Analyzing primary and secondary sources of slavery
- 1. Analyzing Primary and Secondary Sources of Slavery Essential Question: How did slaves resisted and/or adapted to life in America?
- 2. Standards History: 8.1.9 A, B, C, D; 8.3.6 A, B, C, D Geography: 7.3.9U: 7.4.9U Civics: 5.1.9U A, C, D, F; 5.2.9U A, B Economics: 6.1.9U A, B, C; 6.2.9U A; 6.3.9U B, D; 6.4.9U C; 6.5.9U B, E
- 3. Be considerate… Even though the events we are discussing happened over one hundred and fifty years ago, it still remains a sensitive topic in American society. The language that is used in the primary and secondary source documents contains language of the time period, which is not appropriate in conversation today.
- 4. Response Questions How does this story show slaves resisting slavery? How did the author engage/excite the audience during this story? As you listen to Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad by Pamela Duncan Edwards,answer the following questions:
- 5. Slaves and Field Work The majority of slaves worked on plantations in the Deep South. A regular working day lasted from before sunrise to after sunset, “from can to can’t”-from when one can see until the sun is gone and one can’t see. Slaveholders viewed slaves as property, treating them as farm animals or equipment-rarely as humans. Southern plantations mainly raised cotton, a crop that required constant labor in the fields. Slaves also worked with indigo, corn, and other crops.
- 7. Slaves and Domestic Work Slaves did not work only in the fields; many were house servants, such as maids, cooks, and butlers. Other slaves were skilled laborers and craftspeople who helped make each plantation self-sufficient or who worked in industry and manufacturing. At the end of each workday, slaves also returned to their quarters to do their personal housework.
- 9. Runaway Slaves In addition to daily passive resistance to slavery, slaves often planned insurrections and escapes. If caught, a slave would be beaten, even killed. Patrollers, commonly called “patterollers,” were always on the lookout for runaway slaves. Some slaves and many free blacks helped runaways; but some slaves turned in runaways, probably out of fear of getting punished themselves. Some abolitionists became “conductors” on the Underground Railroad, helping runaway slaves to evade patrollers and escape to the North or beyond to Canada.
- 11. Slaves and Passive Resistance Slaves resisted in many ways in order to assert their humanity and independence. Singing religious songs or songs with secret messages of escape, refusing to work, and helping others escape or rebel were some ways that slaves resisted their owners. The labor of slaves was vital to the success of the plantation system, so slaves often found ways to disrupt this system.
- 13. Slaves and Religion Slave owners used religion to control the slaves, forcing them to attend services at which a preacher would tell them that slavery was their lot in life. But in the stories of the Old Testament, enslaved Africans heard about the Israelites in slavery and realized the story was like their own. The slaves began to use religion and religious songs to express their feelings about slavery and their hopes for freedom.
- 15. Slaves and Slave Auctions Once Africans were brought to America as slaves, they were sold to the highest bidders at auctions. Slave merchants behaved no differently than grain merchants, selling people as if they were agricultural products. They broke apart many families on the auction block, allowing family members to sell to different owners.
- 17. Slaves and Family Africans came from a strong tradition of extended families living together. Slave owners in the United States ripped this cultural practice away from Africans, tearing families apart on the slave auction block. Once on the plantation, many slaves were forced to have children in order to produce more slaves for their owners. Despite this inhumanity, slaves struggled to create family lives for themselves.
- 19. Slave Children The children of slaves were seen as the property of the master, not the children of the women who gave birth to them. They could be sold away at the whim of the owner, never to see their families again. From their birth, they were trained to believe that they were inferior to whites and that they would spend their lives serving their master.
- 21. Primary Source A document or other record of past events created by people who were present during those events or during that period. Examples: Letters Diaries Pictures Eyewitness accounts in newspapers or books Everyday artifacts like tools, toys, clothing, etc.
- 22. Secondary Source A document or other record created by people who were not present at the events or perhaps not even alive during that period. Examples: A book on a historical topic written after the event A documentary Sketches by people who were not present at the event
- 23. Aspect of Slave Life Primary Source Write down the name of each primary source. You do not need to write down the same source twice. Secondary Source Write down the name of each secondary source. You do not need to write down the same source twice.
