancestors once called sacred is different from being buried anonymously in just any space. To me, the history of a place qualifies the events that take place in that space in a new way. The history of a place means something.

And third, people weren’t just buried in the burial ground. Some were killed there – hanged on the city gallows. There’s a difference between standing in the spot where someone is buried and standing in the spot where someone died. And on top of all that, the graves where people were buried were often washed away by rainstorms (and their coffins washed into the James River). The people who are and were entombed in the burial ground were often forgotten in life, and now forgotten in death.

It feels like there’s a lot of “story” here.

(The source I found was the memoir-ish of Christopher McPherson, a free black clerk in Richmond, who described the burial ground in the book. There’s probably a lot I could learn from his collection of papers about general day-to-day life in Richmond as a person of color in the late 1700s and early 1800s, in addition to more details about the burial ground.)

Prep Note 10/10/23

By William Linquata

On October 9, 2023

In prep note, Will L

Source:

Theresa M. Guzman-Stokes, “A Flag and a Family: Richard Gill Forrester, 1847-1906,” Virginia Cavalcade (Spring, 1998), 52-63.

Chicago Annotated Bibliography Format and Example:

I am pretty accustomed to Chicago formatting; both my Public Policy and American Studies teachers prefer it and I have already written several papers for them. I have written one annotated bibliography for an elective course in high school but besides that, I have not had much experience. However, it just seems like going into a bit more depth on why you chose a source and how you utilized it. I chose my source because when I was reading the part about him saving the flag that really stuck with me. I think it stuck with me because the day before in my American Studies class my group had chosen to discuss the American Flag under an American Studies lens.

Prep Note 10/10

By Zhuoyan Wen

On October 9, 2023

In prep note, Wesley

Source:

Deyle, Steven. The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life. Oxford University Press, 2015. This source located on page 110, source number 239.

Author:

Steven Deyle, an associate professor of history at the University of Houston, is a renowned scholar in the field of American history, particularly focusing on the domestic slave trade.

Summary:

In his book, The Domestic Slave Trade in American Life, Steven Deyle delves into the intricate history of the domestic slave trade in the United States. It focuses on the spillover effects of low price volatility in the Richmond slave market and its profound impact on the burgeoning cotton industry in the region. Deyle provides an in-depth analysis of how the prosperity of the cotton industry was intricately connected to the dynamics of the slave trade during this period.

The book has 389 pages comprises 15 comprehensive chapters that meticulously illustrate the historical context and far-reaching consequences of the domestic slave trade in America. The credibility of this source is bolstered by its publication under Oxford University Press, a globally recognized and reputable academic publisher known for its stringent peer-review process that ensures the accuracy and reliability of its publications.

Prep Note – 10/10/2023

By Nicholas Javier

On October 9, 2023

In Javier, prep note

Chicago Style Formatting is a new experience for me. Although it is regarded as one of the more common styles of citation, I have always found myself using MLA, APSA, and APA formatting. It is almost a foreign experience to me, however, the premise of an annotated Bibliography is not new to me, so that was generally alright. The content itself was almost eye-opening, as most of my annotated bibliography were combinations of both the surface-level research into author, reliability, etc. as well as an analysis as to how it can be applied in terms of my paper. Seeing it differentiate into two types was fairly interesting.

In terms of the source that I’ve selected for my Annotated Bibliography, I’ve chosen to dive deeper into the legal encodings, most notably the “Vagrant Laws.” The source referenced, that although the initial link to “gwu.edu” ended up failing and not working, I was able to find the primary document dating back to January 25th, 1866.

The exact document itself is a reference to a New York Times article in which the Union General makes an announcement that the Vagrant Laws under no means will be enforced by any civil servant under his territory and goes on to criticize the law itself over what it will do, and how white business-owners have already made agreements to not hire freedmen at respectable wages in order to force them into qualification over the vagrancy statute and work at near dirt-level wages.

It raises questions as to what other laws were encoded into their system as attempted loopholes, as well as who were other figures who stood up to fight against the Law? The Vagrancy Law, while not enforced, was still in effect in Virginia’s Legal System until 1904 which means over the course of close to four decades it was in effect.

Prep Note – 10/10

By Nicholas Gunn

On October 8, 2023

In Nick G, prep note

The first source I have decided to use for my annotated bibliography is found on page 93 and is source number 209. The excerpt comes from Frederick Douglass who gave a speech titled “Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country” in which he begins by giving a quote from William Meade, the Bishop of Virginia Episcopalians in 1841. In this page-long quote, Bishop Meade talks about how slaves should view their masters as God’s overseers and therefore should be obedient and complete all work given to them as if they were doing it for God himself. He even references God as “your great Master in Heaven”. He then goes on and talks about how slaves should fully accept any punishment their master gives them because, “It is your duty, and Almighty God requires that you bear it patiently.”

