“Picturing American History”
Slavery
Teaching American History
In Miami-Dade County
November 20, 2010
Fran Macko, Ph.D.
fmacko@aihe.info
The Sunshine State
History Standards
• US History Grade 8
– Benchmark SS 8.A.4.2 – Describe the debate surrounding the
spread of slavery into the Western Territories and Florida
The Essential Question
• What was unique about
the system of slavery
that developed and was
sustained in the United
States and how did
those held in servitude
able to develop and
sustain their cultures?
How do we define reading?
• The “traditional” definition
includes:
– The process of recognizing
vocabulary and decoding
printed text.
– The process of making
meaning from text with
an emphasis on
vocabulary, phonics,
fluency and
comprehension.
• More recently, reading is
defined in a broader sense to
include visual elements.
What is visual literacy?
• What is visual literacy?
– Visual literacy is the
ability to interpret
information presented in
the form of an image.
– Visual literacy is based on
the idea that pictures can
be “read”.
• Students view an image
and construct an
interpretation.
What are the levels of visual literacy?
• Level 1 is basic
identification of the subject
or elements in a graphic,
photograph, or work of art.
• Level 2 is understanding
what we see and
comprehending visual
relationships.
• Level 3 is placing the image
in the broader context of the
historical period.
Why is visual literacy an important
skill for understanding history?
• Visual literacy activities
provide access to content for
students who have difficulty
reading text.
• Primary source documents in
history are often visual;
paintings, photographs,
cartoons and other images
figure prominently in the
resources that are available
for students.
• State and local assessments
frequently ask students to
interpret images.
Our Focus:
Multiple Perspectives on Slavery
• What were the images of slavery in the years leading up to
the Civil War?
• What was the reaction to these images?
• How was this reaction captured by the emerging medium
of photography?
• What was the role of photography in the pro- and antislavery movements of the era?
Taking a Closer Look
• Using the Image Analysis Worksheet, complete
questions 1 – 3.
– Observation. What do you see in this photograph?
– Inference. Make some reasonable guesses about this
photograph.
• When, would you guess, was the photograph taken?
• Where was the photograph taken?
• Why are the people here, doing what they are doing?
• Why was this photograph taken, would you guess?
– Inquiry. Write a question that is left unanswered by this
photograph.
• Read “Page from the
Eustatia Plantation
Account Book 1861”.
• Review your responses
to questions 1 – 3.
Page from the “Eustatia Plantation Account
Book 1861”
•
the 15 Sunday.
This day clear & cold The Negroes all at rest; 3 sick
the 16 Monday. This day clear & pleasant The woman & boys picking cotton 2
men making bridges. 2 workin in the blacksmiths shop. 8 working on the leavy 2
at the corn mill 4 halling fier wood; 3 sick
the 17 Tuesday. This day clowdy and cool The woman & boys knocking down
burs The men at the same work as yesterday The river riseing; 3 sick
the 18 Wednesday. This day clear & pleasant The same work as yesterday -The river riseing -- Majer Chatard got from Mrs. C.C Eustis 200 feet of inch
plank to make guttas for sistern this morning; 4 sick
the 19 Thursday. This day clear & pleasant 8 men working on the leavy The
blallance of the hands dooing the same work as yesterday; 4 sick
the 20 Friday. This day clear The men roling loggs The woman & boys
cleaning up the field River still riseing within 10 feet of top of bank
• Then, complete questions 4 – 9.
– Do you think that the photographer has a message beyond
simply documenting the moment? If so, what might the
message have been?
– Write a question that is still left unanswered about the
photograph.
– What would be a good title for the photograph?
– Write a question that you would like to ask the people in the
photograph.
– Write a question that you would like to ask the photographer.
Taking a Closer Look
• Using the Image Analysis Worksheet, complete
questions 1 – 3.
– Observation. What do you see in this photograph?
– Inference. Make some reasonable guesses about this
photograph.
•
•
•
•
When, would you guess, was the photograph taken?
Where was the photograph taken?
Why are the people here, doing what they are doing?
Why was this photograph taken, would you guess?
– Inquiry. Write a question that is left unanswered by this
photograph.
• Read excerpt from
“Slave Auction 1850”.
• Review your responses
to questions 1 – 3.
Excerpt from “Slave Auction 1850”
• The slaves remained at the race-course, some of them for
more than a week and all of them for four days before the
sale. They were brought in thus early that buyers who
desired to inspect them might enjoy that privilege,
although none of them were sold at private sale. For these
preliminary days their shed was constantly visited by
speculators. The negroes were examined with as little
consideration as if they had been brutes indeed; the buyers
pulling their mouths open to see their teeth, pinching their
limbs to find how muscular they were, walking them up
and down to detect any signs of lameness, making them
stoop and bend in different ways that they might be certain
there was no concealed rupture or wound; and in addition
to all this treatment, asking them scores of questions
relative to their qualifications and accomplishments.”
• Then, complete questions 4 – 9.
– Do you think that the photographer has a message beyond
simply documenting the moment? If so, what might the
message have been?
– Write a question that is still left unanswered about the
photograph.
– What would be a good title for the photograph?
– Write a question that you would like to ask the people in the
photograph.
– Write a question that you would like to ask the photographer.
