9th Grade American History Slavery Unit

Slavery Unit

Main Questions: By the end of the unit, the student should be able to answer the following questions:

1. What were some of the events that led to slavery in America and how could a person come to enslave another human being?

2. As best as you can, put yourself in the shoes of a slave and describe what life was like. Describe some terrible things that have happened in the past?

3. Compare the the ideals described in the Declaration of Independance and U.S. Consitition with what was really happening in the United States. How does this show that governments and laws are good things but not perfect?

4. How could slavery have lasted for hundreds of years in America? What allowed it to continue for so long?

5. What is freedom? Why do so many search for it? Why is it important to learn about it?

Helpful Web Sites

Slavery in the United States

History of Slavery

Black Resistance to Slavery

Underground Railroad

Footsteps To Freedom: Underground Railroad

Pictures of Slaves

Famous African American Speeches

Japenese Study of American Slavery

Underlying Causes of Slavery

Slavery Auction Using Legos

"Amistad" Historical Backround

"Amistad" More Historical Background

"Amistad" Movie

"Roots" Follow Up Video Information

Textbook Readings:

1. pp. 40 - 42

2. pp. 126 -128

3. pp. 221 - 222

4. pp. 366 - 368

5. pp. 368 - 371

6. pp. 384 -387

7. pp. 415 - 417

8. pp. 417 - 419

9. pp. 188 - 189

Create 5 questions based on what you think are the most important and/or interesting parts of the section. Create 5 questions for each section. Respond to one of those 5 questions in two complete sentences. Q= 45 A= 9

Video Questions: "Roots" Movie Link

A. Total Questions:

B. Total Responses: (2 complete sentences each)

E-mail Mr. Voegeli dvoegeli@wshs.luminet.net

Return to 9th Grade American History Page

Return to Mr. Voegeli's Main Page

Assignments

Slavery Letter

Worth: 25 points Due: end of the period.

Part One: (worth 10 points)

A. Imagine that you are living in Boston, Massachusetts in the year 1806.

B. You are going to write a letter to your cousins who live in Virginia and talk with them about slavery.

C. Tell them what your opinions and thoughts about slavery are.

D. The letter should be at least four sentences long.

_______________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Part Two: (worth 10 points)

A. In the first letter, were you writing the letter as a person who had European or African ancestors? ________________________

B. Depending on what kind of person you assumed you were in the first letter, now imagine that you are of a different heritage and have a different skin color and history. For example, if you assumed that you were European American in the first letter, now assume that your family is African American and that you have a darker skin color. Assume that you live in Boston and that you are also free and not a slave.

C. Write another letter about the exact same questions.

__________________________________________________________________

Part Three: In a few sentences, tell how the first and second letters were different and how different groups of people may see the same historical events in very different ways? (worth 5 points) __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Slavery Project

Worth: 100 points Due: ____________________

Directions:

A. You have been studying about slavery in early American history.

B. Studying slavery means being exposed to very powerful, complex, and

sometimes confusing events and ideas.

C. In this project, I would like you to make sense out of what you have been

seeing in the "Roots" movie and reading from the textbook.

D. Focus on what happened and the reasons why those things happened.

E. Great Projects: Describe how slavery could have lasted so long.

Project Requirements: (Check each requirement off after you complete it.)

____ 1. Cover Page and Binder (or some kind of protector if written)

____ 2. Introduction and Conclusion.

____ 3. 2 typed pages -- responding to at least 3 Sub Questions that you create.

Each page is worth 5 points, 10 points total.

____ 4. 2 maps --1 map of the continent of Africa showing where Kunta was born. 1 map showing the 13 American Colonies/States sometime between 1780 and 1840, label the "Southern States".

____ 5. Timeline -- with at least 10 dates,events, and 2 sentence descriptions.

____ 6. 7 graphics -- with 1 sentence captions (either use the internet, photocopier, or the computer scanner).

____ 7. About the Author Page.

Key Question: This will be one part of your introduction.

"This project is about early American slavery. This project has been created to answer the following question(s), ____________________________________________"

Questions:

Break the project down into questions. Recommended: create 3 questions.

Other options: create either 1,2,3,4, or 5 questions.

