1 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS – PATHWAYS Slavery Lesson Module by Ben Wickett, Molly Bennett, Elliott Lammer, Ben Klapperich College of Education University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls IA Title: Slavery: Before, during, and after the war. Theme: Slavery Historical Period: Pre‐Post Civil War Lesson Module Overview: Students will actively learn about Slavery (before, during, and after the war) by exploring and analyzing primary resources (images, documents, political cartoons, and posters) from the Library of Congress. Participation in the various activities listed below will allow students the opportunity to investigate and critique our nation’s past, while also placing themselves in realistic situations of the time period to adequately understand the events. Grade Range: Intermediate (3rd‐5th) TABLE OF CONTENTS LESSON MODULE DAY 1 Title: The Triangular Trade: Slavery to the New World 2 LESSON MODULE DAY 2 Title: Slavery Plantation Life LESSON MODULE DAY 3 Title: The Emancipation Proclamation LESSON MODULE DAY 4 Title: Post War APPENDIX 1: Images and Graphic Material APPENDIX II: Worksheet APPENDIX III: BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIGRAPHY 4 6 8 10 27 28 2 DAY 1 Title: The Triangular Trade: Slavery to the New World Learning Goals: Knowledge ‐Students will understand the triangular trade in regards to the New World and slavery. ‐Students will develop an understanding of what it what occurred from being a free man in Africa to working on a plantation in America. Skills ‐Students will explore and interpret time period drawings to learn about the slave trade. Dispositions ‐Students will begin to develop an ability to understand a time period specific perspective, think critically and interpret what they say, and use that to develop a greater understanding of the slave trade. National Council for the Social Studies Themes: http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands Time, Continuity, & Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy. Power, Authority, & Governance: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power, authority, and governance. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions: Institutions are the formal and informal political, economic, and social organizations that help us carry out, organize, and manage our daily affairs. Materials Needed: Overhead/Smart Board with referenced pictures. Paper Pencils Lesson Procedures: Introduction 1. Introduce the topic of slavery and make it pretty clear that the students will already know about slavery in America. Then, ask them why these slaves were brought into the New World. (They will likely know for agriculture… but why?) 2. Discuss the Triangular Trade. Discuss how raw materials grown in the New World, the profits/products went to the Europeans who traded these profits/products to people in Africa for more slaves. 3. Introduce the main point we will be exploring for the lesson: Following an African man from freedom in his home land to slavery in the New World. Development 1. Have students take out their pencils and notebooks. 2. Show figure 1 on the Smart Board. Ask students to write about what they see happening. Provide no outside help. Leave the interpretation up to each individual student. 3. Show figure 2 on the Smart Board. Ask students to write about what they see happening. 3 4. Show figure 3 on the Smart Board. Ask students to write about what they see happening. 5. Show figure 4 on the Smart Board. Ask students to write about what they see happening. 6. Show figure 5 on the Smart Board. Ask students to write about what they see happening. 7. Show figure 6 on the Smart Board. Ask students to write about what they see happening. 8. Ask students to think of the pictures as a series of events. Allow them to make any changes to their writings if needed. Culmination 1. Return to slide one, ask for members of the class to volunteer their interpretations of the picture. Allow and discuss multiple ideas. Help guide the students towards understanding that this was what African culture looked like if needed. 2. Move on to slide two, ask for members of the class to volunteer their interpretations of the picture. Allow and discuss multiple ideas. Help guide the students towards understanding that Africans were initially captured by, in often cases Arab slave traders if needed. 3. Continue to slide three, ask for members of the class to volunteer their interpretations of the picture. Allow and discuss multiple ideas. Help guide the students towards understanding that once captured, the slave traders would then sell them to European slave traders if needed. 4. Continue to slide four, ask for members of the class to volunteer their interpretations of the picture. Allow and discuss multiple ideas. Help guide the students to understand that slaves were then transported across the ocean to the New World if needed. 5. Next show slide five. Ask for members of the class to volunteer their interpretations of the picture. Allow and discuss multiple ideas. Help guide students to understand the European slave traders then sold slaves to, mostly, plantation owners if needed. 6. Slide six: ask for members of the class to volunteer their interpretations of the picture. Allow and discuss multiple ideas. Help guide students to understand that once sold to plantation owners, slaves had lived a rough life of hard work if needed. Assessment 1. Ask students to complete a journal of an African slave who is telling their story: from freedom in their homeland to working as a slave. 