Influence of African Americans on Colonization and the Development
of the United States
John C. Bailey
Mason City Schools
baileyjohn@mason.k12.oh.us
FALL 2010
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
Although Africans aided Europeans in enslaving and in trading slaves, the forced relocation of Africans to
the colonies and the Caribbean was race-based. The arrival of slaves in the early 17th century led to the
rapid increase of slave importation in the 18th century. However, Africans were not simply victims, but
were intricately involved in the development of the colonies, the American Revolution, and the formation
of the United States. It is well-known that slaves and freed Africans provided labor for northern and
southern agriculture and manufacturing. In fact, Africans in the Southern colonies/states were critical in
sustaining the cultivation of rice, cotton and tobacco as cash crops. It should be known that Africans also
played a role in the development of religion in the United States, helped to combat medical epidemics,
assisted in various military roles, and contributed to the entrepreneurial spirit of our country.
Overview/ Materials/LOC Resources/Standards/ Procedures/Evaluation/Rubric/Handouts/Extension
Overview
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Objectives
Students will be able to:
 Read primary sources in order to gain understanding
of African contributions to the development of the
colonies and eventually the United States
 Describe and evaluate the contributions of enslaved
and free Africans to the development in different
regions of the American colonies
Recommended time frame
Grade level
Curriculum fit
Materials
2 weeks
8th
Social Studies-U.S. History
Analysis Forms 1-3 (see handouts)
Newspaper Outline example (see handouts)
Computer/Internet Access
Textbook (if needed for background/additional info)
Teaching with Primary Sources
Ohio State Learning Standards
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Theme: U.S. Studies from 1492 to 1877: Exploration
through Reconstruction
Strand: History
Topic: Historical Thinking and Skills
Content Statement: 1. Primary and Secondary Sources
are used to examine events from multiple perspectives
and to present and defend a position
Topic: Colonization to Independence
Content Statement: 4.The practice of race-based
slavery led to the forced migration of millions of
Africans to the American colonies. Their knowledge
and traditions contributed to the development of those
colonies and the United States.
http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODE
Detail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=1706&ContentID=765
98&Content=88263
Procedures
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PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR PROCEDURE
DETAILS
Evaluation
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

RUBRIC
Primary Source Analysis Sheets (handouts provided)
A.P.P.A.R.T.S. Method
1. Author – Who created the source? What is their point of
view?
2. Place and Time – Where and when was the source
produced?
3. Prior Knowledge – What do you already know that would
further your understanding of this source?
4. Audience – For whom was the source created? Does this
affect the reliability of the source?
5. Reason – Why was this source produced at the time it was
produced?
6. The Main Idea – What message is the source trying to
convey?
7. Significance – Why is the source important?
Teaching with Primary Sources
S.I.G.H.T. Method
1. Scan the image for details. List them. Which of the
symbols seems most significant to you? What is the action?
2. Identify the conflict or tension. What is the historical
context of this image? What tension is demonstrated?
3. Guess the creator’s intent or message. What main idea is
portrayed?
4. Hear the voices. What would the figures be saying if they
could talk to one another?
5. Talk about your observations. What questions do you
have about it?
A.D.A.P.T. Method
1. Author – Who is the author of the document? What do
you already know about this person? What can you tell
about this author’s point of view?
2. Date – When and where was this delivered? How does
the date and place affect the meaning of this document?
What is happening in the United States at this time that
might be important to understand the author’s meaning?
3. Audience – For whom was the document created? Was
this intended for a private or public audience?
4. Purpose – What is the purpose of this document? What
main ideas are conveyed by the author?
5. Tone – What tone is employed by the author? Is the tone
consistent throughout the document? What powerful
words or phrases indicate the tone?

Extension
Create an 1830 newspaper article where you are
reporting on the contributions that Africans have
made to the creation of America. You may choose
one event to report on in depth, or choose a variety
of stories to report on (handout & rubric provided).
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Teaching with Primary Sources
Primary Resources from the Library of Congress
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Image
Description
Citation
Library of
Washington
Congress,
Prints and
crossing the
Photographs
Delaware.
Division,
Detroit
Photograph of a
Publishing
painting signed "E.
Company
Leutze, [...] 1881" at
Collection.
Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
Slave ship poem
Cleveland Gazette
from newspaper
14, no. 34
(03/27/1897): 01 [2
pages]
URL
http://memory.loc.g
ov/cgibin/query/r?ammem
/detr:@field(NUMB
ER+@band(det+4a
26226))
Slave ship
diagram/description
Library of
Congress, Rare
Book and Special
Collections
Division.
http://memory.loc.g
ov/cgibin/query/r?ammem
/rbpebib:@field(NU
MBER+@band(rbp
e+28204300))
George Washington
to Phillis Wheatley,
February 28, 1776
Click
“Transcription” for
background and
transcript of text
George Washington
Papers at the
Library of
Congress, 17411799: Series 3h
Varick Transcripts
http://memory.loc.g
ov/cgibin/ampage?collId=
mgw3&fileName=
mgw3h/gwpage001.
db&recNum=12
Print shows Marquis de
Lafayette, full-length
portrait, standing, facing
front, wearing uniform
and holding two swords
in left hand while
directing American
troops during the battle
at Yorktown; a black
soldier holds his horse
behind him on the right.
Library of
Congress, Print and
Photograph Online
Catalog.
http://www.loc.gov/
pictures/item/20046
66565/
http://memory.loc.g
ov/cgibin/query/r?ammem
/aaeo:@field(DOCI
D+@lit(o18694))
Teaching with Primary Sources
Lafayette’s letter
commending James
Armistead Lafayette
The Marquis de
Lafayette
Collections at
Lafayette College
http://academicmuse
um.lafayette.edu/spe
cial/specialexhibits/sl
averyexhibit/onlineex
hibit/james.htm
The Battle of
Cowpens, painted
by William Ranney,
1845
PBS Africans in
America Project,
Image Credit-South
Carolina State
House
http://www.pbs.org/
wgbh/aia/part2/2h46
.html
Negro Methodists
Holding a Meeting
in a Philadelphia
Alley,
watercolor by John
Lewis Krimmel
The Metropolitan
Museum of Art,
Rogers Fund, 1942
(194)
http://www.loc.gov/
exhibits/religion/vc
006705.jpg
Pepper-Pot: A
Scene in the
Philadelphia
Market, by John
Lewis Krimmel,
1811
PBS Africans in
America Project,
Image Credit courtesy, Sumpter
Priddy, III
Inc.,Alexandria,
Virginia
http://www.pbs.org/
wgbh/aia/part3/3h25
1.html
Teaching with Primary Sources
A Narrative on the
Proceedings of the
Black People by
Richard Allen and
Absalom Jones,
1794 (cover page)
David Walker’s
Appeal to the
Coloured Citizens
of the World, 1829
PBS Africans in
America Project,
Image Credit –From
the collections of
the Library of
Congress
http://www.pbs.org/
wgbh/aia/part3/3h45
6.html
Wilentz, Sean,
ed. David Walker's
Appeal, In Four
Articles: Together
With A Preamble To
The Coloured
Citizens Of The
World, But In
Particular, And
Very Expressly, To
Those Of The
United States Of
America. New
York: Hill and
Wang, 1995
http://memory.loc.g
ov/cgibin/ampage?collId=
ody_gcmisc&fileNa
me=ody/ody0118/o
dy0118page.db&rec
Num=1
Procedure Details
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Day One
Motivating Activity:
If you have access to computers, have the students view (otherwise you can display) the
image of Washington Crossing the Delaware.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/detr:@field(NUMBER+@band(det+4a26226))
This image is well-known for the depiction of George Washington bravely leading his
troops through the ice across the Delaware River to surprise attack the resting Hessian
soldiers in Trenton. Students will be asked to perform a “Jump In” activity where they
pretend they are actually in the image and record their observations. This can also be
conducted informally through a class discussion sharing their experiences.
What is not as well-known about this piece of art is the inclusion of an African American
soldier assisting General Washington in getting his boat across the Delaware. After a
Teaching with Primary Sources
sharing session with the class, you can point this out if it fails to make it into anyone’s
observations.
This will be the introduction to the lesson which focuses on the contributions of Africans
to the colonies. The often overlooked contribution of this African American soldier
assisting Washington will serve as a springboard into our discussion of primary sources
that highlight a variety of ways that African Americans helped build this nation.
