The Great Slavery Debate

Should slavery be abolished? Students at Constitution High School debate the advantages and disadvantages of abolishing slavery from an antebellum 19th century perspective. Having students focus on the social, economic, cultural, and to some extent political nature of this debate, helps students understand the context of America's "peculiar institution", roadblocks African Americans needed to overcome in order to abolish slavery, as well as frame the upcoming 10th grade American history course. The purpose of this blog is to create a forum in which students can self-reflect and continue the process of peer-to-peer evaluation as they debate in class.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

John N. v. Olivia

Nervous at first, John showed the room that he was a force to be reckoned with today. His use of evidence and cross examination was stinging. Olivia surprised bother of her teachers (Mr. Brasof and Mr. Coyle) by delivering an incredible "blacks are the minority but make the majority of this country wealthy through labor" argument. This was a unique argument never used in the history of Constitution High School. Also, her description of the middle passage really captivated the judges. John was unrelentless when crossing Olivia about her use of the bible and chipped away at her Christianity argument. Olivia was able to effectively respond to John's challenge that blacks were not intelligent enough to rebel during the rebuttal (an advantage of going first in the debates and last during rebuttal). Congratulations to both speakers for an outstanding job!
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16 comments:

  1. corrieApril 29, 2009 at 4:25 PM

    i thought that jhon was going to win this one because his aruments were stong and cx was strong he controled the whole cx.

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  2. Brian RoseApril 29, 2009 at 8:23 PM

    Brasof, my comment is under you and Mrs.gold's debate

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  3. Charnique JApril 30, 2009 at 3:13 PM

    i believe john should of ont the debate he had a strong croos examine and a strong opening statement.
    Charnique Johnson

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  4. Jankai MulbahApril 30, 2009 at 4:25 PM

    I honestly though John was going to win. he had lots of evidence and his CX was good but during the rebuttal when Olivia brought out the Bacon Rebellion i knew she was going to win. they both did a great job though.

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  5. Chelsea N.April 30, 2009 at 6:10 PM

    I thought John was going to win this one at first but Olivia came back around with the evidence of the Bacon's Rebellion. They both did good.

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  6. steven2012April 30, 2009 at 6:50 PM

    I thought John was going ti win because he had lots of evidence..... But Olivia had got him back during the cx with the Nathaniel bacon argument.... It was a good and close debate.. I had rally in joyed it

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  7. olivias.2012May 1, 2009 at 5:12 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. olivias.2012May 1, 2009 at 5:14 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. AnonymousMay 1, 2009 at 9:12 AM

    I think they did a good job and the debate proved many people wrong who said that Olivia was going to win. The best argument (i believe) is when John countered Olivia's argument with the bible. i think it was a good debate

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  10. Ralph Yamasaki May 1, 2009 at 3:14 PM

    This debate had me on the edge of my seat because for the past few weeks Olivia has been putting time and effort into this debate and I was really hoping to see her win her cx was excellent and I like the way Olivia articulates herself from Ralph

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  11. Miss GarveyMay 2, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    OMG!!!!!!! I am surprise at John. I thought he was going to win but when it came down to Olivia's arguments and during the cross examination she did good.John all I have to say is WOOOOOOOOWWW!!! :)

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  12. olivias.2012May 2, 2009 at 6:30 PM

    I believe that John should have won, but he took a risk by saying there was no sign of rebellion. If he didn't say that and I thought about Bacon's Rebellion then he would have won. But John I knew you were smart but not that smart...WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

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  13. Shaquille HMay 4, 2009 at 9:36 AM

    this was a very funny debate. john is a smart kid and olivia is loud. so this a good combinations. i honestly believe that john should of won because really none of olivia arguments were standing strong. great job to both of you though

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  14. CabreccaMay 5, 2009 at 5:45 PM

    I completely disagree with the judges. John was so much better, but the dicision is final. Congrats to both

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  15. Michael PMay 13, 2009 at 10:01 AM

    I think the judges made a mistake in this debate. Olivia made no sense of her points. She didn't even understand her points

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  16. David RMay 14, 2009 at 4:01 PM

    I WAS NOT HERE FOR THIS DEBATE BUT I HERD ALOT ABOUT HOW JOHN SHOULD HAVE WON SO CONGRATS TO BOTH!!!!!!!!!!!

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