Letter from , by Thucydides; The Peloponnesian Wars , by ... Alif: Readings from the Arab Tradition (Student and Teacher editions) Post-secondary Mapping the Future (Reader’s guide

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®Touchstones®

Readings in Social Studies

Touchstones® Discussion Project

PO Box 2329Annapolis, MD 21404www.touchstones.org

(800) 456-6542

Touchstones®

Discussion Project

T ouchstones® Readings in Social Studies complements Touchstones

Volumes I and II and contains a broad selection of texts ideal for

discussion in any social studies course. Whether you teach history, world

cultures, civics, government, humanities, philosophy, or current events, these

Touchstones readings offer rich content that will engage your students in

thoughtful and meaningful discussions. Readings include adapted excerpts from

The Iliad, by Homer; The Peloponnesian Wars, by Thucydides; Letter from

Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King Jr.; The Federalist Papers, by James

Madison; Self Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson; and Buddy, by Langston

Hughes. Each reading has been carefully selected and edited to present familiar

ideas, common themes, and points of view in a manner that allows for multiple

interpretations and depth of inquiry. Ideal for use with students of all abilities,

this selection of texts from Touchstones Discussion Project provides excellent

primary source material to use for discussions in your social studies classroom.

Touchstones®: Building critical thinkers &collaborative leaders

TOUCHSTONESREADINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

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Other Available Touchstones Program Materials

Elementary SchoolTouchpebbles Volume A (Student and Teacher editions)Touchpebbles Volume B (Student and Teacher editions)

Middle SchoolTouchstones Volume A (Student and Teacher editions)Touchstones Volume B (Student and Teacher editions)Touchstones Volume C (Student and Teacher editions)Courage to Care, Building Community through Service (our community service

volume for middle grades) (Student and Teacher editions)Where’d They Get That Idea?: Issues and Ideas in Science and Mathematics - Vol. I

(Student and Teacher editions)Where’d They Get That Idea?: Issues and Ideas in Science and Mathematics - Vol. II

(Student and Teacher editions)

High SchoolTouchstones Volume I (Student and Teacher editions)Touchstones Volume II (Student and Teacher editions)Discussing the African American Experience (Student and Teacher editions)Discussing U.S. History (Student and Teacher editions)Getting Ready for the Reading Section of the ACT (Student edition)Investigating Mathematics (Student edition)Readings in Social Studies (Anthology)SAT Preparation for Critical Reading (Student edition)Touchstones Alif: Readings from the Arab Tradition

(Student and Teacher editions)

Post-secondaryMapping the Future (Reader’s guide and Leader’s supplement)New Landscapes (Student edition)The Compass (College edition)

Other volumesCourage to Care, Strength to Serve (our community service volume for

older grades or adults) (Student and Leader editions)The Compass (Executive level)Discussion Leadership: Getting Started (Leader’s guide)

In support of your work to bring dialogue, increased critical thinking, collaborative leadership,and community to your students, Touchstones Discussion Project offers educators a range ofprofessional development services. Contact us for more information or to schedule an introductory presentation.

II TOUCHSTONES® READINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

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About the Touchstones® Discussion ProjectThe Touchstones Discussion Project is a nonprofit organizationfounded on the belief that all people can benefit from thelistening, speaking, thinking, and interpersonal skills gained byengaging in active, focused discussions. Since 1984, Touchstoneshas helped millions of students and others develop and improvethese skills in school, work, and life. For more information aboutthe Touchstones Discussion Project, visit www.touchstones.org.

Texts selected, translated, and edited byGeoffrey Comber

Howard ZeidermanNicholas Maistrellis

©1991, 2003, 2007, 2012by Touchstones Discussion Project

PO Box 2329Annapolis, Maryland 21404

800-456-6542www.touchstones.org

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or repurposed in any form without prior written consent of the authors.