*Recommendation…For a more detailed and closer viewing of Emanuel Leutze’s oil on
canvas painting, please check out:
http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/american_paintings_and_scul
pture/washington_crossing_the_delaware_emanuel_leutze/objectview.aspx?page=10&sort=0&
sortdir=asc&keyword=&fp=1&dd1=2&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=2&OID=20011777&vT=1&iPage=1&
hi=0&ov=0 There is a very nice feature where you can magnify different portions of the painting.
Highlight the African American soldier assisting Washington to draw more attention to this
introductory point.
As a reminder for students you may wish to show them the following image of a slave
ship http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/rbpebib:@field(NUMBER+@band(rbpe+28204300))
to refresh them on how Africans were brought to the American colonies. This image
serves as a nice perspective piece when looking at the Delaware image as the relationship
between Africans and boats can be highlighted. This is a good opportunity for a
compare/contrast exercise using a Venn diagram. You can have students examine the
two images side by side and complete a Venn diagram or simply stage as a class
discussion.
Day Two
Share the Slave Ship poem with the students. It can be found at
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/aaeo:@field(DOCID+@lit(o18694)).
They can view individually on computers, you can project the image for the class, or you
can simply print of copies for the students. It would be beneficial to share the image of
the slave ship that we viewed yesterday as they experience the poem. Have students
reflect about the poem and then share in small groups. It may be helpful to divide the
poem into stanzas and have the students break down a particular section in small groups,
then bring all together for a class discussion on the poem. The focus today is to reiterate
the tough journey that Africans had to endure to make it here. This poem puts powerful
language to the image of the slave ship. I think this imagery is useful as we begin to
discuss the contributions made by Africans in this country.
After you have introduced and discussed the poem, it is time to jump into the primary
sources that showcase the contributions that Africans made to the development of this
country.
Teaching with Primary Sources
Our first source will be a letter from George Washington to Phyllis Wheatley which can
be found at http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/ampage?collId=mgw3&fileName=mgw3h/gwpage001.db&recNum=12
Have students analyze this letter using the APPARTS method (handout provided).
Students should also reflect on the sample Wheatley poem that is shared with
Washington’s letter as a part of their analysis. Students can work on this individually or
in pairs. Share in small groups, and then bring together for class discussion focusing on
the contributions made by Wheatley.
Day Three
Students will examine the following documents together and analyze the written
document using the A.P.P.A.R.T.S. method (handout provided) individually or in pairs.
The art piece is designed to give students a visual background for when they analyze the
written document. You may need to give some background info on Lafayette’s
involvement with the American military forces. While we tend to focus on his
involvement, we must not overlook the role that Africans such as Armistead played in the
revolution. James Armistead was a Virginia slave who volunteered to serve the
American cause by spying on the British. He was freed in 1787 for his contributions to
the Revolutionary War.
Conduct a class discussion on the findings from the APPARTS analysis document.
Documents can be found at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004666565/
and
http://academicmuseum.lafayette.edu/special/specialexhibits/slaveryexhibit/onlineexhibit/jam
es.htm
I have provided a transcription of Lafayette’s letter commending James Armistead
Lafayette:
This is to certify that the bearer by the name of James has done essential services to me
while I had the honour to command in this state. His intelligences from the enemys camp were
industriously collected and faithfully delivered. He perfectly acquitted himself with some
important commissions I gave him and appears to me entitled to every reward his situation can
admit of. Done under my hand, Richmond
November 21st, 1784.
Lafayette
Teaching with Primary Sources
Days Four-Five
Our focus will now be on a few pieces of art that depict various roles that Africans played
in the development of our county. Take the next two days to analyze the following
pieces of art using the SIGHT method (handout provided):
1. The Battle of Cowpens, painted by William Ranney, 1845
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h46.html
background provided: After the revolutionary war, the Continental Congress awarded
General Daniel Morgan a gold plaque for his victory at the Battle of Cowpens, which
took place in January 1781 in South Carolina. Morgan's outnumbered troops routed the
British dragoons under Colonel Banastre Tarleton, known as "The Butcher" or "Bloody
Ben" for killing his prisoners.
In 1845, painter William Ranney recreated the scene in oils, probably from a traditional
retelling or from an account of the Battle of Cowpens recorded in John Marshall's
biography of George Washington.