I found this section extremely interesting because it perfectly demonstrates how slave owners of the 19th century used any means necessary to justify slavery. Coming from a religious upbringing myself, it’s hard to imagine how a bishop, a man supposedly of faith, can try to justify the enslavement of others through religion. This book is filled with slave owners trying to justify slavery and not accept how horrific it truly was.

I found the entire text of Frederick Douglass’ speech “Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country” with the quote from William Meade online and saved it as a bookmark. It would be interesting to read more into both Meade and Douglass to get a better overall understanding of their beliefs.

In terms of the reading on how to make an annotated bibliography, I was a little worried because I have never done one before but the source did a good job of explaining it. It seems fairly easy and I definitely see the benefit in having an annotated bibliography instead of just the typical MLA formatted Works Cited. The annotated bibliography forces you to dive deeper into the source and get an overall better understanding of it instead of throwing your sources on the Works Cited page without much attention like in MLA.

Prep Note 10/10/23

By Kristine Nguyen

On October 8, 2023

In kristine, prep note

Reading about Chicago Style was a bit intimidating to me at first because this is the first time I’m being exposed to it as a citation style. I mostly used MLA in high school, but there was one time I used APA. But after reading about it, Chicago Style doesn’t seem all that different and the examples really helped me visualize what I’m supposed to do later. In terms of the annotated bibliography, I have done one once before, but it was in MLA format. But the layout seems fairly similar, with the citation, summary, and evaluation. When I did it in high school, I made an annotated bibliography that I then used to write a paper, but I know we won’t be doing that for this assignment.

For finding a source to use from Campbell’s book Richmond’s Unhealed History, I was able to narrow down my choices of interest by jotting down a few sources I was interested in, and then eliminating based on availability. I found myself interested in topics like bus boycotts and forced sterilization, but I ultimately settled on forced sterilization. Through UR’s library website, I was able to find a book online that Campbell referenced. I will most likely read around the page that he cited, and maybe skim around to see what else I can find about the eugenics movement.

Prep Note 10/10

By Ana Michaelis

On October 8, 2023

In Ana, prep note

During Richmond’s unhealed history, one topic that really stuck with me was the discussion around how if maybe the “deportation of free blacks, would help strengthen society” surrounding the conversation of the colonization movement. On page 87, I found a source and then looked it up in the library. I went to the basement and spent about twenty minutes searching for a copy to find out it was not available, and after that I found it online. My source is from volume 7 of the Journal of Negro History, section 4 titled Lott Cary, the Colonizing Missionary.

This reading was about the formation of the African Missionary society.

“Feeling of sympathy for the African was high. Many slave-holding Baptists felt that they owed the Negro a debt which they should pay. Moreover, the board of the Convention felt that the interest in Foreign missions manifested by the Negro Baptists of Richmond was a providential plan whereby the slaves brought from Africa might be converted and returned to evangelize that continent.” (386).

What was interesting to me was that this was the first time throughout history that have ever seen someone saying that the feeling for sympathy for the African was high, and that they had a debt to pay. And even more ironically, this seems to be only said if it benefits white people in some way. They are benefitted because they do not have to deal with free blacks in the United States, and that they were going to Africa to spread the Christian faith.

There has never been an hour or a minute, no, not even when the balls were flying around my head, when I could wish myself again in America.” (395). Here Cary described how they were attacked by 1,000 natives, and how they lived in impoverished conditions and were told to leave, yet still said that he preferred this to living in America, which says a lot.

prep note 10/5

By Chang Ni

On October 7, 2023

In Chang

After the Virginians of African descent were freed, there were still discrimination against them. “the war had ended slavery and restored the Union, but it did not decide negro equality…” Richmond’s press began to campaign against voting rights for black citizens, and the city maintained a fundamental policy of racial segregation. The city decided to extend a street in order to support a new suburb, the street and viaduct cut through and tore up Richmond’s historic black cemetery. This illustrates the level of disregard for the African American community by white power structure. The discrimination also exists in transportation, marriage, public facilities, and education. Ironically, the state’s solution to these discrimination is not to provide more help to blacks, but to give more privileges to whites, such as the provision for state tuition grants to private schools for white child, and review the application of black student requesting to go to a school other than assigned.

Prep Note 10/12

By William Sheets

On October 7, 2023

In prep note, Will S

When reading Richmond’s Unhealed History, one of the parts of the book I was most interested by was the portion of chapter seven where Campbell broke down the ways in which Richmond’s white upper class ensured that they stayed in power through the repression of black voters. The callousness with which these politicians treated segregation and discrimination really shocked me. The source I chose to research is J Douglas Smith’s 2002 book Managing White Supremacy. This book was cited by Campbell multiple times as a resource detailing the discriminatory tactics used by white politicians against black people in Virginia.

