Town Hall Meeting Reaction

The town hall meeting was a new and different way to learn about the different people we speak about in class. I was able to learn more about people who have been brought up during class but I never truly knew what they did or who they were. I was able to learn more about people like Susan B. Anthony, John Brown, and Frederick Douglass.

I learned about Susan B. Anthony, a pivotal figure in the women’s suffrage movement. She

played a significant role in the creation of the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote without discrimination based on sex. Growing up in a family that owned a cotton factory, she once overheard her father express his reluctance to purchase cotton produced by enslaved labor. This insight deeply affected her, and by 1845, her home became a gathering place for abolitionists, including Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. While she worked to end slavery and advocate for the rights of enslaved African Americans, Anthony sometimes adopted the racist views common among many white women of her time, complicating her legacy in the fight for women's suffrage.

Next was John Brown. He was a radical abolitionist who believed in using violent means to end slavery in the United States. He was deeply influenced by his religious beliefs and a strong sense of justice. Brown is best known for his raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859, where he aimed to incite a slave rebellion by seizing weapons from the federal armory. Though the raid failed and he was captured, his actions intensified the national debate over slavery and made him a martyr for the abolitionist cause. Brown's legacy remains controversial, embodying the extremes of the anti-slavery movement.

Lastly I learned about Frederick Douglass. He was a remarkable figure in American history,

known for being an educated former slave, a rarity in the early 1800s. After leaving his plantation, he became a city slave, which he found to be a better situation than that of plantation slaves. He received adequate clothing and food, and his duties included household chores and running errands. It was during this time that he encountered education. His mistress, Sophia Auld, began teaching him the alphabet, unaware of the implications. However, her husband, Hugh Auld, quickly forbade it, believing that education would ruin "the best nigger in the world." Undeterred, Douglass sought every opportunity to learn, reading street signs in Baltimore, finding books, and trading bread with local white boys for tutoring. In the relative freedom of the Auld household, he took full advantage of these opportunities. Education became his powerful tool against the dehumanizing forces of slavery, guiding him from bondage to freedom.

The town hall meeting provided a fresh and engaging approach to learning about historical figures we discuss in class. It allowed me to delve deeper into the lives and contributions of individuals like Susan B. Anthony, John Brown, and Frederick Douglass, giving me a clearer understanding of their impact and significance.