- 24. Field Work Primary Source Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave , 1853 Wes Brady, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project , 1936-1938 Mary Kincheon Edwards, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project , 1936-1938 Sarah Ashley, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project , 1936-1938 Secondary Source Alex Haley, Roots , 1976
- 25. Domestic Work Primary Source Charles Ball, Slavery in the United States: A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Charles Ball, A Black Man , 1854 Bob Ellis, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Mattie Mooreman, quoted in James Mellon (ed.), Bullwhip Days: The Slave Remember, An Oral History , 1988 Mary Reynolds, , quoted in James Mellon (ed.), Bullwhip Days: The Slave Remember, An Oral History , 1988 Anonymous, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Secondary Source Julius Lester, To Be a Slave , 1968 Alex Haley, Roots , 1976
- 26. Runaway Slaves Primary Source William Wells Brown, quoted in The Liberator , January 12, 1849 West Turner, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Julius Lester, To Be a Slave , 1968 Anonymous, quoted in B.A. Botkin (ed.), Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery , 1945 Jenny Proctor, quoted in B.A. Botkin (ed.), Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery , 1945 Mary Reynolds, quoted in B.A. Botkin (ed.), Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery , 1945 anonymous, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Secondary Source None
- 27. Passive Resistance Primary Source Fredrick Olmsted, Journey in the Seaboard Slave States , 1856 Moses Grandy, quoted in William Loren Katz , Eyewitness: The Negro in American History , 1974 Susan Broaddus, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Slave song, quoted in Julius Lester, To Be a Slave , 1968 Jennie Patterson, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Beverly Jones, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Julia Frasier, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Slave song, from B.A. Botkin (ed.), Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery , 1945 Secondary Source William Loren Katz, Eyewitness: The Negro in American History , 1974 Julius Lester, To Be a Slave , 1968
- 28. Religion Primary Source The Law Code of Virginia, Chapter XLIX, paragraph 4, 1705 William Wells Brown, Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave Written by Himself , 1846 Sermon given by a white preacher to Virginia slaves, quoted in Frederick Olmsted, Journey in the Seaboard Slave States , 1856 Slave song, “Go Down Moses” Slave song, “You Got a Right” Beverly Jones, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 West Turner, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Anonymous, quoted in Julius Lester, To Be a Slave , 1968 Secondary Source Alex Haley, Roots , 1976
- 29. Slave Auctions Primary Source Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavaus Vassa, The African , 1789 William Wells Brown, Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave Written by Himself , 1846 Charles Ball, Slavery in the United States: A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Charles Ball, A Black Man , 1854 Description of a slave auction, New York Tribune , March 9, 1859 Louis Hughes, Thirty Years a Slave: From Bondage to Freedom , 1897 Josiah Henson, Truth Stranger Than Fiction: Father Henson’s Story of His Own Life , 1858 Jenny Proctor, quoted B.A. Botkin (ed.), Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery , 1945 Delicia Patterson, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-38 Secondary Source None
- 30. Family Primary Source Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave , 1853 Hilliard Yellerday, quoted in James Mellon (ed.), Bullwhip Days: The Slave Remember, An Oral History , 1988 Tempie Durham, quoted in James Mellon (ed.), Bullwhip Days: The Slave Remember, An Oral History , 1988 Lou Smith, quoted B.A. Botkin (ed.), Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery , 1945 Betty Jones, quoted in William Loren Katz (ed.), The Negro in Virginia , 1940 Wash Wilson, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-38 Secondary Source Alex Haley, Roots , 1976
- 31. Children Primary Source Frederick Douglas, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, 1845 William Wells Brown, The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements , 186 Katie Sutton, quoted in James Mellon (ed.), Bullwhip Days: The Slave Remember, An Oral History , 1988 anonymous, quoted B.A. Botkin (ed.), Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery , 1945 Jennie Webb, quoted in James Mellon (ed.), Bullwhip Days: The Slave Remember, An Oral History , 1988 Willie Williams, quoted in James Mellon (ed.), Bullwhip Days: The Slave Remember, An Oral History , 1988 3 John Smith, quoted in James Mellon (ed.), Bullwhip Days: The Slave Remember, An Oral History , 1988 Ida Hutchinson, from Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-38 Secondary Source None
- 32. Notes on Aspects of Slave Life How slaves resisted and/or adapted to this aspect of life Aspect of Slave Life
- 33. In your group… Take turns reading your primary and secondary source documents. As members read, think about how slaves resisted and/or adapted to this aspect of life. Summarize how slaves resisted and/or adapted to this aspect of life in two-three sentences and write your answer on the graphic organizer.