According to Marshall, "a waiter, too small to wield a sword" saved the life of a relative
of George Washington during the battle. Just as Lieutenant Colonel William Washington,
leader of the patriot calvary, was about to be cut down by a sword, the black man "saved
him by wounding the officer with a ball from a pistol." Ranney depicts the unnamed man
as a bugler astride a horse, as Morgan and Washington battle three British soldiers.
2. Negro Methodists Holding a Meeting in a Philadelphia Alley, by John Lewis
Krimmel
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/vc006705.jpg
3. Pepper-Pot: A Scene in the Philadelphia Market, by John Lewis Krimmel, 1811
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h251.html
background provided: John Lewis Krimmel's Pepper-Pot: A Scene in the Philadelphia
Market was one of four paintings shown by the young German artist in the 1811 annual
exhibit of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Pepper-Pot brought public
attention to Krimmel as the first Philadelphia artist to approach street scenes as the
subject of fine art.
Pepper-pot, unique to Philadelphia, was a thick, spicy soup made of vegetables and tripe,
ox-feet, or other cheap meats that was sold by street vendors for a few pennies. The
picture shows a barefoot black woman ladling cups of soup from a pot for her white
customers.
Well into the 19th century, genre art -- that which told stories of everyday life -- was
considered vulgar and most often carried a comic or pathetic message. Poor people were
predominantly the subjects of genre art, and blacks became an increasingly frequent
subject.
Teaching with Primary Sources
The previous year, a woodcut of a pepper-pot vendor had appeared in The Cries of
Philadelphia, a book of illustrations and commentary about street vendors, their wares
and their customers. Although the vendor was again a black woman, unlike Krimmel's
image, the woodcut depicted all the customers as black.
Black female street vendors such as the ones depicted in both pictures were an important
part of Philadelphia's black economy. A significant number of free blacks, particularly
those without skills as artisans, developed entrepreneurial enterprises that catered to a
black clientele as an alternative to menial or domestic labor.
After you finish the analysis methods provided for each of the three paintings,
students will be asked to perform a “Jump In” activity where they pretend they are
actually in the images and record their observations. This can also be conducted
informally through a class discussion sharing their experiences.
Day Six
Today’s focus will continue with the SIGHT method, but the historical background is
vital to this exercise. We will view the cover page of A Narrative on the Proceedings of
the Black People, by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, 1794. Document cover page and
historical background can be found as a part of the PBS Africans in America Project,
from the collections of the Library of Congress.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h456.html
Background needed: In a widely-read pamphlet distributed on the heels of the 1793
yellow fever epidemic, Philadelphia publisher Mathew Carey accused the black
community of profiteering from the disease and of plundering the houses of the sick.
In response to Carey's libel against their community, which by then was already in a
fourth edition, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones published A Narrative of the
Proceedings of the Black People, During the Late Awful Calamity in Philadelphia in the
Year 1793 and a Refutation of Some Censures, Thrown upon them in some late
Publications.
They noted that "Mr. Carey's first, second and third editions... in all probability, have
Teaching with Primary Sources
been read by thousands that will never read his fourth -- consequently, any alteration he
may hereafter make... cannot have the desired effect, or atone for the past; therefore we
apprehend it necessary to publish our thoughts on the occasion.
The Narrative documented the courageous actions of the blacks who dedicated
themselves to fighting the disease and included a meticulous accounting of payments and
expenses.
It was also an indictment of both whites who fled the city -- including Carey himself -and those who remained but turned their backs on the sick. Jones and Allen speculated
that Carey had "made more money by the sale of his "scraps" than a dozen of the greatest
extortioners among the black nurses."
Days Seven, Eight
For the final document, students will read selections from David Walker’s “Appeal to the
Coloured Citizens of the World” (1829) and analyze using the A.D.A.P.T. method
individually as a homework activity and then come back to share their ideas with groups
of 4-5 students so they can fully complete the A.D.A.P.T. activity together. Students
should divide the document among their group with each student taking 2-4 paragraphs to
analyze at home.
Excerpts from the Appeal
1
My dearly beloved Brethren and Fellow Citizens.
