Curated OER
Slave Culture during the Age of Jackson
Students consider slave culture during the time of Andrew Jackson. In this lesson on slavery, students watch a PowerPoint presentation, take notes, then analyze an extensive list of primary sources in order to understand what and how...
Smithsonian Institution
Spirits Across the Ocean: Yoruban and Dahomean Cultures in the Caribbean Brought by the Slave Trade
Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....
University of Virginia
Student Page: Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture
History sleuths read articles for and against Uncle Tom's Cabin, examine visual images, print responses, and multi-media tomitudes to better understand the impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel on American culture prior to the Civil...
Curated OER
African Ideas of the Afterlife and Beloved
Students examine African cultural ideas about death and the afterlife by reading and answering questions about passages from Beloved.
Curated OER
Sharing African Culture
Students investigate African American culture by reading aloud an African folk tale and illustrating the tale. They use their illustrations to create a book or a bulletin board that retells the folk tale.
Curated OER
History: An African American Cultural Celebration
Students prepare and organize a cultural celebration of African migration and immigration. Working in groups or individually, they research topics and present the information, including dance demonstrations, instrumental or vocal...
Curated OER
Mayan Culture
Students examine the attributes of the Mayan culture. In this Mayan culture activity, students identify the structure of social classes in Mayan society and design posters that feature their findings.
DocsTeach
Twelve Years a Slave
It's difficult to truly grasp the effects of slavery. Young historians use historical analysis to understand the struggle of slavery on African Americans. The resource provides text from the autobiography Twelve Years a Slave to help...
Center for Literacy and Disability Studies
Slave Resistance
How did colonial enslaved people in America struggle to defend themselves and maintain their African heritage?
Curated OER
Mayan Culture
Students use RAFT prompts to write about Mayan society. In this lesson on Mayan culture, students research and then explain the Mayan hierarchy and social structure. As a culminating activity each student will write a newspaper article...
American Evolution
Virginia Runaway Slave Ads
What does an ad reveal about a culture, or about the values of its intended audience? Class members examine a series of runaway slave ads—one of which was written by Thomas Jefferson—and consider what these primary source documents...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama Slave Codes in 1833: What They Can Teach Us About Slaves Themselves
After viewing a short PowerPoint about Nat Turner's rebellion, class groups examine Alabama's 1833 slave codes. Individuals then develop a mini-legal brief arguing against one particular slave law.
Curated OER
African Influences in Brazilian Music
Brazilian music, culture, and religion have been heavily influenced by African's who were brought to South America during the time of slave trading. This presentation covers the blending of two cultures which resulted in Afro-Brazilian...
Curated OER
Sing Out Loud: The Slave Spirituals Historical and Cultural Implications during Reconstruction
Students identify, summarize and present facts about cultural, educational and political inequalities of Reconstruction, explain hidden codes of slave spirituals and their importance in slaves' communication, and create poetry based on...
Curated OER
Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
Curated OER
Writing to Publicize an Event--The Cultural Day Festival on Sapelo Island
Students create a poster advertising the Gullah Geechee Cultural Festival on Sapelo Island. In this Gullah Geechee culture lesson, students watch a video called "Gullah Music" and discuss the music and traditions of the slaves from...
Curated OER
How Africans Became Slaves for the Colonists
Students complete a t-chart identifying the advantages and disadvantages of having indentured servants. In groups, they research the use of serfs and slaves in various cultures and share their responses. To end the lesson, they...
Curated OER
The Glory That Was Greece
Today we are going Greek! Provide the class with a clear and well-organized overview of all things pertaining to ancient Greece. From early Greeks and Homer, to the Persian Wars and great philosophers, this slide show has it all. Review...
Curated OER
Liverpool Lights Up
Students explore the culture of Liverpool. In this World History lesson, students research a variety of events and activities in Liverpool, then they work in groups to prepare a class presentation to share their findings.
Curated OER
Rites of Passage
Students, through video and Internet activities, are exposed to rites of passage in two modern day West African cultures, the Fulani and the Dogon, and how slavery served as a rite of passage for many West African people in the past.
Center for History Education
The Untold Story: The Black Struggle for Freedom during the Revolutionary War in Maryland
The American Revolution brought freedom to select groups and ignored others. An enlightening resource highlights the struggle of African Americans during the American Revolution and their efforts to escape slavery. Scholars analyze...
Center for Instruction, Technology, & Innovation
Did African American Lives Improve After Slavery?
The Civil War made slavery illegal, but all ex-slaves were not totally free. Scholars visit eight different classroom stations to uncover life during the Reconstruction Era in America. Groups discover items such as Black Codes, 13th,...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Slave Narratives: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and the Columbian Orator
Young historians practice in-depth, quality analysis of primary source texts in this three-lesson unit, which examines excerpts from the slave narratives of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Caleb Bingham.
Curated OER
A Glimpse into the Past of Ancient Egyptian Culture
Middle schoolers explore ancient Egyptian culture, and relate the lives of ancient Egyptians to their own.