POETIC SLAVERY

(American History Lesson Plan)

Lynne O’Toole September 2011 POETIC SLAVERY

Introduction

This Grade 5 lesson plan promotes inter-curricular integration of student American

History studies and Language Arts. When studying Colonial America in past years, our coverage of the southern colonies happens to coincide with the grade-wide Language

Arts unit about poetry. It is my intention that this lesson plan helps to integrate these two areas. Not all fifth graders seem able to grasp the full impact that the institution of slavery had on the enslaved African Americans. African American poetry of the Early

19th century provide both insight into the lives and feelings of early African American

people. Such poetry can give a “picture” of life under slavery that augments what can be

found in traditional textbooks. I hope that this unit helps to humanize the African

American people of this time, helping today’s children see them and thus their lives as

real. This unit will select poems that demonstrate the various stages of the slave trade,

and the impact on the lives of those who were held in bondage. It is designed to extend

student learning by showing not just how slavery affects the physicality of a person, but

also the personality of the slave. The objective of the lesson is for students to make a

more personal connection with the plight of the African American slave by experiencing

this topic in another genre.

The poetry unit utilized in our grade has been designed to help students analyze poetry

they encounter. Significant time is spent on recognizing figurative language and its

effects upon the reader. Another focus of this unit is instructing students on how to

identify the voice, tone, and mood of a poem. I plan to reinforce this instruction as the students utilize their analysis skills to interpret the “slavery” poetry selected. In addition,

students will provide a brief biography of the poem authors. The purpose of such a study

helps to put into perspective the author’s motive and possible bias for writing.

Massachusetts State Frameworks for Grade 5

5.12 - Explain the causes and establishment of slavery in North America. Describe the harsh conditions of the Middle Passage and slave life, and the response of slaves to their condition.

Objective

Students will be able to utilize Language Arts skills on interpretation of poetry to make

personal connections regarding the harsh conditions of the slave trade and the slave institution throughout Colonial America.

Time Frame

This activity will span two to three class periods. The first two will be used for

introduction of the project and research. The remaining four periods will be utilized for

presentation and extension activities.

References

Social Studies text – Silver Burdett Ginn Our United States Needham, MA 1997 - Houghton Mifflin United States History, Boston, MA 2005 History of US –Volume 3 by Joy Hakim

www.youtube.com

Procedure

Day One - A power point presentation will be made of the first poem to be studied. As a whole class I will guide the students through analysis of the poem. The first activity would be the initial reading of the poem. Next, the class will discuss what types of stylistic techniques, poetic devices, and figurative language is being utilized, what is the voice of the “speaker”, and what affect these aspects have on the mood and tone of the selection. Once that has occurred, there can then be a second reading of the poem to begin the analysis of its content.

Day Two – Students will be broken up into three groups. Each group will be assigned a different poem. Their objective is to identify poetic devices, and figurative language, and then analyze the poem assigned. Students will also be required to provide a brief biography of the poem’s author, and discuss the author’s motive for writing. Each group will present a oral reading of the poem, and a 2-4 minute presentation on their analysis of it, and the content it was designed to shed light upon.

Day Three – culminating activity is the presentation of the youtube clip “Anti-Slavery

Alphabet”, were recognizable figures succinctly present a poem that shows the far reaching effects of slavery upon the colonial slaves.

Background Information

Phyllis Wheatley

Phyllis Wheatley was the first published African American poet. She was born in Gambia, Senegal and was forced into slavery at the age of seven.

She was brought to Massachusetts in July of 1761 and was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston to be a servant to Mrs. Wheatley. Unlike most slaves,

Phyllis was taught to read and write by her owners because they were amazed at her literary ability; leaving household chores to be done by other enslaved persons owned by the family. Phyllis Wheatley’s studies began to gravitate toward the area of poetry. By

1770 she began to receive widespread acclaim for her poetic works. Her poetry most often revolves around Christian themes, many dedicated to famous personalities. Though she rarely mentioned her own situation in her poems, two famous ones were published that talks about the plight of being a slave. One is “On Being Brought from Africa to

America” and another “To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth”.

To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Mayesty's Principal Secretary of State for North-America, Etc.

Hail, happy day, when, smiling like the morn, Fair Freedom rose New-England to adorn: The northern clime beneath her genial ray, Dartmouth, congratulates thy blissful sway: Elate with hope her race no longer mourns, Each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns, While in thine hand with pleasure we behold The silken reins, and Freedom's charms unfold.