4 Day 2 Title: Slavery Plantation Life Learning Goals: Knowledge: ‐Students will understand the word “slavery/slaves” and explore resources including the internet and books about slavery. ‐Students will understand how plantations were run in the south. ‐Students will understand what it is like to be a slave. Skills: ‐Students will explore images from various plantations located in the south. ‐Students will draw their own plantations and explain what takes place everyday on their plantation. ‐Students will write journal entries about their days on the plantation as if they were a slave in the south. Disposition: ‐Students will begin to develop an ability to think critically about the past and grapple with the complexity of historical issues. National Council for the Social Studies Themes: http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands Time, Continuity, and Change‐ Social Studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy. Power, Authority, and Governance‐ Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power, authority, and governance. People, Places, and Environment‐ Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments. Materials Needed: Paper Markers/Crayons/Colored Pencils Journal Book resources Pencil Image of “Magnolia Plantation” Image of “Slaves working in the fields” Image of “Planters Mansions and Slave Houses” Image of “Sugar Plantation, Louisiana” http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/index.html Lesson Procedures: Introduction: 1. Begin by telling the class that for the next ten minutes they must do whatever you ask of them. (sit in the back of room, pass out papers, 10 jumping jacks, etc.) If they do not 5 obey, they will lose 2 minutes of their recess. 2. Then tell them that today’s topic is “slavery.” Development: 1. Ask students, “What is slavery?” “Where did slavery take place?” “What are plantations?” 2. Go over the terms “slavery” and “plantation.” Have students write down terms and definitions and use them both in a sentence in their journal. 3. Ask students about their background knowledge of slavery and write them down on the white board. Have them expand as much as possible. 4. Show students the selected images for this lesson. (Magnolia plantation, slaves working in the fields, planters mansions and slave houses, and sugar plantation, Louisiana.) Expand on these pictures as well. First, ask the students if they know what each picture represents. 5. Read aloud some excerpts from the website so the students have an idea of what a day in the life of a slave was like. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/wpa/index.html 6. Let students have some free time to explore books and the internet for more information about slavery. Culmination: 1. Have students add more ideas to the white board after reading some of the diaries from the website and from the resources that they found in the room. 2. Ask students what they learned from today’s lesson and the most interesting fact that they got out of the lesson. Assessment: 1. Have students draw a picture of a plantation as if it was their own. They would be the plantation owner. Label the different parts of the plantation as well. 2. Have the students write for 1 week about “their day on the plantation.” They need to include what they ate, what they did for the day, did they get into trouble with their owner, etc. 6 Day 3 Title: The Emancipation Proclamation Learning Goals: Knowledge: ‐Students will understand the key people and events that revolved around the Emancipation Proclamation. ‐Students will develop a deeper understanding of the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation. ‐Students will learn about ways they may also fight for change. Skills: ‐Students will start by exploring different sources (images, documents, political cartoons, and posters). ‐Students will create projects based on the document and its significance, then share with the class. Dispositions: ‐Students will begin to develop an ability to evaluate multiple perspectives, think critically about the past, and comprehend historical issues. ‐Students will develop a deeper understanding of how slaves were treated before the Proclamation, and how differently things may be had it not existed. National Council for the Social Studies Themes: http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands Time, Continuity, & Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy. Power, Authority, & Governance: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power, authority, and governance. Civic Ideals & Practices: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic. Materials Needed: Poster Markers Paper Photos Copy of Emancipation Proclamation Lesson Procedures: Introduction: 1. Lead discussion introducing the Emancipation Proclamation to students ‐What is the Emancipation Proclamation? ‐Who wrote it? ‐When was it written? 7 ‐What issues are addressed within the document? ‐What does the document do? ‐What does it not do? (Frees slaves in Confederate states and gives hope to enslaved people, but does not end slavery in the Union) Development: 1. Read a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. 2. Follow up with a brief discussion: What they learned‐ Thoughts/ideas that may have changed‐ 3. Students will explore online source and conduct further research on the Emancipation Proclamation. 4. Students will create projects on the document and its significance, then share them with the class. Poster: Include at least three quotes from the Emancipation Proclamation, at least 3 images, and at least 3‐5 sentences expressing meaning and significance. Poem: Include at least ten lines, creatively discussing the Emancipation Proclamation Photo Essay: Collect as least 5 images with 2‐4 sentence summaries of how they reflect the Emancipation Proclamation Culmination: ‐Have the same class discussion about the Emancipation Proclamation that you had at the beginning of the lesson, and see how much the students have grown. ‐Allow students to share thoughts and feelings. ‐Share student projects individually to further their knowledge. Assessment: ‐Students create Venn Diagram to compare what life is like now and what it would be like without the Emancipation Proclamation ‐Assign students to write a short reflection including their thoughts using specific terms from their research. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/ 8 Day 4 Title: Post War Learning Goals: Knowledge: The students will understand what life was like for freed slaves. The students will read and understand the Emancipation Proclamation document. Students will learn which states were included in the document and what states were freed after the war. Skills: Students will view the document from different perspectives. Students will read, write and participate in a debate activity involving different viewpoints. Disposition: Students will form an opinion about the importance of the Emancipation Proclamation. Students will develop the ability to evaluate different perspectives. National Council for the Social Studies Themes: http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands Time, Continuity, & Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy. Power, Authority, & Governance: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power, authority, and governance. Civic Ideals & Practices: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic. Materials: Freedman Contract (2) Copy of Emancipation Proclamation (1) Character Sheet Lesson Procedure: Introduction: 1. Start with a picture of Lincoln and see if the students can name his contributions to the development of the Civil War. 2. Ask the students if they believed this document was written before, during, or after the war? Make them commit to an answer and document the results. 3. Hand out copies of the Emancipation Proclamation (1) and explain that it was hand written by Lincoln. Development: 1. Read through the Proclamation as a group. Discuss who was freed and who was not. (teacher information: Slaves in the border states were not freed) 9 2. Look at the Freedman contract (2) and talk to the students about how the workers were “hired” by plantation owners. 3. Discuss Lincoln’s rational for issuing the Proclamation in September 1862. (Lincoln did it right after the battle of Antietam. This was a strong union win so it was a time of Northern military strength. Freeing the slaves allowed African Americans to join the union army. This assured that the European nations that were against slavery would not help the confederacy.) 4. The teacher will assign a role to each student. (enslaved people, free blacks in the North, abolitionists, plantation owner in the South, Union soldiers, Confederate soldiers, factory workers in the North, factory owners) 5. Allow time for the students to complete the character sheet individually. 6. Separate the class into groups of students who have similar roles. 7. Allow time for groups to discuss the responses they have written on the character sheet. Culmination: 1. After the students have completed their character sheets, the teacher will conduct a class discussion about the short and long term effects of the freedom of slaves. 2. Student responses should be charted on a T‐chart on the board. Assessment: 1. Following the debate, discuss the following questions. “Is the Emancipation Proclamation one of the greatest documents in American history?” 10 APPENDIX 1: IMAGES AND GRAPHIC MATERIALS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Figure 1: Caption, "The Court of the King of Iddah". Shows king in center, under umbrella; slit‐gong drum in lower left. Iddah/Idah, a port on the Niger river, south of the Niger‐Benue confluence in present‐day south central Nigeria, was the "largest and the most important town in the Kingdom of Eggarah [Igara/Igala]". It was a major trading area for slaves taken to the Niger Delta and the Bight of Biafra. In this illustration, the king is "seen on a throne, formed of a bamboo frame, covered with mats and carpets . . . . He was almost smothered by his garments, and surrounded by attendants, who were fanning him vehemently . . . .The principal courtiers were seated close round the throne, with their backs towards it, excepting a large party [of Muslims]... these sat facing the king" (Allen, pp. 293‐94, 318). 11 Figure 2: Captioned, "Slavers Revenging their Losses," shows a coffle of men, women, and children, led by Arab slavers; one of the guards is murdering a captive unable to keep up with the rest. These people were taken across Central Africa to the African east coast. The engravings in this book are based on, according to the editor," rude sketches" made by Livingstone. On June 19, 1866, Livingstone wrote: "We passed a woman tied by the neck to a tree and dead, the people of the country explained that she had been unable to keep up with the other slaves in a gang, and her master had determined that she should not become the property of anyone else if she recovered after resting a time. . . . we saw others tied up in a similar manner . . . the Arab who owned these victims was enraged at losing his money by the slaves becoming unable to march, and vented his spleen by murdering them" (p. 56). This is one of the best known and frequently reproduced images in the literature on slaving in Africa. Also published in J. E. Chambliss, "The Life and Labors of David Livingstone..." (Philadelphia, 1875), p. 435, "The Life and African Explorations of Dr. David Livingstone" (St. Louis, 1874), p. 87, and in Thomas W. Knox, "The Boy Travellers on the Congo" (New York, 1888), p. 419 ‐‐with the caption "Slave Caravans on the Road" ‐‐ which is sometimes erroneously given as the primary source. 12 Figure Three: "Fort de Maures, sur l'isle Moyella"; engraving shows Europeans purchasing slaves, transport to waiting ship, and fort. 13 Figure 4: The image shown here has been cropped from a larger illustration shown, for example, on the Getty Images/Hulton Archive website (image 3324442) and captioned "On Board a Slave Ship"; no primary source is given. The same image appears on the Mary Evans Picture Library (London) website, but with no caption (picture # 10011127). Although the MEPL vaguely cites Cassell's History of England as the primary source, we have been unable to verify the citation in several editions of Cassell's history, and the citation may be wrong. The image has also been published in a number of secondary sources and websites, but never with a primary source given. 