Curated OER
On the Run: What Was Necessary To Plan an Escape From Slavery in 18th Century America?
Middle schoolers identify and discuss characteristics of runaway slaves in 18th Century, read A Narrative of the Adventures and Escapes of Moses, select five advertisements for Virginia Runaways Digital Project to complete On the Run...
Curated OER
Equaino
Students describe and discuss reasons that slaves were treated with indignity. While reading passages from the author Olaudah Equiano, students stop periodically to discuss major points about The Middle Passage. They investigate...
Curated OER
The Declaration of Independence
Students begin their examination of the Declaration of Independence. Using the text, they answer questions for their citizenship interview. They also examine the role of Jefferson in creating the document and how he participated in slavery.
Curated OER
Longfellow Meets German Radical Poet Ferdinand Freiligrath
Students, after researching the backgrounds to both Longfellow and Freiligrath, examine and analyze selected works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow via his association with the German radical Ferdinand Freiligrath. They discuss and draw...
Curated OER
Trial of John Brown, 1857
Students examine how John Brown's 1857 trial related to conflicting viewpoints on slavery, view perspectives of radical abolitionists, moderate abolitionists, and slave owners, and form their own opinions on issue of slavery.
Curated OER
Abolitionists in U.S. History
Students read and discuss excerpts from the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass and Sarah Parker Redmond. They compare and contrast the views of the three abolitionists concentrating on the experiences and reasons for...
Curated OER
Children and Slavery Document Search
Students review the causes of slavery, the Middle Passage, triangular trade and the spread of slavery throughout colonies. They work in small groups and search documents in order to find the answers to a question and document packet.
Curated OER
Follow the Drinking Gourd: Creative Writing
Learners conduct Internet research to identify the conflicts and positions of slaves, slaveholders, and members of the Underground Railroad network in the time preceding the Civil War. Students write an essay about their findings written...
Curated OER
Exploring the Life of a Slave
Eleventh graders explore importance of abolitionists who worked to advance freedoms of black Americans prior to/during Reconstruction era, read and identify key concepts in Frederick Douglass's narrative, recognize how Douglass's slave...
Curated OER
Debt Slavery and Children in India, A Case Study
Students examine the child labor situation in India. Using the internet, they research the conditions these students work under and how they are part of the debt slavery system. They read the Human Rights Watch and determine if this is...
Curated OER
Conflict Between the States
Students explore the conflicts which evolved into the Civil War. Students examine the differences between the north and the south. They discuss slavery and the battles during the war. Students create a mural and write battle songs...
Curated OER
Samuel's Choice - Social Studies Using Children's Literature
Fifth graders read a book about independence, freedom, and slavery. Students create a story map of the book. They research the causes of the Civil War. Students write a newspaper article from the point of view of an American colonist.
Curated OER
American Civil War
Eighth graders read a collection of stories about the Civil War. Based upon their readings, they perform various activities to reinforce facts about the Civil War. Students create time lines, maps and reports about the war. They...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Ran Away Story
Students write fictional stories about the search for a runaway slave. Their tales are based on the search by William Harris from South Carolina for his slave, George, in Detroit. Students include the answers to teacher-provided...
Curated OER
Agriculture and Slavery
Learners explore the importance of agriculture, especially tobacco farming, and the influence it had on slavery in the state of Virginia. Students establish the sequence of tobacco and slavery in the state.
Curated OER
A House Dividing: The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America
Students trace the development of sectionalism in the United States. They explore slavery, freedom and the Constitution. Students identify influential opponents and defenders of American slavery. They explain different solutions to...
Curated OER
Slavery in the Antebellum South
Students discuss Stephen Foster's depiction of slavery. Using the internet, they discover what the life of a slave was really like in the antebellum South. As a class, they discuss contemporary arguments for and against slavery.
Curated OER
Slavery in the United States
Students investigate the personal accounts of slaves in the United States. They participate in various activities according to grade level to examine the role of slavery in the South.
Curated OER
Human Trafficking & Modern Day Slavery - Introduction
Students identify the main reasons people are trafficked. With their classmates, they discuss the three-tier country-rating system. They explain examples and how they occur in today's society. Using the internet, they research a...
Curated OER
Human Trafficking & Modern Day Slavery - Laws & Conventions
Students are introduced to the topic of human trafficking. They identify the reasons why people are trafficked and the laws and conventions around the globe that punish this type of behavior. Using the internet, they describe how the...
Curated OER
Slavery
Fifth graders complete a short unit on slavery and the U.S. Civil War. They read and analyze the book, "Follow the Drinking Gourd," compose their own secret song, complete an Abraham Lincoln crossword puzzle, and dramatize a historical...
Smithsonian Institution
Of Human Bondage: George Washington and The Issue of Slavery
Learners read and interpret four documents George Washington wrote regarding his slaves. They analyze why George Washington was conflicted over the issue of slavery. They discuss the evolution of Washington's attitude toward slavery.
Curated OER
Whitewashing Southern History
Students discuss the fact and fiction of slavery in the South. After viewing a video on two New Orleans plantations, they determine the accuracy of the facts presented. In the computer lab, they visit various sites and examine which ones...
Curated OER
Slavery
Fifth graders examine the reasons for the Civil War. They identify and explain different social and political movements of the time period as well. They discuss the impact of the Civil War on the development of the United States.