If You Were A Slave…

1. If You Were A Slave… Amanda R. Earle ED 629

2. This Lesson is for : • Grade 5 • Social Studies • Class that is discussing African American Slaves in the United States during the time of the Civil War

3. State of Ohio Social Studies Standards for Grade 5 : • Standard: People in Societies • Benchmark: B. Explain the reasons people from various cultural groups come to North America and the consequences of their interactions with each other. (p.118) • Indicator: Describe the experiences of African Americans under the institution of slavery. (p. 131)

4. Goal: • To develop an understanding of what it was like to be an African American slave and their role in the American society during the Civil War.

5. Objectives: • Students will have an understanding of basic terms that define slavery by completing a word sort. • Students will be able to locate on a map the routes of the triangular slave trade by tracing and drawing the routes on a map. • Students will be able to explain the experiences of the slaves on the ships by completing a simulation of the arrangement of the slave ships. • Students will be able to define key people in the abolitionist movement by watching an informational video . • Students will be able to connect with plantation life of a slave by hearing musical testimonials .

6. Materials: • Computer with LCD Projector • Vocabulary cards for Word Sort • Maps of the globe • Colored Pencils • Scissors • Social Studies Notebooks • Pencils

7. If you were a slave…

8. Activity 1 : What is Slavery? • Define the term slavery and list important key terms. (Knowledge) • Slavery: the state of being under the control by another person • Terms: Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, Rebellion, Slavery, Slave ships, Abolitionists, Underground Railroad, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth ,Triangular Slave Trade, Freedom                                                

9. Activity 1 continued: • Vocabulary word sort: - Students will be given the vocabulary words for the unit and their definitions. Working with a partner, students will match up the terms with their definitions. http://www.motopera.org/mg_ed/educational/ms_lp_b.html

10. Activity 2: The Transatlantic Slave Trade

11. Activity 2: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Continued • Students will examine the following website and discuss the triangular slave trade. • The transatlantic slave trade generally followed a triangular route. Traders set out from European ports towards Africa's west coast. • There they bought people in exchange for goods and loaded them into the ships. • The voyage itself generally took 6 to 8 weeks. • Once in the Americas, those Africans who had survived the journey were off-loaded for sale and put to work as slaves. • http://www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom/viewTheme.cfm/theme/triangular

12. Activity 2: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Continued • After viewing the webpage, students will get a map of the globe and will color and draw in the trade routes and continents that were involved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade

13. Activity 3: Slave Ships • Students will learn about the conditions aboard a slave ship by examining this webpage : • http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/slaveship.htm • After this discussion students will now be able to pretend that they are a slave.

14. You are now a slave. Students will lay down in a designated spot in the classroom, head to foot and be asked to lay there for 3 minutes in silence, simulating the ride over from Africa to the Americas. Students will now write about their experiences and how it made them feel. Also they will describe what they think it must have been like aboard the ships. Activity 3: Slave Ships Continued

15. Activity 4 : Abolitionist • Abolitionism : is a political movement that seeks to end the practice of slavery and the worldwide slave trade. • Black as well as white people played an important part in the movement for abolition. • The Underground Railroad consisted of clandestine routes, transportation, meeting points, safe homes and other havens, and assistance maintained by abolitionist sympathizers. • The underground railroad played an important role in the abolitionist movement under Harriet Tubman.

16. Activity 4 : Abolitionist Continued Harriet Tubman

17. Activity 4 : Abolitionist Continued • Sojourner Truth • Students will watch the video about Sojourner Truth and then will be asked to write in their social studies notebook a letter to her asking important questions, and giving their opinions about slavery and Abolitionism. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEBk_F7mPK4

18. Activity 5 : Singing on the Plantation • Approximately one Southern family in four held slaves prior to the Civil War. • Slaves in many parts of the south were freed by Union armies or when they simply left their former owners. • The division of the land into smaller units under private ownership became known as the plantation system. • Crops grown on these plantations such as tobacco, rice, sugar cane and cotton were labor intensive.

19. Activity 5 : Singing on the Plantation Continued • Slaves were in the fields from sunrise to sunset and at harvest time they did an eighteen hour day. • The death-rate amongst slaves was high. • Slaves would often sing songs to help the days go by and to help relieve their pain. • http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/february03/worksongs.cfm

20. Activity 5 : Singing on the Plantation Continued

21. Activity 5 : Singing on the Plantation Continued • Students will listen to the examples of the slave songs and they will then be required to write their own song, based on the knowledge they have gained about what it was like to be a slave.

22. Assessment • Students will complete a written essay exam where they must explain what they learned about slavery and what slavery means to them. • Students must be sure to include important elements such as • How have their views changed? • How they would have felt if they were a slave? • Who did they find to be an influential part of the abolitionist movement, and why?