New York Divided
Essay Preview: New York Divided
Report this essay
New York divided was created by the New-York Historical Society in 2005 for those who have never heard of slavery in New York or those who have, to go even deeper into the history. This website features many different historical artifacts that have never been released until the New-York Historic Society presented both the websites Slavery in New York and New York divided. New York Divided explains slavery and the civil war from the years 1815-1870 through the exhibit for which they put into this website. The New-York Historic Society presents New York Divided as a story of slavery and its impact not only on the people but also the landscape and its economic ties between the South and their own people of New York.
This website gives intense details about the American history that many of us didnt even learn in school. I feel as though this website was created to help people remember that there is a deeper history of New York than anyone really knows. For me, this was the first time I have ever heard of Slavery in New York with the South. New York Divided has three themes you can enter the exhibit to learn more about New York: Pro-Southern City, Fighting Slavery, and the Civil War.
Whenever I have heard of slavery, it seems as though “conflict between the two sides, one favorable to slavery and one opposed, was all but inevitable”(nydivided), will always be the first argument one may make about slavery. The New-York Historical Society has put so much time and effort into making this website to open up the eyes of people and to make the history come alive that I believe this website has out done itself. It is amazing that this group could dig up 200-year-old memories, facts, real newspapers, and other documentations of the history of New York and the United States.
“The New-York Historical Society does not endorse these views, but without them, it would be difficult to fully appreciate the charged racial environment of nineteenth-century New York”(nydivided). This Society is definitely credible with the information they provided with this exhibit. They have a list of people who have helped out with given them information, facts, and other memories that not just one person could have found. The curator of New York Divided and president of American History Workshop, Richard Rabinowitz, explain that this exhibit will hopefully give those who visit a sense of what happened in New York with Slavery and the Civil War.
One of the greatest strengths about this website is that it is very honest. It doesnt seem to hold back on disturbing material or racial attitudes and comments. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. I believe this is a good thing as well as strength because if they had held back on the truth, we still probably wouldnt understand what really happened back then. The reason why I said it could be a bad thing is because some people can take it the wrong way if they are sensitive to the subject. What people need to understand if they are going to judge this website badly is that to be able to learn