ISBN: 978-1-937742-21-8

TOUCHSTONES® READINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES III

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Introduction 1

I. Ancient History1. The Iliad, Ch. VI, Hector meets his wife, by Homer 5

2. The Iliad, Ch. XXIV, Priam begs for his son’s body, by Homer 7

3. The Life of Lycurgus, by Plutarch 9

4. The Life of Pericles, by Plutarch 11

5. The Histories, by Herodotus Solon meets Croesus 13

6. The Peloponnesian Wars,The Plague at Athens, by Thucydides 15

7. The Peloponnesian Wars, Civil war in Corcyra, by Thucydides 19

8. The Peloponnesian Wars, The Melian dialogue, by Thucydides 21

II. World Cultures1. A Lesson for Kings, A Tale from India 27

2a. The Tortoise and the Rabbit, by Aesop 29

2b. The Tortoise and the Antelope, A Tale of The Ngini People 31

3. An Unlucky Man?, A Tale from Nigeria 33

4. The Parable of the Greedy Sons, A Tale from Persia 35

5. The Story of Fire, A Sufi Tale 37

6. Truth and Falsehood, A Middle Eastern Folktale 41

7. God, the Devil, Death, and the Hungry Peasant, A Mexican Folktale 43

8. The Secret of Caring for Life, by Chuang Tzu 47

9. The Doctrine of the Middle Way, by Chung Yung 49

10. The Seven Books, by Mencius 51

11. Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu 55

12. The Wise Man of Wei, by Chuang Tzu 57

C o n t e n t s

TOUCHSTONES® READINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES V

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13. Money Makes Cares, A Tale from China 59

14. The Tale of Genji, by Lady Murasaki 61

15. Hiawatha Sees Himself, A Tale of the Iroquois 65

16. The Story of Creation, A Tale of the Eskimos 67

17. A Blind Man and A Cripple, A Tale of the Hopi 69

18. Life and Death, A Tale of the Blackfeet 71

19. The Creation of Man, A Tale of the Miwoks 73

III. Civics1. Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes 77

2. The Prince Ch. XV, by Niccolò Machiavelli 79

3. The Prince Ch. XVII, by Niccolò Machiavelli 81

4. The Second Treatise of Government, by John Locke 83

5. On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill 85

6. A Theological-Political Treatise, by Benedict de Spinoza 87

7. Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View,

by Immanuel Kant 89

8. Use and Abuse of History, by Friedrich Nietzsche 91

9. The Will To Power, by Friedrich Nietzsche 93

10. Discourse on the Origins of Inequality Among Men,

by Jean Jacques Rousseau 97

11. The Philosophy of History, by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 99

12. The German Ideology, by Karl Marx 101

13. Forum on Art and Literature, by Mao Tse Tung 103

14. Man the Reformer, by Ralph Waldo Emerson 107

15. Democracy in America, On Associations, by Alexis de Tocqueville 109

16. Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud 111

17. Letter from Birmingham Jail, by Martin Luther King Jr. 115

18. Passers-by, by Franz Kafka 119

19. The Rights of Women, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 121

IV. U.S. History 1. The Federalist Papers No. 10, by James Madison 125

2. Democracy in America,by Alexis de Tocqueville 127

VI TOUCHSTONES® READINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

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3. A Plan for a Department of Peace for the United States - 1792,

by Benjamin Banneker 129

4. The Autobiography, by Benjamin Franklin 131

5. Self-Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson 133

6. Up From Slavery, by Booker T. Washington 135

7. A Sunday Evening Talk, by Booker T. Washington 137

8. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass 139

9. Letter to His Former Master, by Frederick Douglass 141

10. The Labor Question, by Frederick Douglass 145

11. Is Government by the Majority Right?, by Frederick Douglass 147

V. Humanities1. The Qur’an 151

2. Bhagavad-Gita 153

3. On Being Abused by Others, by the Buddha 155

4. Writings on Non-Violence, Mahatma Gandhi 157

5. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu 161

6. Prisoners Listening to Music, by Kathe Kollwitz 163

7a. Melancholia I, by Albrecht Dürer 165

7b. Anatomy of Melancholy, by Robert Burton 167

8. The Law, by Hippocrates 169

9. The Republic Book VII, by Plato 171

10. The Rhetoric, by Aristotle 173

11. The Confessions, by Saint Augustine of Hippo 175

12. Meditations, by René Descartes 177

13. Pensées, by Blaise Pascal 179

14. The Apology for Raymond Sebond, by Michel de Montaigne 181

15. The Consolation of Philosophy, by Boethius 183

16. On Suspicion, by Francis Bacon 185

17. About Revenge, by Francis Bacon 187

18. The Treasure of the City of Ladies: Advice to Princesses,

by Christine de Pisan 189

19. To a Certain Miss Nobody, by Fanny Burney 191

20. The Letters, by Helisenne de Crenne 193

21. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or

Gustavus Vasa, the African, by Olaudah Equiano 195

22. The Royal Commentaries of the Inca, by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega 197

TOUCHSTONES® READINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES VII

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23. The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin 199

