Students will learn the specific history of enslavement in New York State (NYS) as directed in the NYS Social Studies Framework. Students will examine primary and secondary sources to determine what enslavement was like in NYS and how people resisted it. Sources include excerpts from the autobiographies of Austin Steward, Sojourner Truth, and Reverend Thomas James.
Students will analyze multiple sources, including images, photographs, and artifacts, through a zoom-in/zoom-out activity and a 3-2-1 partner activity. Writing down what they notice, wonder, and infer, students can also draw on background knowledge they have about Africa. Students will begin to develop new questions and understanding about Africa. This analysis of sources is intended to broaden and perhaps complicate their understanding of Africa as they describe relationships between the sources and consider location, as well as the culture and traditions of Africa. This analysis will allow students to see the rich culture, history, development, and diversity all present in Africa, a perspective on the continent that is not always presented.
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Students will be introduced to the concept of enslavement through a short interactive video and a gallery walk. Students will view an interactive map depicting the scale of the Atlantic Slave Trade when European countries and colonists expanded slavery by forcing Africans to come to the Americas. Students will participate in a gallery walk to explore the legacy and impact of enslavement on the United States, New York State, and the Wayne Finger Lakes Region. They will recognize that white people in NYS enslaved Black people for the purpose of making money. They will notice that many of our counties, cities, and towns are named for enslavers. They will recognize that the conditions of enslavement were inhumane and that Black people and their allies resisted the horrible conditions of enslavement. The lesson closes with the ‘why’ behind enslavement with a short video explaining how enslavers adopted and spread false beliefs about racial inferiority to justify the enslavement of Africans.
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Students will be introduced to the concept of enslavement through a short interactive video and a gallery walk. Students will view an interactive map depicting the scale of the Atlantic Slave Trade when European countries and colonists expanded slavery by forcing Africans to come to the Americas. Students will participate in a gallery walk to explore the legacy and impact of enslavement on the United States, New York State, and the Wayne Finger Lakes Region. They will recognize that white people in NYS enslaved Black people for the purpose of making money. They will notice that many of our counties, cities, and towns are named for enslavers. They will recognize that the conditions of enslavement were inhumane and that Black people and their allies resisted the horrible conditions of enslavement. The lesson closes with the ‘why’ behind enslavement with a short video explaining how enslavers adopted and spread false beliefs about racial inferiority to justify the enslavement of Africans.
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