Elementary African-American History
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Elementary African-American History by Jonathan D. Kantrowitz and Kathi Godiksen Edited by Patricia F. Braccio and Sarah M. Williams Item Code QWK5096 • Copyright © 2006 Queue, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. Printed in the United States of America. Queue, Inc. • 1 Controls Drive • Shelton, CT 06484 (800) 232-2224 • Fax: (800) 775-2729 • www.qworkbooks.com Table of Contents To the Students ....................................................................................................................iv Chapter 1 The First African Americans and the Beginnings of Slavery..........................................................................................................1 Chapter 2 Slavery in North America..............................................................................11 Chapter 3 From Colonies to Country ............................................................................22 Chapter 4 Mum Bett Sues for Freedom, David Walker Writes an Appeal........................................................................................................31 Chapter 5 The Underground Railroad and the Missouri Compromise........................40 Chapter 6 African-American Churches ..........................................................................49 Chapter 7 Crossing International Borders, The Fugitive Slave Act ............................54 Chapter 8 The Liberator, Nat Turner’s Rebellion, The Amistad..................................62 Chapter 9 Boston and the Fugitive Slave Act................................................................69 Chapter 10 Abolitionists Working in the South ..............................................................77 Chapter 11 Frederick Douglass ........................................................................................83 Chapter 12 Harriet Tubman ............................................................................................91 Chapter 13 Uncle Tom’s Cabin..........................................................................................98 Chapter 14 John Brown, Dred Scott ..............................................................................104 Chapter 15 African Americans in the Civil War............................................................110 Chapter 16 Spies and Buffalo Soldiers ..........................................................................118 Chapter 17 Jim Crow and Reconstruction ....................................................................127 Chapter 18 The Niagara Movement: Civil Rights for All ............................................134 Chapter 19 World War I ..................................................................................................140 Chapter 20 Jazz ..............................................................................................................144 Chapter 21 The Black Renaissance................................................................................154 Chapter 22 Marian Anderson..........................................................................................161 Chapter 23 The Red-Tailed Angels of World War II......................................................167 Chapter 24 Jackie Robinson ..........................................................................................173 Chapter 25 The Civil Rights Movement ........................................................................183 CHAPTER 4 Mum Bett Sues for Freedom, David Walker Writes an Appeal We must and shall be free, I say, in spite of you. You may do your best to keep us in wretchedness and misery, to enrich you and your children, but God will deliver us from under you. And woe, woe, will be to you if we have to obtain our freedom by fighting. Throw away your fears and prejudices then, and enlighten us and treat us like men, and we will like you more than we do now hate you*, and tell us now no more about colonization, for America is as much our country, as it is yours. You are not astonished at my saying we hate you, for if we are men we cannot but hate you, while you are treating us like dogs. —David Walker, An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World This statement from David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829) shows that Africans were by no means resigned to being slaves. They hated their status and would fight to the death to gain their liberty. They had a strong argument on their side: The Americans had fought for their freedom from England. How could they say that it was all right to deny freedom to others? “Mum Bett” Goes to Court In the 1740s, an African slave gave birth to a daughter in Claverack, New York. She named the child Elizabeth. When Elizabeth grew up, everyone called her “Mum Bett.” She worked as a house slave for Colonel John Ashley in Berkshire, Massachusetts. Colonel Ashley belonged to a committee of Patriots. The committee often met at Ashley’s house to discuss how the colonies could declare themselves free from British rule. They spoke of the importance of personal liberty. They agreed that the colonies must have a voice in their own government. The believed that the colonists should not obey laws that they had no chance to vote on. Mum Bett often waited at table during committee meetings. The men gathered there spoke freely in front of her. Mum Bett was smart and had no trouble understanding 31 © 2006 Queue, Inc. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate. what these men were discussing. During the Revolutionary War, she heard many more conversations about liberty. The colonel’s wife, Hannah Ashley, was a vicious woman. One day when she was in a rage, she snatched a heated coal shovel from the fire and swung it at Mum Bett’s sister. Mum Bett blocked the blow. She would carry the scars of the burn on her arm for the rest of her life. Mum Bett decided that she had had enough. She decided to ask Theodore Sedgwick’s advice. Sedgwick was a lawyer, a committee member whom she had seen many times in the Ashleys’ house. Mum Bett brought her case before him. She quoted from the committee Mum Bett (born Elizabeth) fought for the idea that if Massachusetts state law said that all members’ conversations about liberty. She people are free and equal, she should be free. told Sedgwick that Massachusetts state laws should apply to her just as they did to any white person. If the state law said that all people were free and equal, then she wanted to use that law to gain her freedom. The verdict for the Mum Bett trial. © 2006 Queue, Inc. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate. 32 1. According to David Walker’s Appeal, what was the strongest argument the Africans had against their slave status in the U.S.? a. It was unconstitutional to keep slaves. b. The religious edicts of the colonies forbade slavery. c. The Americans had fought for their freedom from England and so couldn’t justify denying freedom to others. d. Machinery and industrialization had reduced the need for a manual labor force. 2. With which statement about Mum Bett’s court case would the author agree? a. Mum Bett was the first slave to sue for her freedom. b. Mum Bett was the first slave to argue that slavery itself was illegal under the state constitution. c. Mum Bett was the only female slave courageous enough to fight for her own freedom. d. Mum Bett’s decision to go to court created a tremendous amount of trouble and many setbacks for other slaves. 3. Based on what you have read, it is fair to say that David Walker was influenced by Denmark Vesey mainly because a. Vesey was also a free African. b. Vesey planned an aggressive revolt. c. they were childhood friends. d. Vesey had been influenced by religious history and stories from the Bible. 4. Which of these statements represents the belief of many southern colonists? a. Africans were inferior because they looked very different from whites, spoke languages whites could not understand, and did not share the same religious beliefs. b. Africans were equal because they were also people created by God and endowed with rights of freedom. c. Africans were inferior because they were unintelligent and uneducated. d. Africans should be given an opportunity to prove their strengths and their potential benefits to the union. © 2006 Queue, Inc. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate. 36 5. A slave woman named Mum Bett successfully gained her own freedom. What did she do? Why was her approach successful? What can you tell about her as a person as a result of reading her story? 6. David Walker believed in freedom for all people. He was very purposeful and clever in his attempts to convince others to agree with him. Explain what he did and what was most impressive to you about his approach. 37 © 2006 Queue, Inc. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate. CHAPTER 16 Spies and Buffalo Soldiers Union soldiers and officers used the term “Black Dispatches” to refer to information they received from black spies in the Confederacy. The Union Army agreed that African Americans were the best and most accurate source of information about the enemy’s plans and activities. In 1862, Frederick Douglass wrote: The true history of this war will show that the loyal army found no friends at the South so faithful, active, and daring in their efforts to sustain the government as the Negroes. Negroes have repeatedly threaded their