In the second class I wanted students to get an understanding of what life was like for slaves in America. The first class focused on the Atlantic Slave Trade and many students were shocked by some of the images, most notably the cross section of a slave ship, they had never seen pictures like that before, and I wanted to continue to increase their understanding of a sensitive subject. I also wanted to introduce the students to a number of primary sources and have them think about the different sources available to historians.
We began the class by studying three slave notices from the period. I elicited responses from the students about what might have happened in slave markets in America. I then asked the students to discuss what they think life would be like for a slave, they had to think about their working day, the food they would eat, the clothes they would wear, what they would do in the little free time they had. Many students were surprised that slaves continued to work in their free time, doing their own personal work, such as, washing, farming, cooking, and cleaning.
We then moved on to talk about the relationships slaves would establish on the plantations. My aim here was to explain why it was beneficial to the slave-holders to have their slaves form sexual relationships with other slaves on the plantation. The Master's power would increase if a slave started a family, as slave were less likely to rebel. The Masters could also break-up slave families.
We also looked at political and legal status of the slaves. I explained that slaves had no way to legally protest their master's ill treatment. This led us nicely into the first of our documents. Students discussed "Recollections of my Slavery Days" By William Henry Singleton, 1966 and an extract from Frederick Olmstead who published his observations on plantation life in the New York Daily Times in the 1850s.
Finally, I showed the students a video about modern slavery, we discussed the issue of how much a human life is worth today and the many different forms of modern slavery. I used the information available here
The student journals suggest the class was a success, I am still giving them information they were unaware of and making them think critically about slavery in the modern world.
We began the class by studying three slave notices from the period. I elicited responses from the students about what might have happened in slave markets in America. I then asked the students to discuss what they think life would be like for a slave, they had to think about their working day, the food they would eat, the clothes they would wear, what they would do in the little free time they had. Many students were surprised that slaves continued to work in their free time, doing their own personal work, such as, washing, farming, cooking, and cleaning.
We then moved on to talk about the relationships slaves would establish on the plantations. My aim here was to explain why it was beneficial to the slave-holders to have their slaves form sexual relationships with other slaves on the plantation. The Master's power would increase if a slave started a family, as slave were less likely to rebel. The Masters could also break-up slave families.
We also looked at political and legal status of the slaves. I explained that slaves had no way to legally protest their master's ill treatment. This led us nicely into the first of our documents. Students discussed "Recollections of my Slavery Days" By William Henry Singleton, 1966 and an extract from Frederick Olmstead who published his observations on plantation life in the New York Daily Times in the 1850s.
Finally, I showed the students a video about modern slavery, we discussed the issue of how much a human life is worth today and the many different forms of modern slavery. I used the information available here
The student journals suggest the class was a success, I am still giving them information they were unaware of and making them think critically about slavery in the modern world.