Scholastic
Harriet Tubman: Moses of Her People
Who was Harriet Tubman, and what was her place on the Underground Railroad? Recall the bravery and achievements of this extraordinary figure with a short, engaging informational text and crossword puzzle.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
How Do We Know about Colonial Life?
Young history sleuths examine an inventory of the belongings of a Virginia colonist and use deductive reasoning to determine what the document reveals about colonial life. They then use a Venn diagram to compare the inventory with a...
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
Northern and Southern Differences in 1856
Fourth graders investigate differences between the ideology of the Northern and Southern states in 1856. In this states' history lesson, 4th graders examine the needs for slaves in the Southern agricultural economy, and compare it to the...
Curated OER
Slavery: Acts of Resistance
Historical accounts of various events have proven to differ depending on the point of view of the person documenting the event. Learners read and analyze two first person accounts of acts of slave resistance seen at a southern...
Curated OER
Slavery - Types of Work wordsearch
In this slavery worksheet, students find words in a wordsearch that have to do with the types of work slaves had to do. Students find 10 words that have to do with slavery and their types of work.
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.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 7
Class members examine the images Arson and Budhos use to depict the working conditions on the sugar plantations and consider how these images support the arguments the writers present in Sugar Changed the World.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 20
After comparing the working conditions of the enslaved people to those of the Indian indentured workers on the sugar plantations, class members examine the conditions and the actions of specific historical figures that Marc Aronson and...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 21
Class members read the chapter, "Serfs and Sweetness" from Sugar Changed the World, and identify the central idea that the development of beet sugar and modern farming technology changed the reliance on the plantation system and made...
Curated OER
The Antebellum South
Your history students will be on the edges of their seats during this fascinating presentation, which details the abolition movement and slave life during the Antebellum period in the American South. Students will be left agape at the...
Curated OER
Slave Resistance
These historical scenarios are designed to aid the class understand how slaves resisted their masters. They are presented with six scenarios which they then respond to by describing how they would resisted slavery in each situation. This...
Curated OER
The Colonization of Liberia
Students analyze how slavery shaped social and economic life in the South. They study methods of passive and active resistance to slavery, and the similarities and differences between African-American and white abolitionists.
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
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.
National First Ladies' Library
Slavery in the Beginning: Creating a Virtual Museum
Social studies learners explore slavery in the American colonies from 1607 to the Revolutionary War. In groups, they explore a PBS website and a virtual museum. Using these websites and other online resources, students create their own...
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
The Emancipation Proclamation
Middle schoolers read one of the most important documents in our nation's history: The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. After everyone reads the proclamation, they set out to write a "You Were There" type of report on it. They pretend...
Curated OER
Families in Bondage
Students examine actual letters writen by slaves and write essays based on these letters describing what it might have been like for an African American family living in the South during that time period.
University of Virginia
The Songs in Uncle Tom's Cabin
Experience Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in an innovative, musical way. A list of audio links leads class members to spirituals from the novel, such as "Die in the Field," "The Wings in the Morning," and "Blow Ye the...
Curated OER
Through Their Eyes: Perspectives on Slavery
Learners 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
Slavery in Virginia
Fourth graders assess primary sources to analyze the effects plantation life and slavery had on Colonial Virginia. They study the issues of slavery, rural life, movements, colonization and revolution. Each student makes predictions,...
Curated OER
Looking Back at Pre-Civil War Slavery
Eighth graders explain the nature of slavery, the impact of slavery on African-Americans, and how slavery intensified the conflict between the North and South that eventually led to a major cause of the Civil War.
Curated OER
Images of Slavery
Students analyze the ways slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, methods of passive and active resistance to slavery; escaped slaves and the Underground Railroad, and the ending of the Atlantic slave trade.