I expected to have some difficulty finding a good source to use for my annotated bibliography, but I was happily surprised to learn that the first source I looked into, Managing White Supremacy, was in the stacks of Boatwright Library. It did take me a couple minutes to figure out the shelving system in the Circulating Books area, but once I did, I found what I was looking for in no time, and was able to check it out at the front desk. I’m grateful that UR has such great resources available for students, but I assume that research in the future won’t always be that easy.

Class Notes 10-05-2023

By Brice Di Carlo

On October 6, 2023

In Daily Class Notes, Uncategorized

Discussed Annotated Bibliography:

…

Annotated Bibliography Assignment

Book Discussion:

What year did the U.S outlaw slave trade?

Slavery remained but slaves could no longer be imported for exported. Chapter 4 (pg 75) 1774 slave trade was outlawed.

Surprising? Skin color dictated who would be slaves. Blacks would be born into enslavement if their parents were slaves. Slaves could no longer be imported into U.S so a structure was used to prolong the use of slaves for multiple decades. Humans involved in slavery, saw slaves as animals/ economic units rather than humans. Their humanity was blurred.

Chapter 6: Patrick Henry…Give me liberty or give me death.

White men fought for independence from England, to give everyone rights and freedom, but this excluded blacks.

Page 79. –> The American fight for independence was funded by slavery. Soldiers were given a slave to fight the war. “History bleeds through.” What did we learn about where segregation came from?

White politicians looked for loop holes in the system, Brown vs Education. Its easier to control and limit the extent to which African Americans can contribute to society (Nick Javier).

Examples of specific loop holes

The grandfather clause, if your grandfather voted then you could vote, didn’t apply to blacks. (Will)

Law required people to have jobs but blacks couldn’t have government jobs, only low wage jobs (Julia) Pg 132

People who were supposed to work could only get jobs they could get. White employees looked to give blacks on low wages which acted as indentured servitude(Nick Javier)

Pg 139–> Literacy requirement. Every black had to remember the constitution, It was illegal for slaves to read or right which limited them from voting (Kaylee)

Ana took the literacy test in history class and the test wasn’t based off of knowledge of the constitution but literacy proficiency.

Why were white politicians so determined to create levels of society?

Pg. 130 Whites were supposed to be at the top of social and economic hierarchies while blacks were at the bottom of these structures. Nit picky rules that determines where people stood in the racial hierarchy (Julia).

Richmond took rid of certain districts and annexed certain locations. Red lining effected where people go to school and how voting is effective. All in favor of whites.

Not enough funding for blacks to go to school. There were barriers in teacher salaries between whites and blacks. Angelos volunteered at a school and realized that public schools in black communities had less funding.

Funding of public schools controversy:

School funding is very complicated. Funding is regulated by the state, but school boards enact policy. Formula at the state level that determines how much taxes for certain areas goes to public schools funding. Annexation is important because during segregation, some people didn’t want counties apart of the city. Wealthier people left to the counties to set up their own schools while they still worked in the city. Real estate in Richmond is owned by the government which lowers the tax base.

Back home, new governor, policy passed that allows school choice. Money is being pulled from communities with a majority in minorities. (Ana)

What do we think is Campbells Thesis:

Richmond’s history is unhealed. How?

Even though rights have become better for individuals, the aftereffects of redlining and other barriers still impacts people today. It’s like an open wound that stings and hasn’t healed yet.(Nick Javier)

History can’t be healed naturally like a wound, but it takes action from people to bring healing(Brice)

History still impacts multiple forthcoming generations. (Kristine)

Can history be healed? Things from the past can’t be changed, the wound leaves a scar, the wound is healing but the impact of the would is still seen? Talking about issues helps us to move forward(Kaylee)

Why is there a highway in-between the city? Black neighborhoods were destroyed. The wounds can be seen all around Richmond. The highway is a symbol of the past and its impact on peoples lives.(Julia) “History bleeds through”

High school got renamed from Robert Lee to John Lewis. Schools shouldn’t be named after confederates (Kristine).

In what war is the losing side able to dictate the narrative?(Haven)

Pause on subjects that bug you. We create untrue narratives when we feel discomfort. Pg 94… Slavery was referred to as Patriarchal institution, unenlightened labor etc.

The downriver slave trade. The people who were making money from slave trade had to have a way to shut their brains down from what they were indulging in. Family units are destroyed(how does that affect society). Many of the men who sold enslaved children had fathered those enslaved children. “The problem of America is the problem of the color line.” Why we hide our history is because we are related to people who were involved in the evil past.” Oppressed people made their own loopholes. This serves as hope for society. Look for stories of hope embedded in the book.