Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?

Could you imagine yourself roleplaying as someone pro-slavery? Well, that is basically what I had to do in my most recent First Year Seminar (FYS) class.

Just over a week ago, my class was introduced to a new assignment where we all had to prepare for a speech/debate regarding slavery in the United States during the 1800s. The whole class was divided into two groups; one group included people who were pro-slavery, and the other group represented people who were anti-slavery. Afterwards, we each had to choose one historical person and research based upon their view on slavery during the 1800s time period.

I was chosen to be apart of the pro-slavery group, so obviously I had to do research on a historical figure who was pro-slavery. I then resulted with Robert E Lee who was the commander of the Confederate States Army. Interestingly enough, most of the info I found pointed out that he wasn't necessarily pro-slavery. Crazy right? How could someone apart of the Confederate Army, especially as the commander, not be pro-slavery? Though this did baffle me, I still managed to find numerous quotes Robert E Lee had said showcasing how he is clearly pro-slavery.

On the day of the speech/debate, I was a bit nervous and uncomfortable since I had had to pretend to be someone with different views than me. I mean, who would be comfortable with that? Half the things I was saying definitely made me feel like an awful person, things such as, "The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, physically, and socially. The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their further instruction as a race and will prepare them, I hope, for better things."

However, it did make me feel better knowing that lots of other people were acting the same way as me. Better yet, everybody was very well spoken and accurately represented the person they were. Even our professor was super impressed with us all and had positive feedback for us. He even mentioned that he was proud of those who were representing pro-slavery because he understands how uncomfortable it must've been. Overall, I was happy with the outcome of the speech/debate.