24. True and False Philanthropy, from McGuffey’s Reader 201

25. What is Man? A Little Story, by Mark Twain 203

26. Almos’ a Man, by Richard Wright 205

27. “Buddy,” by Langston Hughes 207

28. The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison 209

VIII TOUCHSTONES® READINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

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Social studies classes prepare our students to live responsibly and thoughtfully

in our constantly changing world. Through the study of history, civics, government,

world cultures, humanities, and current events students will come to understand and

work to resolve the problems that confront them, their communities, the nation, and

the world. Students orient themselves within the history of their own country and

the world. They become sensitive to and knowledgeable about the often vague and

elusive forces that affect their social, political, and economic environments. They

examine the points of view, attitudes, and presuppositions that are present in diverse

cultures as well as their own. As a result, your students will learn to examine their

individual desires and goals with respect to those of the larger community and

become aware that they are affected by, and can have an affect on, the various local,

national, and international communities of which they are members.

Touchstones Readings in Social Studies is a comprehensive collection of primary

source documents designed to be read aloud and explored in class as a part of your

social studies curriculum. By regularly reading and discussing these texts, your

students will not only improve their understanding of important issues, but they will

also improve their ability to listen actively, speak clearly and thoughtfully, and think

critically. They will learn to question their assumptions, consider different points of

view, respect their classmates, and take responsibility for their ideas and opinions.

Originally designed for use in Touchstones’ middle and high school programs

across the country, these readings cover a wide spectrum of issues raised in social

studies classes and invite student exploration. The richness of the content allows for

multiple interpretations and depth of inquiry. The accessibility of these readings is

Introduction

TOUCHSTONES® READINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES 1

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the result of careful editing to retain the complexity of the authors’ ideas while using

contemporary syntax and vocabulary. The excerpts are also short, usually one to two

pages in length, so that the texts can be easily read in three minutes or less.

We hope that through the careful exploration and discussion of these texts, your

students will realize the benefits that so many other students across the country have

experienced through Touchstones programs, and that that your classroom is

enlivened and your lessons enriched through the power of discussion.

About the Touchstones Discussion Project The Touchstones Discussion Project is a nonprofit organization that improves

students’ critical thinking and collaborative learning skills through discussion-based

programs in language arts, social studies, math, and science. Each curriculum is based

on Touchstones’ unique participant-centered discussion method and uses carefully

compiled and edited short readings as the basis for group discussion.

Most Touchstones lessons are held weekly and include individual worksheets and

small group activities, culminating in a large group discussion. Early phases of the

program focus heavily on group dynamics and full participation. As the discussions

progress, students take on increased responsibility in guiding the content and

direction of the discussion. They evaluate the discussions, monitor their own

participation, and strategize on how to improve the overall effectiveness of the

discussions. In taking these steps, students gain crucial experience in self-reflection

and self-governance while building critical problem-solving skills. For more

information about the Touchstones Discussion Project, classroom materials, or

teacher training, please call 800-456-6542 or visit www.touchstones.org.

2 TOUCHSTONES® READINGS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

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In the tenth year of the war between the Greeks and Trojans, Agamemnon, leader

of the Greeks, insulted Achilles, their greatest warrior. While Achilles, furious, refused

to fight, the Trojans led by Hector became bolder than they had ever been. For the

first time in ten years, they began fighting the Greeks away from the city. Yet, even as

they won small victories, all the Trojans feared that Achilles, who had killed so many

of them, would return to fight and catch them out in the open.

After one of the battles, Hector returned to the city looking for his wife,

Andromache. He found her with their infant son above the city gate. They stood

together holding hands and looked at their child. Hector smiled in silence but

Andromache had tears in her eyes as she began to speak. “Your great courage will be

what kills you. And you have no pity for me or your son. When the Greeks destroy

you, it will be better if I die too. Without you, there is nothing for me but sorrow. In

one battle Achilles killed my father and seven brothers. On the day he finally released

my mother for ransom, she also died. You, my husband, are now also father, mother,

and brother to me. Don’t make your child an orphan. Don’t let your wife become a

widow. Draw your men up to the fig tree near the city. Don’t go down and fight in the

open spaces near the ships.”