Having travelled over a considerable portion of these United States, and having, in the
course of my travels, taken the most accurate observations of things as they exist -- the
result of my observations has warranted the full and unshaken conviction, that we,
(coloured people of these United States,) are the most degraded, wretched, and abject set
of beings that ever lived since the world began; and I pray God that none like us ever may
live again until time shall be no more. They tell us of the Israelites in Egypt, the Helots in
Sparta, and of the Roman Slaves, which last were made up from almost every nation
under heaven, whose sufferings under those ancient and heathen nations, were, in
Teaching with Primary Sources
comparison with ours, under this enlightened and Christian nation, no more than a cypher
-- or, in other words, those heathen nations of antiquity, had but little more among them
than the name and form of slavery; while wretchedness and endless miseries were
reserved, apparently in a phial, to be poured out upon, our fathers ourselves and our
children, by Christian Americans!
2
... I call upon the professing Christians, I call upon the philanthropist, I call upon the very
tyrant himself, to show me a page of history, either sacred or profane, on which a verse
can be found, which maintains, that the Egyptians heaped the insupportable insult upon
the children of Israel, by telling them that they were not of the human family. Can the
whites deny this charge? Have they not, after having reduced us to the deplorable
condition of slaves under their feet, held us up as descending originally from the tribes
of Monkeys orOrang-Outangs? O! my God! I appeal to every man of feeling-is not this
insupportable? Is it not heaping the most gross insult upon our miseries, because they
have got us under their feet and we cannot help ourselves? Oh! pity us we pray thee, Lord
Jesus, Master. -- Has Mr. Jefferson declared to the world, that we are inferior to the
whites, both in the endowments of our bodies and our minds? It is indeed surprising, that
a man of such great learning, combined with such excellent natural parts, should speak so
of a set of men in chains. I do not know what to compare it to, unless, like putting one
wild deer in an iron cage, where it will be secured, and hold another by the side of the
same, then let it go, and expect the one in the cage to run as fast as the one at liberty. So
far, my brethren, were the Egyptians from heaping these insults upon their slaves, that
Pharaoh's daughter took Moses, a son of Israel for her own, as will appear by the
following.
3
The world knows, that slavery as it existed was, mans, (which was the primary cause of
their destruction) was, comparatively speaking, no more than a cypher, when compared
with ours under the Americans. Indeed I should not have noticed the Roman slaves, had
not the very learned and penetrating Mr. Jefferson said, "when a master was murdered, all
his slaves in the same house, or within hearing, were condemned to death." -- Here let me
ask Mr. Jefferson, (but he is gone to answer at the bar of God, for the deeds done in his
body while living,) I therefore ask the whole American people, had I not rather die, or be
put to death, than to be a slave to any tyrant, who takes not only my own, but my wife
and children's lives by the inches? Yea, would I meet death with avidity far! far!! in
preference to such servile submission to the murderous hands of tyrants. Mr. Jefferson's
very severe remarks on us have been so extensively argued upon by men whose
attainments in literature, I shall never be able to reach, that I would not have meddled
with it, were it not to solicit each of my brethren, who has the spirit of a man, to buy a
copy of Mr. Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia," and put it in the hand of his son.
Teaching with Primary Sources
4
But let us review Mr. Jefferson's remarks respecting us some further. Comparing our
miserable fathers, with the learned philosophers of Greece, he says: "Yet notwithstanding
these and other discouraging circumstances among the Romans, their slaves were often
their rarest artists. They excelled too, in science, insomuch as to be usually employed as
tutors to their master's children; Epictetus, Terence and Phaedrus, were slaves, -- but they
were of the race of whites. It is not their condition then, but nature, which has produced
the distinction." See this, my brethren! ! Do you believe that this assertion is swallowed
by millions of the whites? Do you know that Mr. Jefferson was one of as great characters
as ever lived among the whites? See his writings for the world, and public labours for the
United States of America. Do you believe that the assertions of such a man, will pass
away into oblivion unobserved by this people and the world? If you do you are much
mistaken-See how the American people treat us -- have we souls in our bodies? Are we
men who have any spirits at all? I know that there are many swell-bellied fellows among
us, whose greatest object is to fill their stomachs. Such I do not mean -- I am after those
who know and feel, that we are MEN, as well as other people; to them, I say, that unless
we try to refute Mr. Jefferson's arguments respecting us, we will only establish them.