Long lost to realms beneath the northern skies She shines supreme, while hated faction dies: Soon as appear'd the Goddess long desir'd, Sick at the view, she lanquish'd and expir'd; Thus from the splendors of the morning light The owl in sadness seeks the caves of night.

No more, America, in mournful strain Of wrongs, and grievance unredress'd complain, No longer shalt thou dread the iron chain, Which wanton Tyranny with lawless hand Had made, and with it meant t' enslave the land.

Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song, Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung, Whence flow these wishes for the common good, By feeling hearts alone best understood, I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate Was snatcli'd from Afric's fancy'd happy seat: What pangs excruciating must molest, What sorrows labour in my parent's breast? Steel'd was that son] and by no misery mov'd That from a father seiz'd his babe belov'd: Such, such my case. And can I then but pray Others may never feel tyrannic sway?

Wheatley met William Legge, the earl of Dartmouth, when she was in England for the publication of her collected poems. She knew he was a friend of some other aristocrats, who were supporters of the abolishment of slavery. Wheatley hoped that the earl shared this opinion and she made a personal appeal for his help in this poem.

As with many of her poems she frequently equated Great Britain’s tyrannical control over the American colonies to that of the plight of the African American slaves being held in the colonies. This poem starts out with New England’s enthusiasm that Legge has been appointed to a position of authority over that region, and that his position against the

Stamp Act is a precursor to the beginning of making past “wrongs” right between Britain and New England.

The second stanza moves from the perspective of all New England to a personal one, her love of freedom. As a slave, Wheatley knows the value of liberty. As with all slaves, even those that had an easier life than most, Wheatley had suffered the lack of control over her own life that is a common experience for all slaves. With this appeal, she wants to spare others the pain she has known in her loss of freedom. Throughout the rest of this poem Wheatley sets aside writer’s restraint and speaks from the heart. The decision to express her feelings about her bondage was a risky one because it drew attention to the

issues of slavery; and it was possible that her owners would no longer allow her to

engage in her writing endeavors.

In the fourth stanza Phyllis Wheatley clearly references the cruelty of the African slave trade, especially the acquisition of slaves in Africa and their forced transport across the ocean to North America. She refers to the “cruel fate” of being kidnapped from her

African homeland and of the anguish this would have caused her parents in losing their

“babe belov’d.” Even though slavery was an acceptable practice in the 18th century, it

brought more than just physical pain to those who were abducted, but also brought

anguish to the families of those taken. This passage shows the wide-spread emotional

ramifications of slavery. It was Wheatley’s intention to force her readers to evaluate their

views on this institution. I think it was ingenious of her to tie the colonists’ quest for

equality with Britain, to that of her and her fellow slaves as they quest for freedom from

their oppressors.

Frances E. W. Harper

Frances E. W. Harper was a famed African American author of the nineteenth century..

Frances was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to free parents. After her mother died in 1828,

she was raised by an aunt and uncle who were both abolitionists. Although Harper was

born a free woman, she still endured great dangers from slavery advocates; there was

always the fear that someone would falsely accuse her of being a runaway and send her

back to the south, or someone would kidnap her and send her south. When she was fourteen, Frances found a job as a servant in a Quaker household. There she was given access to books in the library. She began to write, and her first poems were published in newspapers by 1845. As an adult, she moved to Pennsylvania in 1851 and helped escaped slaves along the Underground Railroad. Harper wrote poetry, essays, stories, and was actively involved in the Anti-Slavery movements. Her collection of poems dealt with themes of equal rights, racial pride, female self-reliance, and the horrors of slavery.

The Slave Mother

Heard you that shriek? It rose So wildly on the air, It seemed as if a burden'd heart Was breaking in despair.

Saw you those hands so sadly clasped-- The bowed and feeble head-- The shuddering of that fragile form-- That look of grief and dread?

Saw you the sad, imploring eye? Its every glance was pain, As if a storm of agony Were sweeping through the brain.

She is a mother pale with fear, Her boy clings to her side, And in her kirtle vainly tries His trembling form to hide.

He is not hers, although she bore For him a mother's pains; He is not hers, although her blood Is coursing through his veins!

He is not hers, for cruel hands May rudely tear apart The only wreath of household love That binds her breaking heart.

His love has been a joyous light That o'er her pathway smiled, A fountain gushing ever new, Amid life's desert wild.