Hector, wearing his shining bronze armor, answered her. “I think about that too,

woman, but how could I face my men and their wives if I stayed away from the battle?

And my own spirit won’t let me. Ever since I learned to fight, I’ve always been the best

of the Trojans. I’ve won a great name for myself and my father. And there’s one thing

I know. A day will come when this city will be destroyed and my father’s people will

The IliadChapter VI, Hector Meets His Wife

by Homer


Ancient History

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perish. And though my brothers and parents will be killed, I think about you most of

all. On that day a Greek will lead you away in tears. You will be a slave in someone’s

home. Someday, seeing you cry, a Greek will say, “This is the wife of Hector, greatest

of the Trojans.” I pray that before I hear you crying as they take you away, I will be

dead and buried in the ground.”

As Hector finished, he held out his arms for his baby boy. The child screamed and

pressed back harder against his nurse’s bosom. His father frightened the boy, since he

wore on his head a bronze helmet crested with horsehair and looked like some strange

animal. Hector and Andromache both laughed. The smiling warrior took off his

helmet and picked up his son. He tossed him in the air and kissed him. He looked up

to the sky and prayed, “Let my boy be as I am, first among the Trojans. Someday let

men say of him, ‘He is better by far than his father’ when he comes home from battle.”


Ancient History

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There was once a hardworking and generous farmer who had several lazy and

greedy sons. On his deathbed he told them that they would find his treasure if they

would dig in a certain field. As soon as the old man was dead, the sons hurried to the

field which they dug up from one end to the other.

They found no gold at all. Believing that their generous father must have given

the gold away, they abandoned the search. Finally, they decided that since they had

already dug up the land, they might as well plant a crop. They planted wheat, had a

good harvest, sold it, and made a big profit.

After they harvested the wheat, they wondered again whether the gold might still

be there. So they dug the field again. Once again, they found no gold, but they planted

more wheat with the same result.

After several years of this they stopped being lazy, got used to hard work, and

became honest and happy farmers. They also became wealthy through their hard

work and stopped thinking about the treasure. Then they understood the reason for

their father’s way of teaching them.

This is how it is when you try to teach someone about the meaning of human life.

The teacher is faced with students who are impatient, confused, and greedy. He has

to get them to do something which he knows is good for them, but whose true

purpose is hidden from them because they are so young.

The Parable of the Greedy SonsA Tale from Persia


World Cultures

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Is it better for a ruler to be loved by his people or feared by them? Most people

want to be both feared and loved. However, it is hard to be both feared and loved, and

if you can’t have both, it is safer to be feared. This is so because human beings

generally have the following characteristics: they are ungrateful, undependable, liars,

cheats, cowards, and greedy for money. As long as you take care of them, they will do

whatever you want. They will pretend they love you. They will offer to give you their

property and their children, if they are sure you neither want them nor need them. If

you ever do need them, they will turn against you. Since their friendship has been

bought for a price, and does not depend on their goodness, you cannot count on it.

They will not hesitate to hurt their friends if they think they can profit by it. They

will break the bonds of friendship every time they think it is in their interest to do so.

However, they will not betray you if they fear you and think you can punish them.

Although a ruler must make himself feared, he should not also make himself hated.

It is, in fact, possible for a ruler to be feared but not hated. He can do this by keeping

his hands off the women and property of his subjects. If he has to kill someone, he

should do it when he has a good reason for it. Anyway, most men will hate you more

if you take their property than if you kill their friends and relatives.

The Prince Ch. XVIIShould a Ruler be Loved or Feared?

by Niccolò Machiavelli


Civics

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Thomas Auld:

Sir—The long and intimate, though by no means friendly relation which

unhappily existed between you and myself, leads me to hope that you will easily

account for the great liberty which I now take in addressing you in this open and

public manner. The same fact may possibly remove any disagreeable surprise which

you may experience on again finding your name coupled with mine, in any other way

than in an advertisement, accurately describing my person, and offering a large sum

for my arrest. In thus dragging you again before the public, I am aware that I shall

subject myself to no small amount of blame. I shall probably be charged with an

unwarrantable, if not a wanton and reckless disregard of the rights and properties of

private life. There are those North as well as South who entertain a much higher

respect for rights which are merely conventional, than they do for rights which are

personal and essential. Not a few there are in our country, who, while they have no

scruples against robbing the laborer of the hard earned results of his patient industry,

will be shocked by the extremely indelicate manner of bringing your name before the

public.

