Unit VIII Blacks in America
Black Americans have had a tremendous impact on the development of the United States
Enduring Understanding: Black Americans have had a tremendous impact on the development of the United States
Essential Questions:
1. Students will study the reasons for slavery in the new world.
2. Students will trace the beginnings of the slave trade in the Americas.
3. Students will investigate the transportation of African slave routes to the Americas
• The triangular trade route and the middle passage
4. Students will investigate the role religion played in the culture of Black America.
Exit card: define the terms in the readings, complete the questions and journal write.
Assessments
- At the end of this unit, you should be prepared to answer an essay question available within The Early Culture of Black Americans (should be at least a half page typed, double spaced).
- What were the reasons for slavery in the New World? Explain the role religion played in the lives of Black Americans. Trace the beginnings of the slave trade in the Americas and explain the transportation of African slave routes to the Americas i.e. the triangular trade route and the Middle Passage.
- There will be a UCUTIPS exam covering The Early Cultures of Black Americans. Currently posted online.
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Journal Write 1
If it were legally acceptable would you own slaves? It would be your responsibility to feed, house and clothe them- they in turn would have to do whatever you wished. What would you have them do? Would you find it morally acceptable? Explain your answer.
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Black Americans
- African Americans were among the first to colonize the Americas.
- There was at least one black man who arrived with the first English colonist in 1607 in Jamestown.
- During a 350 year period over 11 million Africans were sold into slavery in the Americas.
- 1/10 died en’route.
- By 1860 appx. 500,000 of them (1/8 of the total Black population) were free Americans
- 3,500,000. of them were enslaved.
This is their story.
Textbook Reading 1: Call to Freedom
Blacks in the American Colonies
The evolution from indentured servitude
•Both Africans and Europeans initially had the ______and ______in the Colonies.
–They worked ______in the fields
–They were ______punished when they broke their contract as servants.
–There was ______or discrimination based upon ______.
The Beginnings of Slavery
- ______indentured ______began to pose a ______to the property-owning ______
- In response the colonial establishment placed limits on the amount of______that could be given to freed indentured servants.
–This ______among newly freed indentured servants.
–They had often worked with the promise of a larger amount of land.
Beginnings of Slavery
•Indentured Servant were an ______long term labor source.
–They moved on, forcing a need for costly replacements.
•______especially ones you could identify by skin ______were more cost efficient.
–They could not move on and become free competitors.
Who was Anthony Johnson?
Traditionally, Englishmen believed they had a right to enslave a non-Christian or a captive taken in a just war. Africans and Indians might fit one or both of these definitions. But what if they learned English and converted to the Protestant church? Should they be released from bondage and given "freedom dues?" What if, on the other hand, status were determined not by (changeable) religious faith but by (unchangeable) skin color?
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Beginnings of Slavery
•The disorder of the indentured servant system, made ______especially to Southerners who did not have enough laborers (workers), much more______
•Black slaves were a ______dependent ______force.
•They could be identified as a people ______
Beginnings of Slavery
•In ______Massachusetts became the______to legally ______slavery. Other states soon followed.
•In 1662, Virginia decided all ______born in the colony to a ______mother would also be ______
–Slavery was not only a ______condition; now it could be ______, like skin color, from ______to generation.
Triangular Trade
•The Triangular Trade Route was the name given to the ______used by European merchants who exchanged goods with Africans for slaves.
•They bought ______from ______, shipped the slaves to the Americas, sold them and brought goods from the Americas back to Europe.
•Merchants who traded in this way could get very______American goods fetched a high price in Europe.
•It was called the______because of the triangular ______that the ______legs of the ______made.
The Route
•The ______leg was the journey from ______to ______where ______(metal objects, pots, pans, knives, horses & guns) were ______for ______
•The______, or middle, leg of the journey was the ______to the ______. It was nicknamed the '______.‘
•The ______and final leg of the journey, was thetransport of ______(raw products, wood, molasses, fish, sugar) from the ______back to Europe.
The Middle Passage: Video Clip
I am….Two Voice Poem or Analogy Poem
I am…Two Voice Poem example
Blacks in America1
I am black
I am white
We are human.
I am from Africa, I lived on a farm.
I am from the West Indies, I lived on a plantation.
We were farmers
I am on a slave ship- I am a slave.
I am on a slave ship- I am a slave driver.
We hate our life!
I fear the slave drivers
I fear the slaves
We fear them!
I want to go home
I want to go home
We want to go home!
I am black
I am white
We are human.
Blacks in America1
Blacks in America1
Two Voice Poem:
Instructions for writing a Two Voice Poem
The poem is usually written with two voices—one for each person who is reading the poem. Sometimes, the poet wants the two readers to say something at the same time. If that is the case, then the poet will use “We” to start the phrase. You can compare two-voice poetry to a conversation between two people. In writing your own poem for two voices, think about how the men, women, children, slaves and traders, slave hands and masters who lived through slavery might talk about the experience. List 3 ideas for your dialogue that might make for good poetry with more than one voice.
