Units February 8, 2022
Atlantic Slave War: Investigating the Origins and History
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Lesson Summary:
This unit investigates the origins and history of the Atlantic Slave Trade/War. Students will explore methods of control used by owners/enslavers, forms of resistance used by enslaved Africans, and the relationship between Black resistance and white fear. This unit culminates in an analysis of poetry from The 1619 Project book/literary timeline, which serves as a model for students in developing an artistic memorial that honors enslaved Africans.
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Unit resources
This unit was created by African American History at Mastery Charter Schools, as part of the 2021 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. It is designed for facilitation across approximately three weeks, or 13-to-15 class periods.
Essential Questions
- What was the social and political impact of the Atlantic Slave War?
- How did the process of enslavement impact African identity?
- What methods of control were used by owners/enslavers?
- What forms of resistance were used by enslaved Africans?
Unit Overview
This unit investigates the origins and history of the Atlantic Slave Trade/War. Students will study the differences between West African slavery and chattel slavery. In detail, they will study the process of European kidnapping of Africans and forcing them into enslavement in the “New World.” Students will study the geography of global slavery and the specific roles/conditions enslaved Africans were forced to experience, as well as how enslaved Africans resisted. Ultimately, students will consider the process of enslavement and the larger social and political impact of slavery. This unit culminates in an analysis of poetry from The 1619 Project book/literary timeline, which serves as a model for students in developing an artistic memorial that honors enslaved Africans.
Objectives
Students will be able to…
- Describe the conditions of enslaved Africans.
- Understand and explain the geographic scope of slavery.
- Explain the relationship between Black resistance and white fear.
Performance Task
Honor Your Ancestors Project
After reading examples of poems that memorialize enslaved Africans and Black freedom fighters, students create their own memorial to reflect on the experiences of enslaved Africans during the Atlantic Slave Trade/War.
Students have the options of writing a poem, creating a poster, constructing an image, etc.
Implementation suggestions:
- Leave two days at the end of the unit for students to complete their project during class time.
- Have students present to one another through a gallery walk.
- Depending on classroom composition, educators may choose to refer to this project as “Memorial Creation.”
Three-week unit plan for teachers, including pacing, texts and multimedia resources, rubrics, and examples of student work. Download below, or scroll down to read the complete unit plan.
Week 1
| Pacing | Focus text(s) / resource(s) for today’s lesson | Lesson Objective(s) or Essential Question(s) | Lesson / Activities | Lesson Materials |
Day 1 |
Excerpt 1 from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself [.pdf] Excerpt 1 from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself [.docx] |
SWBAT determine whether West African slavery is a cultural custom or a crime. |
Beginning - Think Write Share: >Have you heard the phrase “Black on Black crime” before? What do you think people mean by it? >What is a “cultural custom”? Middle 1. Show images of West African slavery and describe Antera Duke. 2. Follow up on the Think Write Share and ask students: >If Africans are selling their own people to Europeans, is that Black on Black crime? Or a cultural custom? >How is slavery in Africa different from what you know about slavery in the United States? 3. Have students read an excerpt from Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography. End - Students use evidence from text/images to support their answer to the following question in their notebooks: Is West African slavery a cultural custom or a crime? |
Student notebook (paper or digital) |
Days 2-4 |
Trade and Slavery Maps (general site) Atlantic Slave Trade Map from slavevoyages.org Prentice Hall textbook maps related to the Atlantic Slave Trade [.pdf] Prentice Hall textbook maps related to the Atlantic Slave Trade [.docx] |
SWBAT explain why the Atlantic Slave War was so lucrative. |
Beginning - Draw the triangular trade route on a world map. Examine the Atlantic Slave Trade Map from www.slavevoyages.org. Middle 1. For student safety, define: >“slave” vs “enslaved person” >“labor camp” vs “plantation” >“owner” vs. “master” Explain to students we will use the appropriate vocabulary as much as possible throughout this unit in order to honor enslaved people. 2. Examine Prentice Hall textbook maps related to the Atlantic Slave Trade, and add to notes about what was traded. Point out to students that sugar and tobacco played an important role in slavery. 3. Use this resource to analyze a slave trade auction for which enslaved persons were most/least expensive and reason why. End - Students use evidence from texts/images to answer the following question in their notebooks: Why was the Atlantic Slave War so lucrative? |
Student notebook (paper or digital) |
Day 5 |
Object: Child Shackles from The 1619 Supplementary Broadsheet, p. 6-7 Wood Cutting: Enslaved Caravan of Congo Week 1, day 5 images [.pdf] Week 1, day 5 images [.docx] CNN video: “Stepping Through Ghana’s ‘Door of No Return’” |
SWBAT describe the purpose and conditions of the March to Coast and Factories. |
Beginning - Create diagram of the process of enslavement. Middle 1. See Think Wonder with the images of the child shackles and the enslaved caravan (in this document). 2. Take notes on the CNN video. End - Students respond to the following question in their notebooks: What mindset and/or skills would an enslaved African need in order to survive? |
