1. Active Reading: Highlight the parts of the text you find interesting and meaningful to you. Then contextualize using your curiosity and imagination showed by your comment on the side.
Your comment
The text
Then they were packed aboard the slave ships, chained together in the dark, in spaces not much bigger than coffins. Some died for lack of air in the crowded, dirty cargo holds of the ships. Others jumped overboard to end their suffering. As many as a third of all the Africans shipped overseas may have died during the journey. But the trade was profitable, so merchants crammed the blacks into the holds of the slave ships like fish.
This is awful that human beings could allow profit to cause them to act in ways that violate another group’s human rights. I can only imagine how scared, horrified, and lost the Africans must have felt. Their hearts must have been broken!

2. Name: David Vasquez
Book(s) Title(s): Voices of a Peoples History
APA citation for Book(s) (Zinn, 2009)
(Q) Question—Ask about something in the passage that is unclear or further interests you.
(C) Connect—Make a connection to your life, the word, or another text.
(P) Predict—Anticipate what will occur based on the what’s in the passage
(CL) Clarify—Answer earlier questions or confirm/disaffirm a prediction
(R) Reflect—Think deeply about the what the passage means in a broad sense. What insights did you gain?
(E) Evaluate—Make a judgment about the people/groups/events, their actions, or what the author is trying to say.
Entry:
Chapter/Page
Direct Text Notes & Quotes
Paraphrase original Notes and Quotes
Why I find this interesting (refer to the active reading notes you wrote while reading)
Chapter 2, Page 5.
Then they were packed aboard the slave ships, chained together in the dark, in spaces not much bigger than coffins. Some died for lack of air in the crowded, dirty cargo holds of the ships. Others jumped overboard to end their suffering. As many as a third of all the Africans shipped overseas may have died during the journey. But the trade was profitable, so merchants crammed the blacks into the holds of the slave ships like fish.
Enslaved Africans were captured and forced aboard slave ships. Within those ships they were chained together after walking miles just to be beaten, tortured, and crammed together in the bottom of the slave ship. The conditions they had to endure was horrific. Men, women, and children had to deal with sickness, death, and the smells of blood and human waste in the dark with little to no movement for days until arrival to the Americas. Many enslaved Africans, could not endure this treatment and rather committed suicide by jumping overboard into shark infested waters. All this was the result of profit driven men who profited off human flesh.
This was such a catastrophic event in U.S. History, and it represents the worst of humanity. I feel horrible that this event took place because of greed, profit, and racism. It proves the extreme of what humankind will do just for self-interest and profit. It shows how we place materialism over morals and human values. In addition, I find this interesting because it proves how resilient and strong Africans must have been and still are to have overcome and survive those conditions. This is a history that many of their ancestors can both be proud of because of the power and strength it took for their ancestors to survive, and sorrow for the millions of lives lost while crossing the Middle Passage.
Formulate three essential questions from the quote or from any new knowledge you may have learned from the text
How long did the voyage take once slaves were loaded onto ships from the West Coast of Africa, to the first American harbor?
What was the average lifespan of a slave once they arrived and begun to work on the plantation?
Is slavery and human trafficking still a serious issue in the world today, and if so, where is it taking place, who are the victims, and who are the one’s profiting.