High schoolers analyze the similarities and differences between religious festivals in December and/or January. They research the different holidays and make their comparisons.

Students hold a mock trial. In this Amistad case instructional activity, students prepare for and participate in a mock trial regarding the Amistad case and determine the fate of the Africans recovered on the ship.

Students explore how human rights are different in each part of the world.  For this freedome lesson, students define human rights, research how human rights in one country ultimately affect other countries, and share their findings...

Learners explore the Barbary Pirates of the Mediterranean. In this American history lesson plan, students read a narrative regarding the conflict between the Barbary Pirates and the United States under the leadership of Washington,...

Students examine the many ways quilts were used to chronicle the history and experiences of African slaves and African-Americans in America. They analyze a story quilt using the elements of storytelling, then create a class quilt.

You're going to wish you had a watermelon for this lesson! Class members read about watermelons and make a salad in class to sample. They also perform estimates, measurements and calculations on a watermelon. They predict what percentage...

In this crossword worksheet, students read 14 clues pertaining to colonial America. Students place their answers in this puzzle which does not have a word bank.

Students read an article on the British Empire.  In this ESL lesson, students explore the British Empire from the 1600's, then work in small groups to complete several activities that reinforce the information learned in the...

Third graders explore, examine and identify the importance of the arrival of Africans and women to the Jamestown settlement. They review the groups of people in Virginia during the early 1600s and explain how having a government brought...

In this rich and poor dictation worksheet, students listen to a text about terminology used to describle rich and poor in our world today.

Explore poetry written by African-Americans before emancipation. 8th graders create collages, and explain why they chose specific stanzas. They display the collages on the class bulletin board that demonstrate an understanding of the...

BBC News offers a short summary of the slave trade from Africa to the Americas. Gives statistics on the number of slaves (estimated at 10 to 28 million), where they went, and the cruel conditions of their enslavement.

A comprehensive study of the slave trade in Africa, South America, and the Caribbean.

The complete text of a famous slave narrative from the late 18th century (1789), it tells the story on how Equiano is captured in Africa, transported to the Americas and his experiences as a slave. It provides rich details about the...

Essay outlines European conquest beginning with the Portuguese settlement at Cape Verde and traces the development of commerce leading to the slave trade in regions of Africa and the New World.

The beginning of the Atlantic slave trade uprooted previously established societal norms in West Africa.

Learning module uses 18th Century literature as primary source material to examine the debate over slavery and the role Olaudah Equiano played in the conversation.

Read Olaudah Equiano's account of being captured in his village in Africa, and placed on a slave ship to be taken to America. He describes the middle passage of the triangular trade route, as well as the leg from Europe to Africa. [pdf]

An informational text about the West African slave trade. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

This section of a chapter on "The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492" takes a look at the major West African empires and discusses the roles of Islam and Europe in the slave trade.

Twenty nine primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the qualities and conditions of African lives on the west coast before and during the European slave trade.

The history of West Africa provides a context for learning about the transatlantic slave trade. Discover the rich cultural traditions and economic networks that existed in the West African empires such as Ghana, Mali, and Songhay long...

The transatlantic slave trade lay at the heart of a complex global commerce system between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Learn about the clash over possessions, and the disputes over each others' presence in the seas.

This short but good article examines the state of trade as it existed in 1800 between Europe, the Americas and Africa. There is a nice discussion on the slave trade as well as the need for the Europeans to acquire more markets for their...