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(THE COLLEGE FIX) — For 11 years, Professor Duke Pesta gave quizzes to his students at the beginning of the school year to test their knowledge on basic facts about American history and Western culture.
The most surprising result from his 11-year experiment? Students’ overwhelming belief that slavery began in the United States and was almost exclusively an American phenomenon, he said.
“Most of my students could not tell me anything meaningful about slavery outside of America,” Pesta told The College Fix. “They are convinced that slavery was an American problem that more or less ended with the Civil War, and they are very fuzzy about the history of slavery prior to the Colonial era. Their entire education about slavery was confined to America.”
I think that's a symptom of a poor high school education. Don't they teach about chattel slavery in the other colonies? From what I understand, Brazil was far worse than the United States. And they didn't abolish it until 1888, more than twenty years after our civil war.
And slavery still exists in other parts of the world, like India.
We tend to discuss it as a very American issue due to the civil war. Kinda sad that the teachers dont cover it in a more general fashion.
The only other way I have seen it discussed was blaming the Africans for it, and ignoring our part in purchasing people. Which was just as bad.
LOTS of history, and only a little bit of time to teach it though.
Not "our" part in purchasing slaves. We didn't purchase slaves. People in the distant past did that and have about as much relationship to me as you do. Actually, I have more of a relationship with you since we exist on the earth at the same time.
Not "our" part in purchasing slaves. We didn't purchase slaves. People in the distant past did that and have about as much relationship to me as you do. Actually, I have more of a relationship with you since we exist on the earth at the same time.
]I think that's a symptom of a poor high school education[/b]. Don't they teach about chattel slavery in the other colonies? From what I understand, Brazil was far worse than the United States. And they didn't abolish it until 1888, more than twenty years after our civil war.
And slavery still exists in other parts of the world, like India.
There is only so much you can teach in a day. History is only one subject. Each subject is what, maybe an hour maybe 45 minutes. The entire history of the world just isn't possible to teach. But my son majored in history so he knows things I was never taught.
Context. In the context of these children they have not dealt with it except as a US issue. A few may pick it up from biblical reference...but the there is no particular reason they should be aware of the historical place of slavery.
I would think this is another of those non issues we like to fasten to. A good world history professor should be able to demonstrate that slavery is an ancient custom. The US however had its own variant with the slave as a draft animal.
But I am unable to find a big problem. Those coming out of High School are only barely educated. And if you get to the meat those out of college have a long way to go. But is that wrong in some way?
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