I have selected this day on which to address you, because it is the anniversary of

my emancipation; and knowing of no better way, I am led to this as the best mode of

celebrating that truly important event. Just ten years ago this beautiful September

morning, yon bright sun beheld me a slave—a poor, degraded chattel—trembling at

the sound of your voice, lamenting that I was a man, and wishing myself a brute. The

hopes which I treasured up for weeks of a safe and successful escape from your grasp,

Letter to His FormerMasterby Frederick Douglass


U.S. History

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were powerfully confronted at this last hour by dark clouds of doubt and fear, making

my person shake and my bosom to heave with the heavy contest between hope and

fear. I have no words to describe to you the deep agony of soul which I experienced

on that never to be forgotten morning—for I left by daylight. I was making a leap in

the dark. The probabilities, so far as I could by reason determine them, were stoutly

against the undertaking. The preliminaries and precautions I had adopted previously,

all worked badly. I was like one going to war without weapons—ten chances of defeat

to one of victory. One in whom I had confided, and one who had promised me

assistance, appalled by fear at the trial hour, deserted me, thus leaving the

responsibility of success or failure solely with myself.

You, sir, can never know my feelings. As I look back to them, I can scarcely realize

that I have passed through a scene so trying. Trying however as they were, and gloomy

as was the prospect, thanks be to the Most High, who is ever the God of the oppressed,

at the moment which was to determine my whole earthly career. His grace was

sufficient, my mind was made up, I embraced the golden opportunity, took the

morning tide at the flood, and a free man, young, active and strong, is the result.

After remaining in New Bedford for three years, I met with Wm. Lloyd Garrison, a

person of whom you have probably heard, as he is pretty generally known among

slave-holders. He put it into my head that I might make myself serviceable to the cause

of the slave by devoting a portion of my time to telling my own sorrows, and those of

other slaves which had come under my observation. This was the commencement of

a higher state of existence than any to which I had ever aspired. I was thrown into

society the most pure, enlightened and benevolent that the country affords. Among

these I have never forgotten you, but have invariably made you the topic of

conversation—thus giving you all the notoriety I could do. I need not tell you that the

opinion formed of you in these circles, is far from being favorable. They have little

respect for your honesty, and less for your religion.

But I was going on to relate to you something of my interesting experience. I had

not long enjoyed the excellent society to which I have referred, before the light of its

excellence exerted a beneficial influence on my mind and heart. Much of my early

dislike of white persons was removed, and their manners, habits and customs, so

entirely unlike what I had been used to in the kitchen-quarters on the plantations of

the South, fairly charmed me, and gave me a strong disrelish for the coarse and

degrading customs of my former condition. I therefore made an effort so to improve

my mind and deportment as to be somewhat fitted to the station to which I seemed

almost providentially called. The transition from degradation to respectability was

indeed great, and to get from one to the other without carrying some marks of one’s


U.S. History

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former condition, is truly a difficult matter. I would not have you think that I am now

entirely clear of all plantation peculiarities, but my friends here, while they entertain

the strongest dislike to them, regard me with that charity to which my past life

somewhat entitles me, so that my condition in this respect is exceedingly pleasant.

So far as my domestic affairs are concerned, I can boast of as comfortable a dwelling

as your own. I have an industrious and neat companion and four dear children.

Oh! Sir, a slave-holder never appears to me so completely an agent of hell, as when

I think of and look upon my dear children. It is then that my feelings rise above my

control. I meant to have said more with respect to my own prosperity and happiness,

but thoughts and feelings which this recital has awakened unfit me to proceed further

in that direction. The grim horrors of slavery rise in all their ghastly terror before me;

the wails of millions pierce my heart, and chill my blood. I remember the chain, the

gag, the bloody whip, the death-like gloom overshadowing the broken spirit of the

fettered bondman, the appalling liability of his being torn away from wife and

children, and sold like a beast in the market. Say not that this is a picture of fancy. You

well know that I carry scars on my back inflicted by your direction: and that you, while

we were brothers in the same church, caused this right hand, with which I am now

penning this letter, to be closely tied to my left, and my person dragged at the pistol’s

mouth, fifteen miles, from the Bay side to Easton to be sold like a beast in the market,

for the alleged crime of intending to escape from your possession. All this and more

you remember, and know to be perfectly true, not only of yourself, but of nearly all of

the slaveholders around you.

