Blog week #3 - Maaz Mateen 1B

This past week had one obvious central topic, the abolition of slavery. This week was not only about the abolition of slavery for American Studies but also for American Literature. In American studies we learned about the abolition through the PBS documentary "slavery and the making of America", along with the lectures on the maps of America. In American Lit. we learned about the abolition through two close readings. One on Lincoln's Inaugural address and one on the "middle passage" by Robert Hayden. In the Studies portion on the abolition of slavery we had a more direct focus on slavery. However in Lit. we had a much more moral and biblical perspective on the Abolition of slavery.

The Maps of slavery were very straightforward and to the point. They were used to show the separation of states between North and South. They were also used to show the evolution of America through the 17th and 18th century. Why do you think the North and South split in such a clear way? The Documentary was more of a collection of stories rather than a general perspective. There was also a lot of focus on writing/literature along with Churches. The different tragedies that occurred due to slavery shocked me.

The unique and magnificent way that Abraham Lincoln wrote his Inaugural address was very pleasing. Why do you think he connected his address to the bible so much? The Middle passage was a painstaking and complicated text.However, through the close reading I felt much more comfortable and knowledgeable on it.