The dumbest thing you’ll read until the next dumbest thing you read
A question on a test: A plantation owner had 100 slaves. If three-fifths of them are counted for representation, how many slaves will be counted?
So, this question does two things, it teaches math and it they learn about a pretty horrible thing that happened in this country.
This has people upset because they don’t want kids learning or learning about things that are unpleasant or something. I’m not sure what. And this is the dumb part:
I don’t know what to say. I believe that slavery is still in Georgia. I didn’t know that it would go this far. I think they need to resign or something
Oh, you believe it. Well, it must true then.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:00 am
“A plantation owner had 100 slaves. If three-fifths of them are counted for representation, how many slaves will be counted?”
Beyond representing slavery as normal and ongoing, it’s horrible wording. All of them would be counted, otherwise they wouldn’t know there were 100 slaves.
What they meant say was “A plantation owner had 100 slaves. If a slaves counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of representation, how many persons did the slaves represent?”
March 21st, 2012 at 9:11 am
I agree that the reaction is PSH. I also agree that it’s not something that should be buried and forgotten like it’s never happened. It’s still in the Constitution. But not something “in your face” like this. 500,000 Americans died to put an end to it. We elected a black President. Let’s MoveOn.org.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:11 am
You know that 3/5 horrible thing also prevented the south from using 100% of the population for representation in the U.S House of Reps. Effectively it allowed the north to count 100% of it’s population. If the 3/5s provision was not there, the south would have kept importing slaves, who could not vote, and would keep gaining more and more control of the U.S House.
People are quick to say, 3/5s horrible white man. It was actually a pretty useful tactic to neuter the south and slavery – but that gets overlooked.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:11 am
“…had 100 slaves”, “If three-fifths of them are counted” and “how many slaves will be counted?” is worded pretty clear to me.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:20 am
I think the ones most ‘offended’ about this question are the ones who can’t answer it. Either mathematically or historically.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:21 am
“This has people upset because they don’t want kids learning”
It has me upset because it isn’t about learning.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:22 am
@ andy
“People are quick to say, 3/5s horrible white man. It was actually a pretty useful tactic to neuter the south and slavery – but that gets overlooked.”
It may have been effective at it’s intended purpose, but it also empowered the North and federalism. It would have been a lot better if the two groups hadn’t compromised and instead had gone their separate ways.
March 21st, 2012 at 9:56 am
Imagine the reaction to the question had the teacher who put it in the assignment not been African-American.
Must be one of those Republican Uncle-Tom house servants….
March 21st, 2012 at 10:14 am
andy, at comment #4,
I am not as good a man as Lincoln was, and if I had been there, I would have given the freed slaves license to do whatever they wanted to their former masters, including the women and children.
There are a lot of evil things in this world but our race-based slavery is on the top ten of the list. No slavery, anywhere, ever, in history, was as bad as ours.
March 21st, 2012 at 10:19 am
BTW, I am of Greek decent, now an American, that Hitler recognized as the first Aryans to come to Europe. Until we became “mud people”.
March 21st, 2012 at 10:54 am
“Beyond representing slavery as normal and ongoing”
Les, I’m not sure how saying a plantation owner had 100 slaves represents slavery as ongoing.
“No slavery, anywhere, ever, in history, was as bad as ours.”
NK, I highly doubt that to be the case. I’m sure a lot of Chinese people in the 1930s, for a start, would disagree with that. I think the key difference is how well US slavery in the 1800s was documented versus slavery in countries a couple thousand years ago.
March 21st, 2012 at 11:40 am
There are these fields in Cambodia, Killing fields they’ve become known as, that would just be one recent example to dispute your assertion. Or you could look to the Jews in Egypt. Or for that matter the Jews and others in Nazi held territory working in industries until to weak then systematically exterminated. Slavery is very bad period but the slavery practiced in the US was not the worst at the time or since, much less ever.
March 21st, 2012 at 11:47 am
Whatever you say, guys. I concede nothing. Just don’t want to carry on an argument that was put to rest in 1865.
March 21st, 2012 at 12:52 pm
The part that is unclear is that it makes it sound like there are 60 slaves who count as a person and 40 that don’t, rather than 100 slaves, each of whom is counted as 3/5 of a person.
March 21st, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Will no one mention the origin of slavery in Georgia?
Because in colonial times, you know, there wasn’t any.
Extra points for knowing why.
March 21st, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Troll, Troll, Troll your boat & GFY.
Worst ever slavery *cough* Sudan 2012 *cough*