Week Six

The concept of Citizenship and Rights and the path people of South America took to achieve their rights is an important one and helps us to understand their current situation better. During the lecture presentation video, we we asked to consider 3 main questions:

  1. How does a history of slavery shape the Americas today?
  2. Are there other examples of unresolved conflicts or tensions?
  3. How might we do justice to such histories?

In order to answer these questions, first we need to think about the struggles that “lower class” people and slaves went through. People who could not even have their own religion and were treated like goods or equipment. When we think about this, and the fact that these actions were still valid until late 1800’s, we realize the significant journey that these people went through. When we realize the history of the people in South America it brings a sense of sympathy to us and assists us better understand their way of thinking.

The interesting fact that I realized during this week’s materials, is that South America is also a victim of slavery as much as United States. However, slavery in these region was quite different. To be more particular, I think since there were more groups from various ethnicities and backgrounds in South America compared to the United States therefore, their fight for freedom could be more challenging since different people from different backgrounds are more likely to have contradictory ideologies. However, in both cases, the “upper class” would treat the “lower class” rigidly and cruelly. Eventually these acts led to fights for freedom across the region and they became successful.

 

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