The Development of Race Based Slavery/The Middle Passage unit, including text

“I really like your units. They are detailed and allows for critical thinking on the part of the students. Thank you!”

Why did the European colonists in the New World use African slaves for their labor? How did the system of enslaving an entire race of people begin? Curious students want to know the answer to these questions, and textbooks have typically ignored them – until now.

This 10 day unit exYeamines the development of race based slavery in the New World, spreading from the sugar plantations in the Caribbean and South America to the 13 colonies. It follows the economic, religious and political reasons for the switch from Indian to African slaves and explains how the legal system for enslaving an entire group of people based solely on their place of birth (and skin color) directly led to the concept of “race.” The unit also examines the terrible system of providing slaves to the New World – the Atlantic Slave Trade – and the life which awaited those men, women and children kidnapped and shipped across the ocean. This is a “warts and all” examination of this period of history, as it pulls no punches telling the sordid history of the slave trade and exposing the complicity of so many in the sale of human beings. Finally, the unit encourages kids to talk about race and challenges them to understand that race is not a biological state but rather a social fiction – a social construct that still deeply impacts our society today.

This unit is based upon and complements my textbook “We Take Nothing by Conquest” and is designed for both the novice and experienced classroom teacher as it contains everything needed to teach the full course. These materials – all of which have been battle-tested in the crucible of my own 8th grade classroom, include:

*a 25 page Teacher’s Guide which provides day-by-day and step-by-step instructions how to teach the unit and use all of the materials;

*18 pages of informative and interesting text, divided into eight chapters (the complete second unit of the textbook);

*an inquiry based study guide for each chapter to focus students on the main points and supporting details;

*quizzes for each chapter;

*PowerPoints with answers to the study guides for review, and including pictures and maps to stimulate discussion and enhance understanding;

*a webquest, with instructions and worksheet;

*a Middle Passage map project, complete with instructions and a sample map;

*a PowerPoint Quiz Show review game;

*a unit test study guide;

*and a unit test.

Answer keys and grading guides for all study guides and quizzes are included in the Teacher’s Guide. Materials are provided as word documents and PDFs in one zip file.

Created by Cliff Baker, visit the Ye Olde History Emporium