Digital History
The Slave Trade
When studying the slave trade in early American and world history, use this document to expose your learners to the abhorrent conditions that existed on slave ships. Read through two first-person accounts of the enslavement process,...
Curated OER
Slave Trade Feelings
In this slave trade worksheet, students list the feelings of a slave and slave trader at various times during the slave trade transport process.
Curated OER
Slave Trading and Small Towns
Students examine maps to identify the small communities visited by slave traders in Mississippi and Alabama in the mid-1840s and to calculate the distance traveled by slave coffles.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Reward: Valuable Slaves
To gain insight into the American institution of slavery and how African Americans were viewed during this time, groups examine run-away slave ads and slave auction broadsides. Teams use the provided worksheet to record their impressions...
Curated OER
The Log Book of a Connecticut Slave Trade Ship
Seventh graders investigate the slave trade. In this Middle Passage lesson, 7th graders read excerpts of ship logs from Connecticut Slave Trade ships. Students respond to the provided analysis questions based on the logs.
Curated OER
Africa: The Middle Passage and 19th Century America
Young scholars participate in a series of activities to explore the lives of slaves in 19th century America. They examine the design of slave ships, the hardships endured, and the ways that owners depended on slaves for their economic...
Curated OER
SLAVE TRADING AND SMALL TOWNS
Learners research the ways slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, the different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, and how the Atlantic slave trade finally ended.
Reed Novel Studies
Underground To Canada: Novel Study
Julilly dreams of freedom after being taken from her mother by a slave trader. Will she ever be free again? A resource focuses on the first chapter of Barbara Smucker's book Underground to Canada, and includes 10 vocabulary words,...
Curated OER
Through Their Eyes: Perspectives on Slavery
Students write a personal account of slavery seen from the eyes of a slave trader, a slave plantation owner, a fugitive slave, or a working slave.
Curated OER
Through Their Eyes: Perspectives on Slavery
Students examine different perspectives of slavery. They write a personal account of slavery as a slave trader, a plantation owner, and fugitives and working slaves. They role-play these roles for the class.
Curated OER
Examining Slave Auction Documents
Students compare the social and cultural characteristics of the North, the South, and the West during the antebellum period, including the lives of African Americans and social reform movements such as abolition and women’s rights.
Curated OER
Slave Auctions in South Carolina
Students examine primary sources in the form of auction records, create frequency charts, graphs and diagrams that they analyze to anwer questions followed by the writing of a paper that demonstrates their comprehension of the lesson.
Curated OER
RAW HISTORY: USING PRIMARY SOURCES
Students analyze the ways slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, how slaves forged their own culture in the face of oppression; and the role of the plantation system in shaping slaveholders and the enslaved.
Curated OER
Why Did Transatlantic Slavery Exist?
Looking for a quick introduction to the transatlantic slave trade? A student-produced presentation outlines the history behind European involvement in the triangle trade.
Curated OER
Slavery in Arkansas, Market to Misery
Pupils determine the factors that were considered when purchasing slaves at market or through the purchase of an estate. They examine the Arkansas Slave Code and share its content through a group activity.
Curated OER
Sub-Sahara Africa
Students listen to a lecture on the geography of sub-Sahara Africa. They then make a poster that illustrates the various landforms and climates that can be found in Africa. Students listen to a lecture on the diversity of African...
Curated OER
THE PEANUT WIZARD
Students read information about George Washington Carver and outline the information. They are given peanuts in the shell, students examine them and eat them. Students discuss the following questions: Why did George Washington Carver...
Curated OER
Learning About Slavery
Students locate on a map the places in Africa where the majority of slaves came from. They express their own personal thoughts and feelings about slavery.
K12 Reader
Reading Comprehension: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Introduce your high schoolers to one of the most important pieces of American literature with a reading comprehension lesson. As class members read a short passage from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, they learn about the...
Garden of Praise
George Washington Carver Test
This is a standard multiple-choice assessment on the life and ideas of George Washington Carver. It includes 20 questions on topics covering information about his birth and education, major career moves, teaching principles, ethics, etc.
Curated OER
“The Devil and Tom Walker” Active Reading Worksheet
In this reading reflection activity, students read the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker" and respond to the 18 short answer questions regarding the plot of the story as they read.
PBS
African-Americans in the American West
Secondary learners explore the westward movement of African Americans. Segmented into four time periods, the lesson provides an overview of how African Americans experienced westward expansion. Learners view PBS specials on the westward...
Curated OER
Sacajawea
Third graders investigate the challenges Sacajawea faced when communicating. They examine ways of communicating using gestures as the Native Americans did. They identify how the Native Americans used natural resources when meeting their...
Curated OER
Mayan Culture
Students use RAFT prompts to write about Mayan society. In this lesson on Mayan culture, students research and then explain the Mayan hierarchy and social structure. As a culminating activity each student will write a newspaper article...