Contemporary+Slavery+and+the+Legacy+of+Colonialism

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Relate the progression of your group's discussion (not just what you discussed, but how you discussed it and in what order different points were made). Finish by reporting the conclusion(s) that your group came to, if any, and further questions or actions you recommended.
 * Reporter:**
 * Recorder:**
 * Class Period:**
 * Central Question:**

Our groups read through the questions and answered many of them at once. We spoke about how slavery can not only be used as a tool for a country to build its empire in a new state, but can also form when there is a power vacuum left after a large empire leaves. We discussed how after the imperialist country leaves the state, there is much poverty and there is power open for people who will abuse it. We used the example of how the Taliban took over in the middle east after the United States left those countries. We also discussed how in India became quite impoverished after the British left the country. A country with poor people who do not have many regulations will lead to a rise in the use of slavery as people are tricked to become slaves with promises of better work, or are sold by their families.
 * Reporter: Anisa Hofert**
 * Recorder: Aishwarya Shettigar**
 * Class Period: 5**
 * Central Question: How does slavery develop from colonialism?**


 * Reporter:** Shalom Entner
 * Recorder:** Amir Scott
 * Class Period:** 1
 * Central Question:** How did colonial slavery affect society in comparison to contemporary slavery?

Shalom and Amir decided to start the conversation with agreeing on definitions of a few terms used in the question so that we could have a better discussion and not get confused by various definitions. Once they had definitions, the actual discussion started to flow. It was only Amir and Shalom in the group, so it was very back and forth, but they were mostly agreeing and building off of each other's ideas and opinions. The discussion started with Shalom defining slavery, colonialism, and contemporary slavery and Amir edited them so that both of them were satisfied with the definitions. Amir then pointed out how contemporary slavery operates and functions versus how colonial slavery operated and functioned. Shalom then changed the direction towards the secrecy of contemporary slavery and who the slavery benefits.


 * Reporter:** Mavishka Lankatilleke
 * Recorder:** Nathaniel Mamo
 * Class Period:** 1
 * Central Question:** What are some similarities and differences between colonialism and slavery in the U.S. in the past and present day?

Our group started by defining what slavery and colonialism meant. We agreed that slavery was, in general, the act of forcing people to do something against their will while at the same time dehumanizing them and making profits off of them, and colonialism was one group taking over another for the purpose of making profit. Next, we discussed the differences between slavery then (18th-19th century) and now. One interesting thing that was brought up was the idea that back then, people, for the most part, knew if they were a slave or not. Our society had a clear definition of what made a person a slave. However, in the 21st century, anybody can be at risk to becoming a slave. There is currently no foundation to who traffickers would pick as their next slave, other than the traffickers' own, personal interest. Our group agreed on the idea that colonialism remained largely the same, the only difference being who was doing the colonizing. In modern times "colonizing" would be the equivalent of a business taking over a certain area, possibly enslaving people to work, whereas back then, instead of businesses, countries or ethnic groups were taking over areas and enslaving the native populations. Towards the end of the discussion, our group listed a couple similarities between now and then, and found that both colonialism and slavery intertwined. The similarities we listed include: both subjugated groups were treated just as poorly, women in these situations are still treated like a lower class, and all groups felt a similar use of manipulation.


 * Reporter**: Mordecai Obeng
 * Recorder**: Amy Zhang
 * Class Period**: 5
 * Central Question:** How does contemporary slavery compare with slavery in colonial times?

My group started our discussion by brainstorming the different ways that slavery affected the colonial world, and the modern world. During this brainstorming period one of our members brought up the topic of the economic effects that slavery had on colonial times, and its effect on the modern economies of countries in which slavery still exist. We agreed that slavery played a much more vital role in the economies of many places in colonial times, and without it many areas in colonial America and other places would crumble economically and even socially. Take, for example, the southern colonies of colonial and post colonial America that had mainly agrarian economies which were heavily dependent on slave labor in order to sustain it. Without slavery the economy of many southern areas wouldn't be able to stand. The societal structure of many southern colonies also depended on slaves. This is because without the poor African-American slaves at the bottom of the social ladder, the poor, white indentured servants and farmers would then find themselves at the bottom of the social ladder. Our group then came to an agreement that slavery does still play a significant role in the economies of many areas around the world, but often times it's not to the same degree as it did back in colonial times.