During our trip, we
learned that Charlston was a state founded on religious freedom. Before the
Civil War, the whole state of Charleston lived off of slavery. As a Jew, I know
that Jews have been treated as slaves in the past, and I strongly
disagree and dislike the topic of slavery. This is not only because it happened
to my people, but because I hate seeing innocent people suffer. We visited two
different places connecting the topic of slavery between two different groups
of people. The Jews and African Americans were both treated as slaves. In
Charleston, we visited a holocaust memorial for the six-million Jews who were
murdered only because of what they believed in. The Jews were enslaved and
taken to concentration camps where they were hurt and killed. On the other
hand, we also visited a slave market, where African Americans were sold to
people as property, and as slaves. The African Americans were bought, taken to
a plantation and worked out of their minds, so hard that by the end of the day,
they could barely get to their cabins, before passing out. Even though the Jews
and the African Americans were treated differently, they were still both under
control of slavery. Slavery is a brutal idea, and I am overjoyed that in the
United States, it is no longer practiced, but we must know that even though
slavery is not here, people are still being enslaved around the whole world.
When we visited the slave market in Charleston, there were
many sad things I saw and read, but the worst was probably the Rattle Leg
Shackle. This device was bound to a slave’s ankle. Whenever they would move,
the shackle would rattle. This prevented them from escaping without getting
caught. Even if they tried to sneak out at the darkest hour of night, the
rattles in the shackle would still be heard. Thankfully, once the slaves
cleverly discover that they could mute the noise by shoving mud into an opening
in the shackel, the rattle leg shackle could no longer be used. Even though the
rattle leg shackle is not being used today, there are still weapons that were
used in the past for slavery that are used today. For instance, an invention
that came from the rattle leg shackle, handcuffs. Handcuffs are pretty
much modern day shackles, except for the fact that they don’t make loud noises.
However, handcuffs are not a problem to me, because they aren’t used against
innocents, unlike the rattle leg shackle, which is. I strongly dislike the
topic of slavery, but I am so thankful that for the people living in the United
States today, slavery has been abolished. I learned a lot on my trip to
Charleston, South Carolina and I am so glad I went with all of my friends and
teachers. It was such an amazing experience that I most definitely will
remember for my school years to come. -Sadie Hoff
Charleston was an amazing experience even though I have been many, many times
before. However, some people didn’t have fun there. Those people were the
slaves of the plantation owners and other places, who suffered years of harsh
beatings, which we should think about. I had a really great time on the
Catamaran because it was so relaxing and so pretty looking at all the buildings
feeling the cool breeze. What more could you want? It was amazing, unlike the
experiences the slaves had in Charleston. They never got to enjoy the freedom
of a wonderful boat ride on the harbor. Being Jewish people, we should hate
slavery. Imagine thanking the heavens for your freedom, while your slave is
fanning you. In that case, you’re not the greatest person, you are the greatest
hypocrite. An artifact I chose was the shackle, which are chains they used to
put on the slaves to keep them from leaving. This item was first used in the
French area of Haiti in the 1700s. The item is now a U shaped link to connect
and stabilize vehicles or tug a boat. This reality of slavery is terrible and
we should not name a link after a slave torturer. I believe that we should try
to give freedom to all human beings, even if they look, talk or act different.
They are still human, and so are we. -Will Morrison
I really
enjoyed my trip to Charleston and I learned a lot. The activity I will remember
the longest on our trip to Charleston is the ropes course. At first I was
scared to do it because of my fear of heights, then when I went on it, I
overcame my fear, and enjoyed it. In Charleston, we learned of its history of
slavery. I believe that slavery is wrong because we are all created equal. In
the Jewish religion, we believe in our Menschlichkeit values, which are wisdom,
respect, spirit, righteousness, and community. Slavery goes against all of
these values. In the Slave Mart Museum, I selected shackles to write about. I
choose the shackles because I was shocked when I saw that they used these kinds
of materials on humans. I think white people back then thought of African
Americans as animals. The shackles proved that to me. Today, shackles are still
used, but in a different form. Prisoners are regularly shackled when being
moved from a location and in court. Charleston taught me a lot about slavery
and I had fun with my friends. -Zach Notte
Recently my
sixth grade class and I went to Charleston, South Carolina and it was both
awesome and interesting. I think the most memorable activity that we did would
have to be the Slave Market Museum because we don’t ever think about how lucky
we are to be able to go to a private school and have loving parents. When
we went to the Slave market the whip caught my eye because people are still
being abused today. Also, because Adrian Peterson, a football player got
arrested for abuse with a belt. Although the slave owners didn’t whip the
slaves because it left scars and it was illegal to abuse slaves, they still
used other things like it. Its purpose was if the slaves were bad their owners
would whip them. Although most people use belts now, abuse was and is some of
the worst things people can do and some people commit suicide because of it. We
went to a church where many people were killed because of their race and during
that all I could think about is people discriminating against Jews. Also, with
slavery this stuck to my mind, because I don’t know why people see Jews
differently. I made so many great memories and learned so much, I will never
forget this trip. -Ryan Altmann
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