Okay, so I've got to come clean. I haven't kept up on the reading. The only reason I was able to contribute to the French v American Reolution discussion was because of the paper we had to write, for the French Rev at least. I've commited quite a bit of the American Revolution to memory, from previous history classes, so that wasn't so much an issue.
Anyway, I'm going back [in history] and palying catch-up. In reading about the Haitian Revolution, I can't lie, I was inspired. But I'm kind of a revolutionary. I enjoy, but moreso, think it my duty to challenge other people's thinking. So with that said, maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
I just wanted to offer my thoughts on the subject. When Strayer said the situation was primed for explosion, I think he was right. He may have even understated it. 40,000 of a mostly well-to-do priveleged class were ruling over some 500,000 of the slave class. Speaking in terms of inequity and sheer numbers, not to mention the catalyst (the French Revoltuion) that preceded, it seemed more an eventuality than a coincidence. That the French were ousted by a precedent they in many ways set, has to be one of the most paradoxical events in world history. As for the brutality the slaves employed in lyniching their former masters, I have to admit, I'd have done the same.
I wonder, does anyone see something like this happening in our country?
http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/stratification/income&wealth.htm
The figures might be outdated, but the fact remains.
Add to that the irony of Europe's colonial rule of Africa in the late 18th century, following centuries of extracting slaves from those lands. Manifest destiny? I wonder.
ReplyDeleteOn Feminism, "some academic and medical experts argued that the strains of education and life in the world outside the home would cause serious reproductive damage and as a consequence depopulate the nation" (Strayer, p.522).
ReplyDeleteReally now?