Question # 1: One must come from the textbook questions: ___________________

__________________________________________________________________

Question # 2: One must come from the "Roots" movie: ______________________

__________________________________________________________________

Question # 3: One must be based on your opinions, thoughts, or feelings: ________

__________________________________________________________________

Question # 4: _______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Question # 5: _______________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Conclusion: "In conclusion, __________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________"

American Slavery

Lessons that Could Change Your Life

1. Terrible Things Have Happened in the Past:

A. They happened in the past, they could be happening again today,

and they could happen in the future.

B. The society at the time considered themselves advanced and

modern. They considered past cultures to be barbaric. They

thought they had advanced and become civilized.

C. Since then, other terrible things have happened by societies that

thought they had changed things for the better. Some examples

include the Holocaust in Germany, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan

and other groups in America, the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia,

World War I, World War II, Iraq's gassing of Kurds, etc.

D. Hopefully, if you can learn to recognize terrible things and

injustices in the past, you can learn to see them in your world.

D. What Terrible Things Are Happening in Your World Today?

___________________________________________________

E. What Terrible Things Could Happen in the Future?

___________________________________________________

2. Slavery Went On for Hundreds of Years and People Were Taught to Accept It:

A. People accepted it as "just the way things are."

B. Everyone was a part of the system in some way. Everyone is

responsible for what happened.

C. People had to be taught to hate and accept those terrible things.

People had to be taught to ignore what they were seeing and to

ignore their conscious.

D. Schools, laws, economics, religions, family values, and other

beliefs created, allowed, or encouraged slavery to continue.

E. The slaves were even taught to help continue the system. They

did not want their own families to learn to read and write They did not want their families and friends to try to resist or change things.

F. Can you give some examples from the "Roots" movie how the

slaves tried to keep their friends and family from trying to resist

or change the ways things were?

___________________________________________________

G. Can you give some examples from your life where friends, family,

schools, governments, business, the media, or other people try to teach you to ignore or accept terrible things that you see happening? How do these same people or groups try to stop you from trying to change things?

___________________________________________________

3. Laws and Governments are Good But Not Perfect:

A. The Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal". The Constitution contains the Bill of Rights and other

laws that are meant to protect people's rights.

B. Even though these laws and statements were written down, they

did not apply to everyone.

C. Even though these laws and statements existed, other laws were

created that went against people's rights.

D. Can you give any examples from the Root's Movie of laws that

went against the Bill of Rights or the statement, "all men are

created equal"?

___________________________________________________

E. There are good laws and there are bad laws. There are good

parts of government and bad parts of government. We need to

be able to tell the difference between the good and bad parts. We

need to improve the bad parts.

F. Can you give any example of parts of our government that should

be improved?

___________________________________________________

G. Do you think you should be taught to look for the parts of your

government that should be improved upon? ____________

4. How Important it is to Know what Freedom Is About:

A. In the "Roots" movie, some people did not even know what Kunta

Kintay (Toby) was talking about when he was talking about

freedom or why it was important. Can you give any examples?

___________________________________________________

B. If you are not aware of your own history, you do not know where you came from or why you should view yourself as important and as a proud person. Can you give any examples from the movie of how Kunta Kintay (Toby) or any of his family used their family history to make them proud of themselves or to change their lives?

___________________________________________________

C. If you do not know what freedom is or what it should be, you will

not be free yourself. You will be more likely to be taken advantage

of by other people or groups. You will be more likely to be turned

into a modern day slave yourself.

D. What are some ways you can learn what freedom is or what it

should be?

___________________________________________________

E-mail Mr. Voegeli dvoegeli@wshs.luminet.net

Return to 9th Grade American History Page

Return to Mr. Voegeli's Main Page

Slavery in the United States	History of Slavery
Black Resistance to Slavery	Underground Railroad
Footsteps To Freedom: Underground Railroad	Pictures of Slaves

Famous African American Speeches	Japenese Study of American Slavery
Underlying Causes of Slavery	Slavery Auction Using Legos
"Amistad" Historical Backround	"Amistad" More Historical Background
"Amistad" Movie	"Roots" Follow Up Video Information