10/16/23 Another Debate!

I had another debate in my history class today and the outcome was interesting. This debate was a little more complicated than the ones before. We got assigned either the Native American Party or a group of people that were pro-immigration. This was all in the context of the 1800s. The Native American Party was a group who were against immigration and believed in preserving values of “native” Americans (Americans who descended from original settlers). I was placed on the side of the Native American Party and it sounded pretty difficult. I’ve learned that arguing from a side you don’t particularly agree with can be easier than arguing from the side that you do agree with. Our argument didn’t feel that solid as the debate went on, but I felt at least somewhat confident about our points. In the end, we won the debate! It seems like I always win a debate when I’m on the side I don’t particularly like or agree with. The judges gave their reasoning for their votes as well. They expressed that the opposite side repeated arguments too many times which led to our win. This happened in the last debate as well, so I tried to focus on coming up with new proposals and ideas. I’m really loving the class debates and we’ll be having another one soon and I’m already looking forward to it.