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Regarding Finkelman's Bedford collection of pro-slavery documents: I used this volume with much success in a survey course in the fall. One section was more than disturbed (read: mildly offended) at having to read pro-slavery documents but the other section was relieved not to have to read the standard texts. Both classes for the most part were able to put together an intellectual argument in the end as to why slavery remained so popular for so long and I received positive remarks regarding the book in the end of class evaluations. Many times their previous history experience had put slavery into a good v. evil dichotomy and it was both revealing (and disturbing) for them to understand why "good" people were convinced that slavery was a good thing in the early to mid-nineteenth century. It is a pretty thorough collection of documents covering religious, legal, social, and racial arguments for slavery. My only caveat: He summarizes all the arguments too well in the beginning, so the students can "cheat" and not read the documents themselves. -- Allison O'Mahen Malcom PhD Candidate Department of History University of Illinois-Chicago
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