Name: Becky Mandell
District: Reading
Created with guidance from Sam McGraw of the Newton Public Schools
Subject: U.S. History
Grade Level: 8
Unit: Slavery
Lesson Title: Modern Day Slavery
Goal: The purpose of this lesson is to research modern slavery and analyze the
circumstances that allow for slavery today. The students will also use their prior
knowledge and their previous notes on slavery to compare and contrast the situation
between 17th/18th & 19th century slavery in the United States and modern day slavery.
Massachusetts History & Social Science Learning Standards Addressed:
USI.29 Describe the rapid growth of slavery in the South after 1800 and analyze slave
life and resistance on plantations and farms across the South, as well as the impact of the
cotton gin on the economics of slavery and Southern agriculture.
Essential Questions:
What circumstances allow for modern slavery?
What are the similarities and differences between modern day slavery and 17th/18th
century slavery?
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Analyze primary and secondary sources
Understand bias and point of view
Formulate notes and develop sophisticated paragraphs
Materials/Resources:
Direction Sheet entitled “Modern Day Slavery.”
Websites:
www.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/16/world/asia/16china.html?_r=1&oref=s
login
www.iAbolish.com and www.ibolish.org/slavery_today/index.html
The websites add significant value to the lesson because it is a collection of
primary sources, essays, and pictures.
Procedure (Lesson Activities):
Do Now: Put the pictures of the men who were rescued from slavery on the smartboard
or overhead projector. You can access an electronic copy of the pictures from
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/16/world/asia/16china.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=s
login
The students should write in their notebooks: Describe what you see. Who do you think
these men are? Where do you think these men are from?
Discuss with the students. Reveal to the students that these men were rescued slaves in
China. They were rescued in May 2007. Read together the accompanied article from the
New York Times entitled Reports of Forced Labor Unsettle China. Discuss the impact of
slavery on the family’s lives.
Ask the students if they think modern day slavery exists anywhere else besides China.
After some hypotheses, reveal to the students that slavery exists illegally in the United
States today. This is a sensitive issue and it’s important to take time to discuss students’
reflections and reactions.
After discussion, the students should go to the computer lab and follow the direction
sheet: “Modern Day Slavery.”
Assessment:
The students will demonstrate what they learned by completing their notes and the
paragraph responses. Students will hand in their notes and their paragraphs to the teacher
in order for the teacher to assess them.
Name:
Group:
Date:
Modern Day Slavery
Nearly 150 years after the 13th Amendment, the U.S. is not yet free from slavery. While
many people believe that the slave trade ended some time ago, there are still over 27
million people held in bondage today. Slavery isn’t history. It’s a modern human rights
crisis that has only begun to be addressed.
- American Anti-Slavery Group
1. Go to www.iAbolish.com.
2. Click on the link Modern Slavery 101.
*In your own words, explain the four types of slavery.
3. Go the http://www.iabolish.org/slavery_today/index.html
*Click on the link The Slave Experience
*Click on Becoming a Slave. Take notes on the key ideas of each of the 5 ways that
modern people have become slaves.
*Click Back. Choose 3 people under In Their Own Words and take notes on 3 key
facts for each person.
*Click Back. Click on Going Free. Take notes on the 5 ways that slaves have
gained their freedom.
4. Click Back. Click on the link Slavery by Country. Choose two countries or
continents to read and take notes on.
5. Click on From the Hands of Slaves. Choose 3 products to read about and take notes
on.
6. Click on Activist Center. Read and take notes on at least 3 possible ways to make a
difference with modern day slavery.
7. Answer the following questions by writing in complete paragraphs.
a. How can young people your age try to find solutions to end slavery?
b. Explain at least two similarities and differences between modern day slavery
th
and 17 /18th & 19th century slavery.
c. Describe at least two similarities and differences between modern day slavery
in the United States and in China or another country.