Visual Literacy and Accountable Talk
• Once the historic context
for an image has been
set and students analyze
each of the images, they
can compare the images.
• Discussion or
accountable talk can be
structured around a
series of guided
questions.
Digging Deeper: Comparing Two Images
• Describe the scene and the figures in each image.
– What are the similarities and differences?
• Compare the setting of each image.
– How does the setting contribute to the meaning of the image?
• Describe the mood of each work.
– How did the photographer achieve that mood?
• Each photograph is about slavery.
– How does the photographer want the viewer to feel about the
main subject?
– Find something in the photograph that supports your opinion.
• Photographers plan their work and give careful
thought to the arrangement of people and objects.
– How has each photographer placed his figures to enhance the
“story” of the photograph?
– What is similar and different about each composition?
• How does each image add to your understanding of
the impact of slavery in Antebellum America?
Pairing Images with
Resources from CICERO
• Binary Padeia – North
and South
– http://www2.cicerohistory.co
m/Cicero/subscriber/content/
Books/Book-7/L02BinaryPaideia/NorthAndSou
th.pdf
• Information Sites – The
Underground Railroad
– http://www.nationalgeograph
ic.com/railroad/
• Videos:
– “Slavery”
– http://www2.cicerohistory.com/C
icero/navigate/CiceroMoviePlaye
r.do?filename=/Cicero/subscriber
/content/Books/Book-7/L09Videos/Slavery_DrSteveNewton/
playlist.flv.xml
– “Abolition”
– http://www2.cicerohistory.com/C
icero/navigate/CiceroMoviePlaye
r.do?filename=/Cicero/subscriber
/content/Books/Book-7/L09Videos/Abolition_DrSteveNewto
n/playlist.flv.xml
• Poiltical Cartoons
– http://www2.cicerohistory.com/
Cicero/navigate/UnitContents.
do?action=display&bookid=7&
chapterid=14
• Primary Sources
– Underground Railroad –
William Still 1857
– http://www2.cicerohistory.com/
Cicero/subscriber/content/Book
s/Book-7/L06PrimarySources/DiaryAndJour
nals/07UndergroundRailroad_
WilliamStill_1853.pdf
• Speeches and
Correspondences
– Ain’t I A Woman?
– http://www2.cicerohistory.com/C
icero/subscriber/content/Books/B
ook-7/L06PrimarySources/SpeechesAndCo
rrespondence/07AintIAWoman_
SojournerTruth_1851.pdf
– What to the Slave is the
Fourth of July?
– http://www2.cicerohistory.com/C
icero/subscriber/content/Books/B
ook-7/L06PrimarySources/SpeechesAndCo
rrespondence/08WhatToTheSlav
eIsTheFourthOfJuly_FrederickD
ouglass_1852.pdf
Using Images to Analyze Point of View
and Present Multiple Perspectives
Adapting Image Analysis to Your Classroom
• How might you use image analysis in your social
studies classroom?
• What adaptations would you make?
• What might be some contemporary connections?
Connections to Today
• There are more slaves today
than were seized from Africa
in four centuries of the transAtlantic slave trade. The
modern commerce in humans
rivals illegal drug trafficking
in its global reach—and in
the destruction of lives
• Modern day slavery is not
usually associated with the
West - but tens of thousands
of women are trafficked there
every year as sex workers
and forced laborers.
• The problem received worldwide attention earlier this year
when nineteen Chinese laborers were drowned in the
rising waters as they picked cockles in Morecambe Bay in
the northwest of England. They were being paid the
equivalent of less than $2 a day.
• Others come from Eastern Europe. Ivana, a Ukrainian
woman in her early 20s, talks about how a job she took as a
waitress in Greece turned into something more sinister and she found herself forced into prostitution in
Birmingham, in the English Midlands.
• And one trafficker, now in hiding, reveals how he used to
kidnap babies as young as 18 months and transport them
through Europe.
Extension Activities
• Analysis of images can be springboards for other
content area literacy activities.
– Elementary and Middle/ Making Images Come
Alive
• Provide the historical context of the image.
• Project the image and have students discuss the
photographer’s message and how the image represents
this message.
• Reproduce the image with dialogue boxes.
• Choose one character and model an historically accurate
voice.
• Have students work in groups to create dialogue for the
remaining characters in the image.
– All Levels/ Giving the Image a Voice
• Have students choose one character and write a speech,
poem or journal entry in that person’s voice.
• Have students choose one character and interview him or
her.
• Have students build on the dialogue boxes and create an
historically accurate conversation between or among the
characters.
• Have a group of students create a tableaux where they
recreate the image and step into the shoes of the
characters.
– Middle and High/ Creating a New Perspective
• Project several images of an historical person from the
time period.
• Have students work in groups to generate a list of
characteristics of that person based on the images.
• Read and analyze a famous speech by the person.
• Have students compare their thoughts on the individual
as portrayed in the image and his or her words in the
document.
• Evaluate whether or not the person’s words coincided with
the artist’s portrayal.
• Compare the 1943 images of Stalin to his reply to
Churchill,1946 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1946stalin.html
Final Thoughts
• Visual literacy supports students in making meaning
of historical events and people.
• It supports students who struggle to read and
understand text.
• It engages students in the study of history as students
are increasingly familiar with visual images.
• It supports critical thinking skills.
• It provides an entry point into the study of history.