- 34. Closure Examine the visual that connects to your group’s aspect of life. Pick one detail of the visual and explain how that detail connects to your group’s aspect of life. Be prepared to share your answer with the class.
- 35. Act-It Outs Your group will prepare an act-it-out that brings your aspect of slavery and the connecting visual to life. Focus your act-it-out on this question: How did slaves resisted and/or adapted to life in America?
- 36. Act-It-Out Roles You will take on one of these roles: Director Screenwriter Stage Manager Researcher- part split between all members in groups of three
- 37. Director Facilitates the group work process to make sure the act-it-outs runs smoothly from start to finish. Leads the group’s discussion of what to show in the act-it-out and creates the storyboard. Helps coordinates all parts of the performance and leads the rehearsal. Acts in the act-it-out. Strengths needed: Leadership skills, organization
- 38. Screenwriter Leads the process of writing a script for the act-it-out, including group members’ suggestions. Writes and presents an introductory statement for the act-it-out. Provides all group members, and Mr. Kelly, with a typed copy of the script. Acts in the act-it-out. Strengths needed: Writing ability, typing ability
- 39. Stage Manager Coordinates props, costumes, and sound effects for the act-it-out. Determines how to make scene changes quickly. Solicits ideas and input for special effects from all group members. Thinks of ways to involve the audience when appropriate. Acts in the act-it-out. Strengths needed: Creativity
- 40. Researcher Examines the primary and secondary sources for information to use in the act-it-out. Also finds additional information in the textbook and from other sources. Makes sure the group accurately uses the information on the topic. Acts in the act-it-out. Strengths needed: Strong reader, strong researcher
- 41. Act-It-Out Three- to five-minutes Brings the visual to life Clearly shows the aspect of life Connects to the focus question- How did slaves resisted and/or adapted to life in America? Contains 3 scenes Before visual During visual After visual Can be seconds, minutes, months, or years before and after
- 42. Step 1: Create ideas for three scenes What happened before the event shown? What is happening during the event shown? What is happening after the event shown?
- 43. Step 2: Create a storyboard for your act-it-out (This is the director’s focus.) Your storyboard should contain: Each group member’s position, costumes, props, actions, and dialogue in the scene Once the storyboard is complete, bring this to me for approval.
- 44. Step 3: Write a two-to three-page script for your act-it-out (This is the screenwriter’s focus.) Your script should contain: Accurate historical information from the primary and secondary sources, as well as outside sources like your textbook Engaging dialogue that grabs the audience’s attention Input from all group members Create and introductory statement for the act-it-out
- 45. Step 4: Create or gather simple costumes, props, visuals and/or sound effects for your act-it-out (This is the stage manager’s focus.) The materials should: Reflect the details from the visual, as well as other historical details from the time period Make the scenes seem as realistic as possible Be respectful of the sensitive nature of the topic
- 46. Step 5: Rehearse your act-it-out (This is the stage manager’s focus.) Focus on: Smooth flow of all three scenes Pronunciations of difficult words Voice levels Actions/hand gestures Costume/prop changes
- 47. Presentations Before presenting- You will have up to 2 minutes to prepare Turn in: The final, types copy of your script Your rubric While watching presentations: Fill in your graphic organizer-Notes on Aspects of Slave Life Be respectful of those presenting