Activity/Discussion One: The Louisiana Purchase

 

General Information

 

·         Timing: This activity / discussion is active from October 10 - November 2.

·         This activity/discussion is worth 10 points.

·         The discussion topic is posted in the Discussion Board / Course Compass

·         The information in this activity/discussion as well as the information in Activity/Discussion One will be used for the exam essay question for this leaning module.

 

 

Step One:  Historical Context

 

Read or reread the online lecture “Slavery: The Central Cause of the Civil War.”  If you are unclear about the content of this lecture, be sure to contact Susan Oliver (soliver@cerritos.edu)

 

Step Two: Video Excerpt

Watch the video excerpt “The Louisiana Purchase,” which is available in Talon Net. It is recommended that you watch this excerpt twice so that you get the full impact of the ideas presented. You might want to read and/or copy the transcript of these video excerpts as well. Click here to access.

 

 

To prepare for the online discussion, make notes that answer these questions:

 

1. What are the connections among the Louisiana Purchase, the invention of the cotton gin, and the expansion of slavery?
   
   
2. What is the connection between the end of the slave trade from Africa and the emergence of a domestic slave trade in the United States?  (Domestic slave trade = selling and buying of slaves who were born in the United States.)

 

3. In the video, historian Ira Berlin states that the “slave trade developed its own language. This is a language of, of big bucks. It's a language of wenches ... Of course this entire language is meant to separate the black people from the common run of humanity. It's a language of dehumanization; it's a language of bestiality to say that these people are in fact like animals.”   How did this “language” and actions apply to female slaves?

 

 

Step Three: Participate in the online discussion.