5
...I must observe to my brethren that at the close of the first Revolution in this country,
with Great Britain, there were but thirteen States in the Union, now there are twenty-four,
most of which are slave-holding States, and the whites are dragging us around in chains
and in handcuffs, to their new States and Territories to work their mines and farms, to
enrich them and their children-and millions of them believing firmly that we being a little
darker than they, were made by our Creator to be an inheritance to them and their
children for ever-the same as a parcel of brutes.
6
Are we MEN! ! -- I ask you, 0 my brethren I are we MEN? Did our Creator make us to be
slaves to dust and ashes like ourselves? Are they not dying worms as well as we? Have
they not to make their appearance before the tribunal of Heaven, to answer for the deeds
done in the body, as well as we? Have we any other Master but Jesus Christ alone? Is he
not their Master as well as ours? -- What right then, have we to obey and call any other
Master, but Himself? How we could be so submissive to a gang of men, whom we cannot
tell whether they are as good as ourselves or not, I never could conceive. However, this is
shut up with the Lord, and we cannot precisely tell -- but I declare, we judge men by their
works.
The whites have always been an unjust, jealous, unmerciful, avaricious and blood-thirsty
set of beings, always seeking after power and authority.
...
Teaching with Primary Sources
7
...to my no ordinary astonishment, [a] Reverend gentleman got up and told us (coloured
people) that slaves must be obedient to their masters -- must do their duty to their masters
or be whipped -- the whip was made for the backs of fools, &c. Here I pause for a
moment, to give the world time to consider what was my surprise, to hear such preaching
from a minister of my Master, whose very gospel is that of peace and not of blood and
whips, as this pretended preacher tried to make us believe. What the American preachers
can think of us, I aver this day before my God, I have never been able to define. They
have newspapers and monthly periodicals, which they receive in continual succession,
but on the pages of which, you will scarcely ever find a paragraph respecting slavery,
which is ten thousand times more injurious to this country than all the other evils put
together; and which will be the final overthrow of its government, unless something is
very speedily done; for their cup is nearly full.-Perhaps they will laugh at or make light of
this; but I tell you Americans! that unless you speedily alter your course, you and
your Country are gone! ! ! ! !
8
If any of us see fit to go away, go to those who have been for many years, and are now
our greatest earthly friends and benefactors -- the English. If not so, go to our brethren,
the Haytians, who, according to their word, are bound to protect and comfort us. The
Americans say, that we are ungrateful-but I ask them for heaven's sake, what should we
be grateful to them for -- for murdering our fathers and mothers ? -- Or do they wish us to
return thanks to them for chaining and handcuffing us, branding us, cramming fire down
our throats, or for keeping us in slavery, and beating us nearly or quite to death to make
us work in ignorance and miseries, to support them and their families. They certainly
think that we are a gang of fools. Those among them, who have volunteered their services
for our redemption, though we are unable to compensate them for their labours, we
nevertheless thank them from the bottom of our hearts, and have our eyes steadfastly
fixed upon them, and their labours of love for God and man. -- But do slave-holders think
that we thank them for keeping us in miseries, and taking our lives by the inches?
9
Let no man of us budge one step, and let slave-holders come to beat us from our country.
America is more our country, than it is the whites-we have enriched it with our blood and
tears. The greatest riches in all America have arisen from our blood and tears: -- and will
they drive us from our property and homes, which we have earned with our blood? They
must look sharp or this very thing will bring swift destruction upon them. The Americans
have got so fat on our blood and groans, that they have almost forgotten the God of
armies. But let the go on.
Teaching with Primary Sources
10
Do the colonizationists think to send us off without first being reconciled to us? Do they
think to bundle us up like brutes and send us off, as they did our brethren of the State of
Ohio? Have they not to be reconciled to us, or reconcile us to them, for the cruelties with
which they have afflicted our fathers and us? Methinks colonizationists think they have a
set of brutes to deal with, sure enough. Do they think to drive us from our country and
homes, after having enriched it with our blood and tears, and keep back millions of our
dear brethren, sunk in the most barbarous wretchedness, to dig up gold and silver for
them and their children? Surely, the Americans must think that we are brutes, as some of
them have represented us to be. They think that we do not feel for our brethren, whom
they are murdering by the inches, but they are dreadfully deceived.
