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Learning Experience/Unit

The Roots of Slavery


Subject

English Language Arts (2005), Social Studies

Grade Levels

Commencement, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade


Learning Context/ Introduction

In this learning experience, students read primary sources that provide multiple pictures of slavery and the slave trade.

Activity One: The Middle Passage

From African Roots to the North American Soil

  1. Introduce students to the history of slave trading by viewing pictures and reading brief passages from Tom Feelings’ book Middle Passage: White Ships and Black Cargo. If web access is available in the classroom, project slides of his black and white illustrations posted at Juneteenth Pictorial Middle Passage.
  2. View brief segments from Part 1 of the video recording of Alex Haley's Roots. Show students excerpts of Kunta Kinte on the slave ship, on the auction block, and on the plantation.
  3. Debrief with students their response to the drawings of Tom Feelings and the movie clips from Roots.

Activity Two: Slaves and Masters

  1. Ask students to read Chapter 2 from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl written by Harriet Jacobs. Chapter 2 relates events that parallel the cruel treatment of Kunta Kinte in Roots. Have students identify the similarities and differences in Harriet Jacobs’ and Kunta Kinte’s experiences.
  2. Have students read Chapter VI, A Child's Reasoning, from Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. It is an excellent piece to contrast with Scout's voice in To Kill a Mockingbird and can be abridged to accommodate reading abilities or time constraints.
  3. As a class or in small groups, students describe and write down those images of slavery that most impressed them from Harriet Jacobs’ and Frederick Douglass’ first person narratives.

Activity Three: The Auction Block

  1. Ask students to read Solomon Northup’s account of a slave auction in Chapter IV, Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853.
  2. Go to African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection, 1818 - 1907 and use a keyword search (use two words: "slave, georgia" in the search box) to locate the document What became of slaves on a Georgia plantation?: Great auction sale of slaves at Savannah, Georgia. Ask students to read the entire work, taking note of the language, tone, narrative style, and point of view.
  3. Group students in pairs to compare and contrast the stories of the two auctions. Use Study Guide for Slave Auction Narratives to focus their discussion.

Duration

4 - 5 class periods

Author

Kathleen Prody and Nicolet Whearty

Source

This lesson was originally an extension activity in the learning experience "To Kill a Mockingbird: A Historical Perspective." Reproduced from the Library of Congress web site for teachers. Original lesson plan created as part of the Library of Congress American Memory Fellows Program.


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