14 Figure 5: Men, women, and children being sold are displayed on a raised platform. Illustration accompanies an article ("Sale of Slaves at Charleston, South Carolina") by an unidentified English traveler who observed the scene that is shown. The traveler was, in fact, the English artist Eyre Crowe who visited Charleston in March 1853. He compares slave auctions in South Carolina and Virginia. In the latter (see image NW0278), the auction is "hidden as much as possible in out‐of‐the‐way places" while in Charleston, it takes place in a central part of the city; a detailed description of the Charleston auction is given (p. 556). A similar description is given in Eyre's account of his visit to the United States in 1852‐53, With Thackeray in America (New York, 1893), pp. 150‐152. 15 Figure 6: Caption, "Slaves Working on a Plantation." This appears to be an illustration taken from another, unidentified, source, and is an artistic rendition. In the foreground, one man is cutting cane, another is weeding the fields with a hoe (the two activities do not occur concurrently in reality); a woman is kneeling tying the cane stalks into a bundle. A white overseer with a whip in hand is looking on while in the background another white is whipping an enslaved person. The location is not identified, but it is a tropical or semi‐tropical scene, perhaps in the British or French West Indies. The illustration accompanies a discussion of slavery in the colonies in the 1780s, but does not seem to be directly related to what is discussed in the text. 16 Figure 7 : Magnolia Plantation, Slave Quarters, LA Route 119, Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish, LA 17 Figure 8: Slaves working in the fields 18 Figure 9: Planter’s Mansion and Slave Houses, U.S. South, 1859 19 Figure 10: Sugar Plantation, Louisiana, 1873‐74 20 Figure 11 Emancipation Proclamation 21 Figure 12 Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet discuss the Emancipation Proclamation. Library of Congress (1863). 22 Figure 13 President Lincoln Writing the Proclamation of Freedom, January 1, 1863. Cincinnati: Ehrgott and Forbriger, 1864. Lithograph. 23 Figure 14 Title: Emancipation Proclamation 24 Figure 15 Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation (Sept. 1862) 25 Figure 16 Immediate Abolition of Slavery 26 Figure 17 Freedman Contract (1868) SUMMARIES, TRANSCRIPTIONS OR COPIES OF PRIMARY SOURCES Freedman contract with B.A. Middleton from Georgetown District, 1868. Middleton Family papers. Call # 12/162/8. South Carolina Historical Society Charleston, South Carolina. http://teachingsushistory.org/documents/FreeCSing.htm SUMMARY This is an agreement, or contract, between plantation owners R.A. Middleton from Georgetown District, South Carolina and the freedmen and women hired to work for him on the Weehaw Plantation. The freedmen were to start work at sunrise and work for eight hours. For every day of work that was lost due to sickness, absence, or do not showing up for work, the freedmen were charged one peck of rice. In addition to a small garden plot, the freedman was also given one acre of corn land and 1/3 of the rice crop raised during the year 1868. This agreement ended as soon as the rice crop was harvested. 27 APPENDIX II: Worksheet 28 APPENDIX III: BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIGRAPHY OF RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS Bibliography of Children’s Literature Erickson, Paul. Daily Life on a Southern Plantation 1863. Bound to Stay Bound, 2001. Feelings, Tom. The Middle Passage: White Ships Black Cargo. Dial, 1995. Hopkinson, Deborah. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Illustrated by James Ransome. Random, 1995. McKissack, Patricia. Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters. Illustrated by John Thompson. Scholastic, 1994 Turner, Ann. Nettie's Trip South. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. Simon & Schuster, 1987. Blos, Joan. A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830‐1832. Aladdin, 1990. Collier, James and Christopher. Jump Ship to Freedom. Yearling, 1987. Fox, Paula. The Slave Dancer. Laurel Leaf, 1996. Hamilton, Virginia. The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales. Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. Knopf, 1993. Ketchum, Liza. Orphan Journey Home. Avon, 2000. Paterson, Katherine. Jip: His Story. Lodestar, 1996. 29 Webliography of Supporting Online Resources for Students https://bb9.uni.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp Slavery In America‐Social Studies for Kids
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/slavery.htm
Slavery‐ Yahoo Kids! Directory
http://kids.yahoo.com/directory/Around‐the‐World/Countries/United‐States/History/Slavery
Slave Facts
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~tah/currunits/slavery/facts.pdf
Africa For Kids‐ African Slave Trade
http://africa.mrdonn.org/slavetrade.html
Webliography of Supporting Online Resources for Teachers
South and Slavery‐ Best of History Websites http://besthistorysites.net/index.php/american‐history/1800/south‐slavery Slavery and the Making of America‐Resources‐Online‐PBS
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/resources/online.html
Teacher Resources‐Slavery in America
http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/resources/overview.htm
Africa Before the Transatlantic Slave Trade
http://old.antislavery.org/breakingthesilence/about.shtml
Useful Sites‐Teaching American History
http://www.tahgrant.net/useful‐sites.html
Websites on the History of Slavery, From History in Focus
http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Slavery/websites.html