His lightest word has been a tone Of music round her heart, Their lives a streamlet blent in one-- Oh, Father! must they part?

They tear him from her circling arms, Her last and fond embrace. Oh! never more may her sad eyes Gaze on his mournful face.

No marvel, then, these bitter shrieks Disturb the listening air: She is a mother, and her heart Is breaking in despair.

The language in this poem shifts from physical slave torture to the psychological infliction of pain resulting from forced separation. As a mother, myself, I find this to be one of the cruelest aspects of the slave institution. Whether the slave owners actually did forcibly separate families, or only used it as the ultimate threat to keep slave behavior in line, I cannot imagine anything as heart wrenching as taking away one’s child its other family members. Harper uses harsh imagery to draw attention to the slave mother’s emotional loss. Students can be directed to word choices, such as: “shriek” and

“wildly”. Also, in later stanzas they should identify words that show the psychological damage, and inner grief, done to the family, such as: “fragile”, “dread”, “bowed”, and

“pale with fear”. The sense of family is something elementary students can relate to.

They can empathize with the horror of having families torn apart. Hopefully this poem will help to humanize to my students what the slave family’s daily fear.

John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier was born in December of 1807 near Haverhill, Massachusetts.

He was an influential American poet. Whittier had little formal education, but studied his father’s books on the Quaker faith. As a Quaker, he was an ardent supporter of the abolition of slavery; his works stressing humanitarianism, compassion, and social responsibility. He was involved with William Lloyd Garrison and the Massachusetts abolitionist movement, and worked for Garrison on a number of publications. In 1833, he published the antislavery pamphlet Justice and Expediency. He spent the next twenty years dedicated to the abolitionist cause.

Jonathan Walker was the subject of one of Whittier’s poem “the Man with the Branded

Hand”. Whittier heard about Walker’s actions in a book, and the poem he wrote praised

Walker’s actions. Jonathan Walker was born in Cape Cod

Massachusetts. He moved to

Pensacola, Florida where his commitment to human rights involved him in the sailing of seven escaped slaves to the Bahamas to obtain their freedom. He became famous in 1844 when he was tried, convicted, and sentenced as a slave stealer – and aiding escaped slaves. He had been attempting to help seven runaway slaves find freedom. As part of his punishment, he was branded on his hand with the markings

“S.S.” for “Slave Stealer”. The “SS” branding was intended as a punishment for Walker and as a warning to similarly minded whites not to act on their political convictions.

“The Man with the Branded Hand”

Welcome home again, brave seaman! with thy thoughtful brow and gray, And the old heroic spirit of our earlier, better day; With that front of calm endurance, on whose steady nerve in vain Pressed the iron of the prison, smote the fiery shafts of pain.

Is the tyrant's brand upon thee? Did the brutal cravens aim To make God's truth thy falsehood, His holiest work thy shame? When, all blood-quenched, from the torture the iron was withdrawn, How laughed their evil angel the baffled fools to scorn!

They change to wrong the duty which God hath written out On the great heart of humanity, too legible for doubt! They, the loathsome moral lepers, blotched from footsole up to crown, Give to shame what God hath given unto honor and renown!

Why, that brand is highest honor! than its traces never yet Upon old armorial hatchments was a prouder blazon set; And thy unborn generations, as they tread our rocky strand, Shall tell with pride the story of their father's branded hand!

As the Templar home was welcome, bearing back-from Syrian wars The scars of Arab lances and of Paynim scimitars, The pallor of the prison, and the shackle's crimson span, So we meet thee, so we greet thee, truest friend of God and man.

He suffered for the ransom of the dear Redeemer's grave, Thou for His living presence in the bound and bleeding slave; He for a soil no longer by the feet of angels trod, Thou for the true Shechinah, the present home of God.

For, while the jurist, sitting with the slave-whip o'er him swung, From the tortured truths of freedom the lie of slavery wrung, And the solemn priest to Moloch, on each God-deserted shrine, Broke the bondman's heart for bread, poured the bondman's blood for wine;

While the multitude in blindness to a far-off Saviour knelt, And spurned, the while, the temple where a present Saviour dwelt; Thou beheld'st Him in the task-field, in the prison shadows dim, And thy mercy to the bondman, it was mercy unto Him!

In thy lone and long night-watches, sky above and wave below, Thou didst learn a higher wisdom than the babbling schoolmen know; God's stars and silence taught thee, as His angels only can, That the one sole sacred thing beneath the cope of heaven is Man!