Student notebook (paper or digital) |
Week 2
| Pacing | Focus text(s) / resource(s) for today’s lesson | Lesson Objective(s) or Essential Question(s) | Lesson / Activities | Lesson Materials |
Day 1 |
Malcolm X speaking about his last name Excerpt from Thomas Phillips’s A Journal Made of the Hannibal of London [.pdf] Excerpt from Thomas Phillips’s A Journal Made of the Hannibal of London [.docx] Excerpt from Alexander Falconbridge’s An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa [.pdf] Excerpt from Alexander Falconbridge’s An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa [.docx] Excerpt 2 from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself [.pdf] Excerpt 2 from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself [.docx] |
SWBAT describe the experience and conditions of the Middle Passage. |
Beginning 1. Journal a story about your name. It could be a story about how you got your name, the meaning of your name, or what your name means to you. 2. Watch Malcolm X speaking about his last name and discuss: >How do Malcom X’s comments challenge or confirm the way you think about your name, or the act of naming? Middle 1. Recap: Cold call on students for what they remember about the March to Coast and Factories. Ask students what they think is going to happen next in the process of enslavement. 2. Recap: Who was Olaudah? Where was he taken from? Explain to students they are going to compare his account of the Middle Passage to the accounts of two Europeans. 3. For student safety, remind students that Black people who suffered this journey did not give up their dignity and always resisted. Remind students that they are about to encounter what happened to over 10 million people. 4. Show images of the Middle Passage. Ask students to make inferences about the conditions. 5. Introduce Alexander Falconbridge and Thomas Phillips. Provide half the class with the Phillips text and half the class with the Falconbridge text. Direct students to read for understanding, and to write down information about conditions of the Middle Passage. 6. Students share their notes with someone who read the other passage. 7. Ask students to discuss: > Which source do you trust more? Why? 8. Provide students with the Olaudah Equiano autobiography excerpt. Read together as a class and make comparisons to the other texts. End - Journal: Process what you learned today. How do you feel? What are you thinking about? |
Student notebook (paper or digital) |
Day 2 |
Excerpt from Prentice Hall’s African American History textbook on conditioning [.pdf] Excerpt from Prentice Hall’s African American History textbook on conditioning [.docx] Video clip from 12 Years a Slave |
SWBAT discuss tactics used by owners to control enslaved-people |
Beginning - Come up with jobs an enslaved African would have in a forced labor camp. Middle 1. Show students this video clip from 12 Years a Slave. Ask students: >How does the clip show work being controlled? >How do enslaved Africans maintain their dignity as they work? 2. Provide students with the Secondary Description of Enslaved work. Direct students to read and, in their notes, answer the questions: >What happened to enslaved Africans during conditioning? >How was work divided? End - Students respond to the following question in their notebooks: Can a person ever truly be broken? |
Student notebook (paper or digital) |
Days 3-4 |
Malcolm X Field vs. House Negro Speech Django Unchained "Big House" scene Excerpt describing enslaved work from Prentice Hall’s African American History textbook [.pdf] Excerpt describing enslaved work from Prentice Hall’s African American History textbook [.docx] |
SWBAT describe the role and responsibilities of field vs. house work. SWBAT explain the role and conditions of skilled, urban, and industrial work. |
Beginning - Think Write Share: >Who do you think has more advantages, the field or the house worker? Why? After this conversation, point out to students that there is no correct answer. Explain to students that this was a false division created by the white people in power. Also ask students: What did field and house workers have to worry about? Student Safety Suggestion: Students will often make the assumption that people who work in the “Big House” were lighter skinned than the people who worked in the field. Explain to students that this is not true and each plantation was different. Also ask students how they think someone in the house and in the field could have resisted slavery. Middle 1. Watch the Django Unchained clip and ask: Why is Samuel Jackson’s character so angry? He’s an example of an Uncle Tom stereotype (explain if needed). 2. Watch the Malcolm X clip and ask the following questions: >What type of negro does Malcom X say he considers himself? >When the master gets sick, what does Malcom X say the house negro wants to happen to him? What about the field negro? >Do you think that the house negro REALLY loved his master? 3. Explain to students that there were other types of work besides work in the house or in the field. Explain there was also industrial, urban, and skilled labor. Ask students to make a prediction on which type of work provides the most advantages. 4. Provide students with the Prentice Hall textbook reading about the different types of work to see if their prediction is correct. End - Pair students up. Have students write a text message conversation between two enslaved people who do different kinds of work. In their response, students must include: >reference to the work they do, >something they are looking forward to, and >a means of resistance. |
Student notebook (paper or digital) |
Day 5 |
Virginia Slave Laws 1660-1705 [.pdf] Virginia Slave Laws 1660-1705 [.docx] |
SWBAT describe how Bacon’s Rebellion impacted enslaved Africans. |
