The Ethical Dimension:

1. The Ethical Dimension: How can history help us to live in the present?

3. Thinking about Ethical Dimension What is the Ethical Dimension? • Why are we learning this? • To judge the past fairly • Distinguish what should be remembered, memorialized or celebrated • Also decide what is an appropriate response in the present • To become better negotiating ethical dilemmas in your own life

4. The Book of Negroes Canadian author Lawrence Hill spent 5 years researching for his book on slavery It is a work of historical fiction, focusing on the enslavement and resistance of AminataDiallo who was kidnapped from West Africa in 1745

5. Historical Fiction The Book of Negroes “They aimed a finger’s length above my right nipple, and pressed (the branding iron) into my flesh. I could smell it burning. The pain ran through me like hot waves of lava.”

6. Non-fiction The Middle Passage: Comparative Studies in the Atlantic Slave Trade: “Whereas in the 1710-1718 period the average annual importation from Africa was 236 slaves, compared with 300 from the British West Indies, the number of slaves of African origin rose to 1,228 per annum in the period from 25 March 1718 to 25 March 1727. By the third decade of the 18th century, African slavers were monopolizing the trade, and the basic patterns, which remained constant for the rest of the century, had been fully established.”

7. Historical Fiction Vs Non-Fiction Ponder & write your thoughts down… What are the differences between these two types of history? What is the purpose of these two different genres?

8. A Comparison Non-Fiction Distant from the lives of the people & ethical issues of slavery/treatment Purpose: offer an interpretation of history that is grounded in evidence; future generations will know what happened Historical Fiction • Hill says his novel is about “about recognizing the drama and the sadness in our own history and bringing it to life.” • uses first person narrative, making inferences about the thoughts & feelings of an imaginary young woman • Vivid material for an ethical reponse • Implicit ethical judgment occurs through Hill’s choices of what to tell & how to tell it

9. Implicit & Explicit Judgments Africa & the Transatlantic Slave Trade (Dr. Hakim Ali, 2011) “Historians still debate exactly how many Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic during the next four centuries (until the 19th century). A comprehensive database compiled in the late 1990s puts the figure at just over 11 million people. Of those, fewer than 9.6 million survived the so-called middle passage across the Atlantic, due to the inhuman conditions in which they were transported, and the violent suppression of any on-board resistance. Many people who were enslaved in the African interior also died on the long journey to the coast.”

10. Illustration in British Children’s Book 1830

11. Double-Edged Sword of Historical Fiction As we read historical fiction we “feel” the injustice Authors appeal to our contemporary ethical values but this doesn’t acknowledge the differences in ethical values between now & the time period being examined Not a lot of evidence about what was morally reprehensible: the European slaver or African slaver? Was a yoke & chain or a whipping viewed as more undignified? The historical fiction author then answers these questions for us, often using contemporary ethical values instead of the past

12. Importance of Non-Fiction The historian brings to the table, which The Book of Negroes does not, is the historical context for understanding WHY slavery and the slave trade was considered acceptable in the past, at least in some quarters Laws in many countries supported racism What was “normal” during this time period? When you consider this, it becomes more difficult to blame individuals for their attitudes & more logical to condemn the society that made slavery acceptable BUT we can place individual blame if there are people who acted against the norm of the time period (abolitionists), therefore it was possible to see things differently

13. How do you come to terms with issues from the past? • Need to make an appropriate ethical judgment that takes into account the historical context of the time period • Often forms of restitution are used • Used to be between gov’ts (Ger pays Fr reparations after WWI) • New practice: gov’ts compensate individuals • Truth & reconciliation process • Remembrance through education, memorials • Important to restore dignity to the memory of the many captives who had to endure so much

14. Ethical Positions: Implicit or Explicit How? Ethical positions are implicit in our textbooks, historical novels, films & museum exhibits The act of choosing, researching & writing on a topic can open the door to an ethical stance

15. Implicit or Explicit? Why the labels?

16. How Historical Context Leads to Fair Ethical Judgments Always consider the historical context in which an action took place Historical context can help us identify limitations on choices & possibilities that may have restricted people’s actions in the past (can you think of any examples?) Or does the historical context reveals that a variety of choices were available? The answers to the above affects the degree to which we condemn the past Sometimes acknowledging the worldview (Racist European & North American during slavery) can help us understand but NOT condone the actions of slavers & plantation owners

17. Obligations to the Past How do we respond to the obligations of the past? We must be informed about the historical record before we make any decisions on how to respond to the past.