That he who treads profanely on the scrolls of law and creed, In the depth of God's great goodness may find mercy in his need; But woe to him who crushes the soul with chain and rod, And herds with lower natures the awful form of God!

Then lift that manly right-hand, bold ploughman of the wave! Its branded palm shall prophesy, "Salvation to the Slave!" Hold up its fire-wrought language, that whoso reads may feel His heart swell strong within him, his sinews change to steel.

Hold it up before our sunshine, up against our Northern air; Ho! men of Massachusetts, for the love of God, look there! Take it henceforth for your standard, like the Bruce's heart of yore, In the dark strife closing round ye, let that hand be seen before!

And the masters of the slave-land shall tremble at that sign, When it points its finger Southward along the Puritan line Can the craft of State avail them? Can a Christless church withstand, In the van of Freedom's onset, the coming of that band?

The reason I decided on this poem was two-fold. First, having both the author and the subject of this poem come from Massachusetts will help the students make an immediate connection with these personalities. The second reason for choosing this poem is that it shows the impact of slavery not only on the slave but also on the people who were determined to bring it to an end. Abolitionists/humanitarians who took an active stand against slavery could suffer punishment – both physical and financial. This should help us to initiate a discussion about slavery’s impact on most members of colonial society – not only in the south but throughout the fledgling country.

John Pierpont

John Pierpont was born in Litchfield, Connecticut and was involved with many different careers before deciding that the religious ministry was his calling. He started his theological studies in 1816. Throughout the mid-1800’s he held pastoral appointments in both Massachusetts and New York. His tenure at the Hollis Street Church in Boston was characterized by his social activism against slavery. Pierpont’s first book of poetry brought him acclaim, and much of his published work is considered moral literature. In

1843 he was published in Garrison’s anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator. This collection was called Anti-Slavery Poems, and was often recited at antislavery meetings.

In his preface to these pieces, Pierpont says “though some of my friends may grieve, and wish that I had been more prudent that to write the pieces that touch thus upon Human

Liberty, and upon the outrageous wrong that, in these day and in this our land, it has suffered, their grandchildren will thank me…”. This quote shows the controversy that surrounded the topic of abolitionism, and the institution of slavery. He also recognized that change in the situation of enslaved Africans would take time, and abolition may not come to fruition immediately.

'I WOULD NOT LIVE ALWAYS. '

I WOULD not live always; I ask not to stay,

Where I must bear the burden and heat of the day:

Where my body is cut with the lash or the cord,

And a hovel and hunger are all my reward.

I would not live always, where life is a load

To the flesh and the spirit: — since there's an abode

For the soul disenthralled, let me breathe my last

breath, And repose in thine arms, my deliverer, Death! —

I would not live always to toil as a slave:

O no, let me rest, though I rest in my grave;

For there, from their troubling, the wicked shall

cease,

And, free from his master, the slave be at peace.

In my opinion this poem clearly shines a light on the inner soul of the slave, and perhaps its cruelest feature – psychological enslavement. Oppression of these people over generations brought about a sense of hopelessness and futility that helped allow the institution of slavery to endure. Whether it was because the Africans had been brought so far away from the African home making escape pointless; or whether it was because of the harsh treatment they endured; or whether it was the physically demanding work they were required to do; or whether it was the unpredictability of the masters with regards to treatment and punishment; or whether it was the fear or retribution should an escaped slave be captured, all of these situations ate away at the human spirit of the slave. For many, slavery continued to exist because the slaves thought that this was their lot in life, and that the only escape would be found in their death; when they were called to heaven.

I hope that this poem will be enlightening to my students; for this is the area that my fifth graders have the most trouble with. They do no understand why the slaves could/would not stand up to the slave owners. Perhaps they will find in this selection this sense of hopelessness that many enslaved Africans felt.

Culminating Activity

“The Alphabet of Slavery” found on www.youtube.com. This poem was originally published in “The Poetry of Slavery, an Anglo-American anthology”. This is the first book to collect important works of poetry generated by Anglo-Romantic poets on

English and North American slavery.

Each letter of the alphabet illustrates one characteristic of slavery from, “A is an African torn from his home: to “Zealously labour to set the Slaves free.” Its straight forward style is perfect for elementary school students. The short stanzas are direct and easy to understand. The poetic rhythm is lyrical and will be easy for the students to remember.