The Eighteenth century in Europe witnessed the full development of both Enlightenment thought and a coherent racist ideology. In many ways, the Enlightnment and racism share a braided history. It is the interwoven nature of these ideas that you will explore both today with two in-class pre-writing exercises and your paper.

Small Group Pre-Writing Exercises:

There are two brief exercises; you must do both.

1) Historical Background

When the French revolutionaries drew up the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in August 1789, they aimed to topple the institutions surrounding hereditary monarchy and establish new ones based on the principles of the Enlightenment, a philosophical movement gathering steam in the eighteenth century. The goal of the Enlightenment's proponents was to apply the methods learned from the scientific revolution to the problems of society. Further, its advocates committed themselves to "reason" and "liberty."

Read the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, 26 August 1789

Now, in your small groups discuss how one might construct an argument that opposed slavery WITHOUT using any of the rights or concepts contained in the Declaration. Write your conclusions up in a brief paragraph for the group to be passed in to me.

2) In this second exercise, you are to imagine that you are a sugar planter in Saint Domingo who wants to defend the foundation of his prosperity -- slavery -- against claims that the practice is morally wrong. In your group, discuss how you might defend slavery WITHOUT explicitly contradicting the spirit of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Write your conclusions up in a brief paragraph.