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At your tables, or with a partner, brainstorm a list of words that are important to your idea. (You don’t have to use all of these, but ask other students what words they would use about this topic).
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When writing the two voice poem, you must include 18 stanzas.
I am______
I am______
WE______
I am______
I am______
WE______
I am______
I am______
WE______
I am______
I am______
WE______
I am______
I am______
WE______
I am______
I am______
WE______
Instructions for writing anAnalogy Poem
In writing your own analogy poem, write a poem that utilizes pairs of analogies which demonstrate clear relationships between them, for example “I am like a mule; A mule eats others leftovers, a mule is like a work horse”. With your analogy poem you might use words such as: “like” or “as”, for example “slavery is like prison”’ or you can write using metaphors for example: “I am a prisoner”. Think about ideas for your poem that might make for a good analogy or comparison poem.
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At your tables, or with a partner, brainstorm a list of words that are important to your idea. (You don’t have to use all of these, but ask other students what words they would use about this topic).
Blacks in America
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Blacks in America
Use your ideas to begin writing your poem. Your first line (1) should compare your character to something or someone. Your second line (2) should explain what that something or someone does. Your third line (3) should compare your something or someone to something or someone else. Line 4 (4) should explain and relate the 2nd thing or person to the first object. Repeat this process 3 times, returning to your first analogy. Notice how in the sample poem it starts with “I am like a mule”, five stanzas later it ends with “I am a mule”. Prior to writing your analogy poem, reference(or look at) the example analogy poem below.
Analogy Poem Example
(1)I am like a mule
(2)A mule eats others leftovers, (3) a mule is like a work horse.
(4)A work horse does other peoples work, a work horse is like a slave.
A slave is like dirt, it gets stepped on by others, dirt is like waste.
Waste is what we throw away when we have used up all that is good, waste is like garbage.
Garbage rots or burns, garbage gets destroyed. Garbage is like a mule.
I am a mule.
Begin writing your poem. Make sure to include at least 12 stanzas.
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(2)______
(3)______
(4)______
(1)______
(2)______
(3)______
(4)______
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(2)______
(3)______
(4)______
Blacks in America
Textbook 2: Call to Freedom
Religion in African American Culture
•African-American religion is a tale of ______and creative fusion (mixing).
•Enslaved Africans brought ______local religious ______and practices. They reflected the ______and linguistic groups from which they had come.
•The majority came from the West Coast of Africa, but even within this area religious traditions ______greatly. Islam had exerted a powerful presence in Africa for several centuries before the start of the slave trade:
–An estimated______of African Slaves were practicing ______.
Religion in African American Culture
•Catholicism had established a presence in areas of Africa by the sixteenth century.
–A number of African ______were______
Religion in African American Culture
•The wide majority practiced ______… ie. they believed that everything has a "______", an "anima" including animals, plants, rocks, mountains, etc… each “soul" is powerful, and can help or hurt you, including the souls of the dead, the "ancestors". . Common in their worship was the use of ______and ______.
Religion in African American Culture
•______African ______in North America was ______
–The ______circumstances under which most slaves lived—high ______rates, the______of families and tribal groups, and the effort of white owners to get ______of non-Christian customs—made keeping religious traditions difficult.
Religion in African American Culture
•Songs, rhythms, movements, art, belief in the healing powers of roots and the reality of a world of spirits and ancestors did survive into the 1900’s.
–Many were combined in creative ways with Christianity to whichEuropeans and Americans introduced African slaves.
Religion in African American Culture
•In Latin America & the West Indies where ______was most dominant, Slaves ______beliefs and ______with ______rituals and theology, resulting in the formation of entirely new religions such as ______in Haiti.
Religion in African American Culture
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•During the ______Evangelicalism took root among African-Americans. Large numbers underwent conversion, baptism, instruction & worship.
•In some ways, ______life proved to be more ______han family life, (evidence of the______of the family under ______).
Religion in African American Culture
•The spiritual ______composed and sung by African-Americans was as direct, heartfelt, and expressive as ______
–Such African-American hymns as "Swing low, Sweet Chariot" conveys a message that few whites heard: a equality of persons. God welcomes both whites and blacks to heaven.
Religion in African American Culture
•As Black Christians had the opportunity to develop their own styles of preaching and singing they did so. Slaves were highly critical--in these settings--of white preaching that tried to keep them in their place. It was alright to steal a ham--they reasoned--if it was needed to feed one's family. This theology is reflected in a song sung by the slaves.
Music & Culture
Are there parallels in your life? How has/ does music impact you? Do you express yourself through music? How? Why or why not? Explain
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Black America: Religion & The Early Civil Rights Movement
•As early as the 1820’s the Black American church led the movement for black equality.
•In the 1940’s, 50’s & 60’s it was black preachers that led the civil rights movement.
Notes
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