Beginning1. Create a timeline of the following dates: 1619, 1640-1672, 1676, and 1680-1795. 2. Ask students: How do you think slavery became codified in law? Middle 1. Analyze Virginia Slave Laws prior to the rebellion. 2. Introduce Nathaniel Bacon and William Berkeley. Explain what each of them wanted to happen to the Native Americans. 3. Ask the class: If you were an enslaved person, would you want to fight for Bacon? Why or why not? 4. Explain that Berkeley won and ask students: What do you think the consequence is going to be for Black people? 5. Distribute the Virginia Slave Laws after the rebellion. Students are to read and take notes, paraphrasing additional ways in which slavery became legal. End - Students respond to the following question in their notebooks: What was the impact of Bacon’s rebellion on enslaved Africans? In your response, refer to at least one of the VA laws. Homework/Formative Assessment Create a newspaper report on Bacon’s Rebellion. |
Student notebook (paper or digital) |
Week 3
| Pacing | Focus text(s) / resource(s) for today’s lesson |
Lesson Objective(s) or Essential Question(s) | Lesson / Activities | Lesson Materials |
Days 1-2 |
Excerpts from “Fear” by Leslie Alexander and Michelle Alexander (Text available exclusively in The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. Learn more about this book and how to access it here.) |
SWBAT explain the resistance between Black resistance and white fear. |
Beginning 1. Recap: What was the response to Bacon’s Rebellion? 2. Show video clip of the women in the park who called the police on a Black birdwatcher (one option: view clips and commentary on Good Morning America). Think Write Share: What do you think caused her to do this? Middle 1. Have students read and take notes on key claims made in "Fear" by Leslie Alexander and Michelle Alexander from The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. 2. Discuss: >According to the authors, how is white fear weaponized against Black people? Use specific examples, both historical and contemporary, from the text. >What was the significance of the Stono Rebellion? >The authors write, “Nothing has proved more threatening to our democracy, or more devastating to Black communities, than white fear of Black freedom dreams” (p. 102). What are your thoughts, reactions, connections, or questions in response to that quote? Educator’s Note: These discussion questions are taken/adapted from the Educator’s Guide to A New Origin Story by Amanda E. Vickery for Penguin Random House. End/Formative Assessment Answer the essential question for the day in two paragraphs: What is the relationship between Black resistance and white fear? In paragraph one, students should refer to historical examples of enslaved people’s rebellion. In paragraph two, they should refer to a more recent example of white fear. |
Student notebook (paper or digital) Student work example: Formative assessment on Black resistance and white fear |
Days 3-5 |
“They Sold Human Beings Here” by Dannielle Bowman and Anne C. Bailey "August 1619," a poem by Clint Smith “The White Lion,” a poem by Claduia Rankine* “Loving Me,” a poem by Vievee Francis* “Daughters of Azimuth,” a poem by Nikky Finney* "Feb. 12, 1793," a poem by Reginald Dwayne Betts *=Text available exclusively in The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. Learn more about this book and how to access it here. |
SWBAT create a piece of art to honor enslaved Africans. |
Beginning - Students look through their notes and identify two facts/lessons from this unit that stand out to them most. Middle 1. Gallery walk exploring the photos from “They Sold Human Beings Here” by Dannielle Bowman and Anne C. Bailey from The 1619 Project. 2. Read and analyze poems from The 1619 Project literary timeline. (In addition to suggested poems by Clint Smith, Claudia Rankine, Vievee Francis, Nikky Finney, and Dwayne Betts, find more literary works and art in The 1619 Project literary timeline on the New York Times website.) Use this graphic organizer for each poem. This can also be done as a jigsaw. Split students in groups, have them analyze one poem, then rotate. 3. Track trends in observations and analyses of the poems on a whiteboard. 4. Introduce students to their performance task for the unit, using this rubric. Let them know that the poems from The 1619 Project book/literary timeline can serve as models for art that honors enslaved Africans. 5. Students work on their art projects during class time and/or as homework. End - In small groups, students present their art. |
Materials Student notebook (paper or digital) Graphic organizer for analyzing 1619 Project poems [.pdf] Graphic organizer for analyzing 1619 Project poems [.docx] Honor Your Ancestors performance task rubric [.pdf] Honor Your Ancestors performance task rubric [.docx] Example Student Work Completed graphic organizer for analyzing 1619 Project poems, example 1 Completed graphic organizer for analyzing 1619 Project poems, example 2 Example performance task |
Common Core Standards for History/Social Studies
RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas of information of a primary or secondary source.
RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
Formative Assessment
Students use a graphic organizer to guide their exploration of and reflection on poems from The 1619 Project: A Literary Timeline. These poems serve as models for artistic expression that honors and memorializes enslaved Africans and Black freedom fighters. See below for example responses from students at Mastery Charter Schools in fall 2021.
Performance Task
After reading examples of poems that memorialize enslaved Africans and Black freedom fighters, students create their own memorial to reflect on the experiences of enslaved Africans during the Atlantic Slave Trade/War. See below for an example from a student at Mastery Charter Schools in fall 2021.
