Town Hall Meeting

This week, my FYS class hosted our first Town Hall meeting, where both pro slavery and anti slavery historical figures attended and gave their points of view on the issue. Teams two and for acted as pro slavery figures, while teams one and three acted as anti-slavery figures. I was able to speak as Henry Clay and give my opinion and reasoning to why I believe what I believe.

At the meeting many different historical figures spoke including William Harper, Benjamin Lay, Caroline Lee Hentz, The "Cast Iron Man", Fredrick Dougless, and Harriet Tubman. It was interesting to hear both sides of the argument speak and give their opinions.

I was able to learn a lot about Caroline Lee Hentz during this meeting. I learned she was an anti slavery figure who married a slave owner. She is most famous for being an American author. Caroline wrote novels about anti-slavery movement. Her most famous novel is Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was said to have started the Civil War. She brought ideas to the table that had never been discussed about slavery.

I also learned a lot about Benjamin Lay, who was a quaker and abolitionist. Lay was a leader of many anti-slavery protests during his time. One memorable protest he did himself, was stand outside of a quaker meeting, with only one shoe and no winter coat. He made many bible references by telling everyone that God said all men should be created equal.

I enjoyed the town hall meeting not only because I was able to act as someone else and present my own speech, but i was able to learn about other historical figures through speeches, rather than just learning about them online or in a textbook.