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History at key stage 3    (Year 9)

Unit 15: Black peoples of America from slavery to equality?
Section 4: Sold into slavery: what was the reality of the Atlantic slave trade?

QCA

Objectives
Children should learn:
  • that the first Black Americans were not slaves
  • that Africans were the essential workforce on the sugar and cotton plantations
  • what the Triangular Trade was and how it worked
  • about the experiences of Black Africans sold into slavery
  • to evaluate a range of sources about slavery as part of an investigation, to select relevant information and to reach a conclusion

Activities

Outcomes
Children:
  • Tell pupils about the first Black Americans: that, for example, they were not slaves but, in the seventeenth century, indentured servants and black settlers.
  • Introduce the idea of the Triangular Trade: the needs of the cotton and sugar plantations, the demand for labour, the availability of labour in West Africa, the economics of ships sailing with a full hold and the general dynamics of trade.
  • Use a range of source material relating to buying Black Africans, the 'middle passage' and Black Africans' experiences on arrival in the Caribbean and mainland USA.
  • Ask pupils, either individually or in groups, to evaluate some of the sources and use the findings to make substantiated written conclusions about the experience of Black Africans sold into slavery.
  • make links between Black Africans and the developing economy of North America
  • recognise the integral nature of the slave trade within European trading patterns
  • use a range of source material to make conclusions about the experiences of Black Africans sold into slavery

Points to note
  • The source material used here should be as varied in type and provenance as possible.
  • While this unit focuses mainly on the experiences of black peoples in the USA, teachers may wish to make comparisons with the experiences of those in other parts of the Americas, such as the Caribbean Islands.
  • Citizenship: links can be made when pupils use research to consider other people's experiences and find out about legal and human rights.
  • Language for learning: pupils could check their conclusions for spelling and grammatical errors and for clarity and consistency. They could involve their learning partners in this exercise.

Sections in this unit

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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
1. What does it mean to be free? What does it mean to be a slave?
2. African roots: where did most Black Americans originate?
3. Slavery in Africa: a Portuguese turning point?
4. Sold into slavery: what was the reality of the Atlantic slave trade?
5. Freedom: how was it achieved?
6. From emancipation to segregation: how free were black people?
7. From segregation to civil rights: did the Civil Rights movement bring freedom for black people?