At this moment, you are probably the guilty holder of at least three of my own

dear sisters, and my only brother in bondage. These you regard as your property. They

are recorded on your ledger, or perhaps have been sold to human flesh-mongers, with

a view to filling your own ever-hungry purse. Sir, I desire to know how and where these

dear sisters are. Let me know all about them. I would write to them, and learn all I

want to know of them, without disturbing you in any way, but that, through your

unrighteous conduct, they have been entirely deprived of the power to read and write.

You have kept them in utter ignorance, and have therefore robbed them of the sweet

enjoyments of writing or receiving letters from absent friends and relatives. Your

wickedness and cruelty committed in this respect on your fellow-creatures are greater

than all the blows you have laid upon my back, or theirs. It is an outrage upon the

soul—a war upon the immortal spirit, and one for which you must give account at

the bar of our common Father and Creator.

I will now bring this letter to a close; you shall hear from me again unless you let

me hear from you. I intend to make use of you as a weapon with which to assail the


U.S. History

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system of slavery—as a means of concentrating public attention on the system, and

deepening their horror of trafficking in the souls and bodies of men. I shall make use

of you as a means of bringing this guilty nation with yourself to repentance. In doing

this I entertain no malice towards you personally. There is no roof under which you

would be more safe than mine, and there is nothing in my house which you might

need for your comfort, which I would not readily grant. Indeed, I should esteem it a

privilege, to set you an example as to how mankind ought to treat each other.

I am your fellow man, but not your slave,

Frederick Douglass


U.S. History

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Slavery was not confined to particular places or individuals. In all the different

islands in which I have been (and I have visited no less than fifteen), the treatment of

slaves has been nearly the same. Indeed, the history of slavery in one island or even

on one plantation might well serve as a history for the whole practice. The slave-trade

destroys men’s minds and hardens them to every feeling of humanity. For I refuse to

believe that the dealers in slaves are born worse than other men. No, it is the result of

this mistaken greed that it corrupts the milk of human kindness and turns it into

bitter gall. Had these men pursued different activities they might have been as

generous, as tender-hearted, and as just as they are now unfeeling, greedy, and cruel.

Surely, this trade in slaves can not be good. It spreads like a disease and changes

everything it touches. It violates the first natural rights of mankind—equality and

independence.

The practice of slavery gives one man a rule and a dominion over his fellow men

which God could never have intended. It raises the slave-owner to a state far above a

human being, for it forces the slave into a position below it. One pretends to be a god,

the other is made an animal. Through the arrogance of human pride it places a

difference between them which is immeasurable in distance and endless in time. Yet

how mistaken and self-defeating is even the owner’s greed! Are slaves more useful by

being made animals than they would be if they were allowed to be men? When you

make men slaves, you take away half of their virtue and ability. And by your own

action you set for them the example of fraud, rape, and cruelty. You force them to live

in a state of war with you, and then you complain that they are not honest or faithful.

The Interesting Narrative ofthe Life of Olaudah Equiano,or Gustavus Vassa, the Africanby Olaudah Equiano


Humanities

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You beat them; you keep them ignorant; and then you claim that they cannot learn.

You claim their minds are such poor soil that education would be lost on them. Yet

they come originally from a climate where nature has given great riches to everything.

Should we think that men from there alone were left unfinished and incapable of

enjoying the treasures nature has poured out for them? Such a claim is absurd!

Why do you use those instruments of torture? Should one rational being use them

on another? Aren’t you ashamed to see people of the same nature as you brought so

low? And aren’t there great dangers for you in treating others this way? Aren’t you

always afraid of revolt by them? But by changing your conduct and treating your slaves

as men, every cause of fear would be banished. They would be faithful, intelligent,

and vigorous; and peace, prosperity, and happiness would be yours.


Humanities

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Documents

Letter from , by Thucydides; The Peloponnesian Wars , by ... Alif: Readings from the Arab Tradition (Student and Teacher editions) Post-secondary Mapping the Future (Reader’s guide