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Name: ___________________________________
Date: __________
Sec.: ______
Unit 4 Ghana Slave Memorial Debate
Instructions: Throughout this unit, we have been focused on how Africans shaped and were shaped by
the Atlantic Slave Trade (from 1500 to the 1880s). Within this 400-year period, Europeans built more
than sixty (60) forts and castles along the Ghanaian coastline to defend their trade; primary among this
trade was the purchase and sale of enslaved Africans. But how do we choose to remember this history?
Many of these monuments still exist as a reminder of the past, some in good condition, others in ruins.
Are these buildings worth preserving or should they be used in some other way?
The Ghanaian Museums and Monuments Board is requesting your assistance! Fort Miserabilis is being
renovated in 2016, and the Ghanaian government is not sure what to do. There are several options that
they are considering. Your job, in groups, is to defend one of the options to the Ghanaian Museums and
Monuments Board Planning Committee and convince them why your plan is the best option. See below
for the options.
Option 1
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Option 2
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Option 3
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Option 4
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Option 5

Create a museum about the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (examples:
Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle)
Create a hotel to accommodate new tourists that are being encouraged to
come visit the town (examples: Fort Gross Friedrichsburg in Price’s Town)
Create a museum that celebrates the history of the local culture of the town in
Ghana (examples: Fort Apollonia in Beyin)
Create government offices for the local town, with a post office (examples: Osu
Castle, in Accra, and Fort San Sebastian in Shama)
Create a museum about the history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade that
includes live re-enactments of slave trading (examples: proposed for outside
Cape Coast Castle, and Plimouth Plantation)
Your Job
Each of the five groups will be working to defend their option and convince the committee to adopt
their proposal. Some will be chosen to serve on the committee. If you are defending one of the options,
you must:
1. Research what these castles and forts in Ghana look like and are used for today.
2. Prepare a written defense of your option in the opening and closing statements.
3. Prepare questions for the other options, as well as prepare possible counter arguments for what
other groups might argue against you.
4. Participate actively in the debate in your role!