SOCIAL'STUDIES' CURRICULUM'FRAMEWORK' AFRICAN2AMERICAN'HISTORY' ! THE INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHY ON SLAVERY 1 week STATE STANDARDS AAH.1 Analyze the economic, political, and social reasons for focusing the slave trade on Africa, including the role of Africans, Europeans and colonists. AAH.2 Analyze the role of geography on the growth and development of slavery. AAH.3 Assess the impact of the slave trade on Africa and the colonies. AAH.4 Identify and explain the Middle Passage as one of the largest forced migrations in human history. BIG IDEAS African-Americans, both slave and free, not only influenced Jamestown in 1607, but influenced the colonization of America, all the way to the American Revolution in 1775. RELEVANCE: Although the majority are, not every African-American is derived from the roots of slavery. Some early inhabitants of Jamestown were free blacks. TNSS: AAH.1 Economic, geographic and social factors all contributed to the rise of slavery in the Americas. RELEVANCE: Enslavement of Africans was not strictly an economic issue. Geography fit into the question because Africans could be transplanted as slaves to the Caribbean and southern United States to use skills they already possessed. The stigma of slavery associated with dark skin color of African slaves was not always present as there were some people of African descent who did not come to the Americas as slaves. TNSS: AAH.1 Slavery ultimately flourished and aided economic increase in the American colonies. RELEVANCE: Slavery was not only a cheap source of labor in the Americas, but it was effective, too, as slaves greatly boosted the economy of the colonies. Ships bearing slaves came regularly to American shores, many times using the better harbors of the northern and middle colonies and making it easy for slave dealers to bring to market and plantation owners to purchase enslaved workers. TNSS: AAH.3 While slavery benefitted the Americas, it robbed Africa of millions of inhabitants with skills that could have helped the continent develop further. RELEVANCE: What would Africa be like today if millions of its people had not been sent to the Americas to perform their labor there? The slave trade hindered the growth and development of some sections of west, central and southwest Africa. The trade benefitted some African communities and states but robbed others of their most productive citizens. TNSS: AAH.3, AAH.4 The climate, soil, and land forms of the American south fostered the development of a plantation economy that utilized slave labor to produce cash crops like rice, tobacco, indigo, and cotton. The climate, soil and physical geography of the American north generally encouraged the development of smaller farms that produced subsistence crops. RELEVANCE: Tobacco, one of the most profitable crops of the south, was grown on large plantations and maintained by slaves. Without slaves, crops like tobacco, cotton, rice and indigo could not be produced without higher labor costs. The combination of enslaved labor, abundant land and cash crops supported and expanded the economic system in the south. TNSS: AAH.3 Shelby County Schools 1 of 4! SOCIAL'STUDIES' CURRICULUM'FRAMEWORK' AFRICAN2AMERICAN'HISTORY' ! GUIDING QUESTIONS 1. Why was Africa considered fertile ground for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade? 2. Did slavery already exist prior to the transatlantic slave trade of Africans? When? Where? How did the enslavement of Africans in the 1600s differ from other instances? 3. How were Africans enslaved on the continent of Africa? 4. When did the first enslaved Africans arrive in the Americas? 5. What were the Middle Passage and the seasoning process? 6. Besides economics, what other factors were important in the advent of the slave trade? SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES Assign groups of students one of the first 3 chapters from the book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, and allow them to report out on interesting words, descriptions and passages they find. How does Equiano’s perspective compare to that of someone who was not born in Africa and may have just been to the area as a visitor? In groups students can research the various ancient civilizations, groups or cultures of Africa, their cultures and their contributions and then report out to the class. Presentations should include information on the process of researching these ancient civilizations. Give students two blank outline maps of Africa and assign students to create a map showing Africa of the 1600’s and the Africa of today. Assign groups of students to generate a list of the various groups of people who inhabited the American colonies in 1750. How might race, class, gender, national origin, and other factors influence an individual's or a group's legal and economic status? Assign students to select a piece of art from different parts of Africa and compare and contrast the style, subject and medium in each piece. How does this help them to understand the diversity of the continent? See National Archives link in Resources section below. RESOURCES Africa unstereotyped – https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9ejcr7torrszpn7/AACv7aTZ4uohvn9ALEgsG_4ea Maps of African kingdoms throughout time - http://www.timemaps.com/history/africa-979ad Information on the first Africans arriving in Jamestown - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p263.html http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/african-americans-at-jamestown.htm Jamestown, Virginia Free Black, Anthony Johnson – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p265.html The online text of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15399/15399-h/15399-h.htm The first Africans in America – http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/video/page/2/ - 271 The Africans in America – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/index.html Shelby County Schools 2 of 4! SOCIAL'STUDIES' CURRICULUM'FRAMEWORK' AFRICAN2AMERICAN'HISTORY' ! Images to consider for the Middle Passage – https://www.dropbox.com/sh/es37ow7lh4n5y1u/AADwfAS_YIt-9Xys9mONodV_a National Archives Harmon Foundation of Contemporary African Art – http://www.archives.gov/research/african-art/ GENERAL RESOURCES TO BE REFERRED TO THROUGHOUT THE COURSE National Civil Rights Museum – http://civilrightsmuseum.org/ The Smithsonian Institute – http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/resource_library/african_american_resources.html http://africanamerican.si.edu/ PBS The African-American World – http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/index.html PBS Slavery and the Making of America – http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/index.html PBS Africans in America – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html PBS The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross – http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/ PBS American Experience Films – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/ Amistad Resource – http://www.amistadresource.org/ In Search of African-America (this exhibit has short thoughts and images to use throughout this course) – http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/africanamerican/introduction/index.html Freedom’s Story (this site has resources to refer to throughout this course) – http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/freedom.htm African-American History Month – http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/index.html http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/teachers.html The History Makers – http://www.thehistorymakers.com/ African-Americans in the Military – http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/AfrAmer.html The Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition – http://www.yale.edu/glc/index.htm Shelby County Schools 3 of 4! SOCIAL'STUDIES' CURRICULUM'FRAMEWORK' AFRICAN2AMERICAN'HISTORY' ! ASSESSMENT Create Venn diagrams that compare factors of life between indentured servitude and slavery in the 18th-century British American colonies. Areas to consider would include ethnicity, types of labor performed, lifestyle (residence, food, clothing, marriage, family, interactions with ‘master’, etc…), and specific rights possessed or denied. Who became servants? Who became slaves? How were the lives of servants and slaves similar? How were they different? What rights did servants have that slaves didn't? Shelby County Schools 4 of 4! SOCIAL'STUDIES' CURRICULUM'FRAMEWORK' AFRICAN2AMERICAN'HISTORY' ! THE GROWTH OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA - 1619-1860 2 weeks STATE STANDARDS AAH.5 Analyze the economic, social, religious, and legal justifications for the establishment and continuation of slavery. AAH.6 Identify and evaluate the various ways Africans in America resisted slavery. AAH.7 Analyze the role slavery played in the development of nationalism and sectionalism. AAH.8 Assess the development of the abolitionist movement and its impact on slavery and the nation. BIG IDEAS The growth of slavery increased due to economic factors such as supply and demand for resources produced in the Americas but it was also a protected institution as part of both the Articles of Confederation and of the Constitution. Southern states demanded that slavery be permitted, although not specifically named in the Constitution, before they would ratify the document and create the federal union in either instance. Relevance: The economic concepts of supply and demand determined concentrations of the enslaved African populations. As the demand for the items produced on southern plantations increased the demand for more slaves also increased. Slavery was protected under the Constitution in order to appease southern states.