Each unit focuses on certain key moments in time and should be used as a supplement to your customary course materials. Although each unit is recommended for certain grade levels, they can be adapted for other grade levels. The Atlantic Slave Trade . This teaching unit, complete with student readings and maps, examines the origins of the Atlantic slave trade, the role of both Europeans and Africans, the Middle Passage, and the differences and similarities between slavery in the Americas and Africa. These include a 1612 proposal to the King of Portugal regarding slaver, readings from Olaudah Equiano's classic description of Middle Passage experience, and the work of British reformers seeking to outlaw the trade.
Students engage in debates over the legality of slavery using documents from the historical era.
A role-playing activity involves them in a mutiny during the Middle Passage. The lessons in this unit explore Brown from both perspectives. The unit includes two readers' theater scripts drawn from primary sources to relate the Harpers Ferry raid and its aftermath. Other documents in this unit include excerpts from Robert E. Lee's report on the capture of John Brown, the Mason Senate Committee report investigating the Harpers Ferry raid, and an exchange of letters between Lydia Maria Child and the Governor Wise of Virginia. The unit also has students examine photographs, engravings, and artwork depicting John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid.