Course/Grade Level: 4th, 5th, 6th
Lesson Title: The Atlantic Slave Trade Map
Teacher: Rich Muniz
1. Set Induction:
Teacher will display the Atlantic Slave Trade Map, give the students a copy, and
allow students time to analyze the document using worksheets.
2. Aims/Objectives and Standards:
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One objective of this lesson is to teach students how to analyze primary
documents and maps.
Another objective is to teach students about the Middle Passage.
This lesson could be used in conjunction with either a unit on slavery or with
a unit on immigration.
Illinois State Standards: 16.A.2c, 16.A.3b, 16.A.3c, 16.B.3a
3. Procedures, Assessments and Materials Required:
Procedure:
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The teacher will give students the Atlantic Slave Trade Map and worksheets.
The students will be given time to analyze the map independently using the
worksheets as a guide.
The teacher will bring the students together and review the worksheets,
guiding discussion about the map and the information provided by the map.
Materials:
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Atlantic Slave Trade Map
Worksheets
4. Resources and Scholarship:
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Map by Ingolf Vogeler
http://www.uwec.edu/geography/Ivogeler/w111/slaves.htm
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“The Atlantic Slave Trade,” The Schomberg Center for Research in Black
Culture
http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/landing.cfm;jsessionid=f830163272
1360632287178?migration=1&bhcp=1
5. Conclusion/Lesson Wrap-up:
N/A
Slavery in America
The Atlantic Slave Trade Map
Name_______________________ Date______________
Instructions: Use the map below to answer the questions.
1. What was the total number of slaves sent to the New World? _____________
2. What parts of Africa did most slaves come from? _______________________
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3. Which country imported the most slaves? _____________________________
4. How many slaves were sent to this country? ___________________________
5. How many slaves were sent to British North America? ___________________
6. How many slaves were sent to the French Caribbean? ___________________
7. How many slaves were sent to the British Caribbean?____________________
8. How many slaves were sent to Spanish America? _______________________
9. How many slaves were sent to the Dutch Caribbean? ____________________
10. Where did most of the slaves sent to the New World come from? _________
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11. What two other parts of Africa did slaves come from? __________________
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12. What other part of the world imported slaves? ________________________
Read the following information on the Atlantic Slave Trade Map and then
answer the following questions.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade began around the mid-fifteenth century when
Portuguese interests in Africa moved away from the fabled deposits of gold to a
much more readily available commodity -- slaves. By the seventeenth century the
trade was in full swing, reaching a peak towards the end of the eighteenth century.
It was a trade which was especially fruitful, since every stage of the journey could be
profitable for merchants -- the infamous triangular trade.
Expanding European empires in the New World lacked one major resource -- a work
force. In most cases the indigenous peoples had proved unreliable (most of them
were dying from diseases brought over from Europe), and Europeans were unsuited
to the climate and suffered under tropical diseases. Africans, on the other hand,
were excellent workers: they often had experience of agriculture and keeping cattle,
they were used to a tropical climate, resistant to tropical diseases, and they could be
"worked very hard" on plantations or in mines.
1. When did the Atlantic Slave Trade begin? _____________________________
2. What European country first engaged in the slave trade? _________________
3. Why was there a demand for slaves in the European colonies in the New
World? ________________________________________________________
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4. Why were Africans the preferred choice for slaves in the New World
colonies? _______________________________________________________
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Research:
What kinds of work were African slaves being brought to the New World
to do?
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