11
What nation under heaven, will be able to do any thing with us, unless God gives us up
into its hand? But Americans. I declare to you, while you keep us and our children in
bondage, and treat us like brutes, to make us support you and your families, we cannot be
your friends. You do not look for it do you? Treat us then like men, and we will be your
friends. And there is not a doubt in my mind, but that the whole of the past will be sunk
into oblivion, and we yet, under God, will become a united and happy people. The whites
may say it is impossible, but remember that nothing is impossible with God.
12
I count my life not dear unto me, but I am ready to be offered at any moment, For what is
the use of living, when in fact I am dead. But remember, Americans, that as miserable,
wretched, degraded and abject as you have made us in preceding, and in this generation,
to support you and your families, that some of you, (whites) on the continent of America,
will yet curse the day that you ever were born. You want slaves, and want us for your
slaves ! ! ! My colour will yet, root some of you out of the very face of the earth ! ! ! ! ! !
You may doubt it if you please. I know that thousands will doubt-they think they have us
so well secured in wretchedness, to them and their children, that it is impossible for such
things to occur.
13
See your Declaration Americans! ! ! Do you understand your own language? Hear your
languages, proclaimed to the world, July 4th, 1776 -- "We hold these truths to be self
evident -- that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL! ! that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness! !" Compare your own language above, extracted from your Declaration of
Independence, with your cruelties and murders inflicted by your cruel and unmerciful
fathers and yourselves on our fathers and on us -- men who have never given your fathers
or you the least provocation! ! ! ! ! !
Teaching with Primary Sources
Days Nine, Ten
As a final processing activity students will create an 1830 newspaper article where you
are reporting on the contributions that Africans have made to the creation of America.
You may choose one event to report on in depth, or choose a variety of stories to report
on (handout & rubric provided).
Here are a few ideas for an extension:
1. Write a response to David Walker’s “Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the
World” expressing your views on the topics that he presents.
2. Create a visual poster that celebrates the contributions made by Africans.
3. Use www.loc.gov to locate additional examples of African contributions to
the development of the United States.
Teaching with Primary Sources
Rubric
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1. Use the following rubric to help you evaluate student’s primary source analysis
(APPARTS, SIGHT, ADAPT methods):
 Student developed insightful, thought-provoking commentary that demonstrates
accurate understanding of sources.
 Student supported their ideas with specific information or details.
 Student responses are descriptive
 Student responses are creative (where appropriate).
 Student responses are well organized including accurate spelling and grammar.
2. Use the following rubric to help you evaluate the student’s newspaper headline
and article:





Student developed creative and appropriate headlines to accompany their articles.
The information in the articles is accurate.
Pictures and/or artwork are/is neat and detailed.
Student articles demonstrate an understanding of African contributions to the U.S.
Student articles are well organized including accurate spelling and grammar.
Teaching with Primary Sources
Handouts
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Each handout is available as a separate page so that it can be printed for student use.
Teaching with Primary Sources
A.P.P.A.R.T.S. Method
1. Author – Who created the source? What is their point of view?
2. Place and Time – Where and when was the source produced?
3. Prior Knowledge – What do you already know that would further your understanding of this source?
4. Audience – For whom was the source created? Does this affect the reliability of the source?
5. Reason – Why was this source produced at the time it was produced?
6. The Main Idea – What message is the source trying to convey?
7. Significance – Why is the source important?
S.I.G.H.T. Method
1. Scan the image for details. List them. Which of the symbols seems most significant to you? What is the action?
2. Identify the conflict or tension. What is the historical context of this image? What tension is demonstrated?
3. Guess the creator’s intent or message. What main idea is portrayed?
4. Hear the voices. What would the figures be saying if they could talk to one another?
5. Talk about your observations. What questions do you have about it?
A.D.A.P.T. Method
1. Author – Who is the author of the document? What do you already know about this person? What can you tell about this
author’s point of view?
2. Date – When and where was this delivered? How does the date and place affect the meaning of this document? What is
happening in the United States at this time that might be important to understand the author’s meaning?
3. Audience – For whom was the document created? Was this intended for a private or public audience?
4. Purpose – What is the purpose of this document? What main ideas are conveyed by the author?
5. Tone – What tone is employed by the author? Is the tone consistent throughout the document? What powerful words or
phrases indicate the tone?
Newspaper Outline Example