Slavery Introduced
If
you began this unit with an introductory experience such as we have described,
now is the time to let your students reflect on their experiences. Try
using questions such as these to guide your discussion.
How did you feel doing someone else's work? Let's list those feelings.
Why did this experience make you uncomfortable
What did those feelings make you want to do? (List those feelings, too.)
Do you think that's a little like how slaves might have felt in the days before the Civil War?
Now, continue the discussion by introducing slavery. If you did not do an introductory experience, begin here by establishing how much your students already know about slavery.
What is a slave?
Do you know any slaves?
What do you think is the difference between a slave and a servant?
How do you think it would feel to be a slave?
How do you think the slaves in the early times of our country felt doing lifetimes of hard work for others?
A slave is expected to do much more work than you did, and to do it all day and even at night many times with out being paid or having vacations. During those few hours they were not working in the fields or working in the house they were trying to sew their own clothes or grow vegetables for meals. At night many slaves hunted to be sure families wouldn't be hungry.
Did any of these people choose to become a slave?
If you had been a slave, do you think you might have tried to escape to freedom?
Give your students enough time to absorb what
they've been discussing, then move on to introduce the story Sweet Clara's
Freedom Quilt.
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