Historical Figure/Frederick Douglass Game

-

For the Frederick Douglass Game, I selected a historical figure by the name of James Mitchell Ashley. His significance and general influence within the final years of the fight against slavery is rather unheard of in the mainstream teachings of American history. The following paragraph reads out the speech I produced from what I feel to be the shoes of James Mitchell Ashley.

I am James Mitchell Ashley. - I stand before you today as a man, no more and no less than any human being who walks this earth today. We as one society must understand that slavery is not only morally wrong, but criminal. As humans it is our obligation to put an end to this tragic situation. My position in the house of representatives is not of value without the cooperation of others. Together we have the power to forever abolish slavery with support of the potential thirteenth amendment, as it reads: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” There is nothing about human beings that can qualify them as property, regardless of whether or not they are the minority in our vast land of the people. In fact, by allowing slavery to continue on, the United States government has only trampled upon the great values of our very own constitution. Our country has been built upon a foundation of freedom for all men. This cannot remain true while the unconstitutional act of slavery remains in tact.


Though many may not know of his accomplishments, Ashley is actually recognized today as one of the most significant abolitionists in history. The proposal of the thirteenth amendment in my speech was actually based upon a time in 1863 when Ashley himself filed legislation of the proposed amendment to congress and plead his case against the bondage occurring in the United States. Ashley additionally had many other substantial actions throughout his career including his assistance in the Underground Railroad prior to being a member of the House of Representatives. Also, during his time in congress he actually introduced the original resolution to impeach president Andrew Johnson.

Essentially, James Mitchell Ashley was slept on in the world of abolition history for a long time but has gained much more attention in recent decades for his value and activism within the subject.

Links

https://sciotohistorical.org/items/show/89

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery

http://www.americanabolitionists.com/illustrated-list-of-abolitionists-and-activists.html

https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/8695#biography 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Glory (1989) Reflection

-
Image
  The Story of the Union's First Black Regiment After starting this film, I was first met with a small biography meant to give the viewer an idea of the main character's situation. This main character is a man named Robert Gould Shaw, who's backstory leading up to his being named colonel and the main events of the film is displayed. This single character perspective does not, however, interfere with the value behind the film, and the focus on the colonel is mildly depleted later on to keep the message in a significant stance. The film is most directly making a point of sharing the story of the first colored men to ever fight for the union, as they were prohibited for decades prior. The team of African American troops takes on challenges with courage and prove themselves to be a worthy regiment among an entirely white union army. This leads up to them leading the charge on Fort Wagner, a Confederate establishment. The black regiment, alon...
Read more

Mock Trial #4

-
Image
  Bakke v. Regents of the University of California Mock Trial: Anti-Affirmative Action (Bakke's Argument) Bakke v. Regents of the University of California was a Supreme Court case which took place in 1978 regarding the topic of affirmative action and other measures of integration's constitutionality. Allan P. Bakke was denied from the University of California, leading him to initiate this case to go against affirmative action. The California State courts originally decided in 1977 that the affirmative action program was not acceptable, striking it down and admitting Bakke into the university, but things changed within the next year as the United States Supreme Court accepted the case after an overwhelming amount of public attention and protest. For my mock trial position arguing in favor of Bakke, I take the stance of claiming that the affirmative action program was racist or a form of reverse-discrimination: "People of the court, I am here today ...
Read more

EOTO #3

-
Image
 Supreme Court Paving the Way A large factor in the Brown v. Board of Education court decision was the path paved by three prior major court rulings. The first being Mendez v. Westminster. This case in particular was not a ruling by the Supreme Court as it was kept within the California federal courts by the school board officials. However, this 1947 court case (just under 8 years prior to Brown v. Board) decided that forcing students with Mexican ancestry into separate remedial schools was unconstitutional, mainly based upon the limitations from not being able to learn English while surrounded by it. Three years later, two anti-segregation Supreme Court cases were both successful on the same day. Sweatt v. Painter of 1950 was one of these two cases in which it was decided that a black man named Herman Sweatt had the right to attend the University of Texas Law School, as opposed to their law school created "equally" for people of color. The s...
Read more