1. Slavery in America

2. The Middle Passage
The African slave trade existed for 100 years before the first Dutch slaver arrived in Jamestown (America) in 1619 with 20 Africans.
England tried to use prisoners, criminals, kidnapped women & children, indentured servants, Native Americans, etc. In the colonies but none provided the quality of free labor needed as Africans.
Between 1619 and 1808 (when Congress prohibited importations of slaves) one million had already been imported to America (Estimates range between million dead or enslaved from Africa); this only resulted in slave breeding.
Ask kids what they remember about the middle passage from last fall
Kids copy down the info.

4. Read from Slave ship to freedom road: Page 6

5. Read from To Be a Slave pgs 22-27
Read from Save Ship to Freedom Road page 9 with 3 student voices

6. Welcome to America
Upon arrival, slaves were prepared (oiled, wounds covered with tar, clothed, performed acts of agility, etc.) and sold to the highest bidder.
Usually no consideration was given to breaking up a family, separating husbands from wives, children from their parents, etc. ($1,500 was paid for a top-of-the-line field hand)
Before writing review what we know about the auction block from our Slavery Readings
Copy info. from slide onto notes
Discuss the language we’ll be hearing today: N word: why appropriate in class today based on readings…

7. Play No More Auction Block-- what words can be heard?
Read from Slave Ship to Freedom Road page 12
Burns: all night forever

8. 1. Key is In percentages
2. Focus on diff. in N vs. S
3. Did all have slaves? Did most?-- no, very small population were planters…
WHY DID THE SOUTH NEED ALL THOSE SLAVES?? THEY WEREN’T AS VALUABLE AS THEY HAD BEEN DURING COLONIAL TIMES BECAUSE THE TOBACCO HAD USED UP A LOT OF THE SOIL….
IT BECAME ABOUT THE COTTON!!

9. Why such a huge demand for slaves after the year 1790
Why such a huge demand for slaves after the year 1790?? Increased demand for cotton = increased demand for slaves…
Samuel Slater built the first cotton-spinning machine in the US in 1790 (he stole the idea from England). This meant that cotton could now be quickly and easily turned into yarn. The demand for cotton increased, so the demand for slaves to pick that cotton also increased…
Around the same time, Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin ( gin short for engine)- this machine removed the seeds from cotton-- before the “gin,” it would have taken all day to remove the seeds from a pound of cotton. Now one could clean the seeds from 50lbs of cotton in a day. The demand for cotton skyrocketed, and Southern planters scrambled for land to grow cotton, and workers to plant and harvest it…

10. Growth of Slave Population, 1790-1860
Explain chart: cotton gin was “taught the south how to make slavery pay”-- now cotton is king…is the thing- more demand for cotton, more slaves are needed
Read from Slavery in America pg 130: Breeding of Slaves-- if importation is illegal after 1808, now let’s buy breeders….

11. 1. As cotton prices went up, slave prices went up-- slave traders knew they could sell their “goods” for more if cotton was booming… if planters are getting more for cotton they’ll pay more for slaves too

12. A Day in the Life of “King Cotton”
Slaves worked from before sunup to after sundown, year round (whether harvesting or not), were expected to pick 200 pounds per day, provided enough food to keep them functioning and housing enough to keep them alive.
The plantation was usually run by a ruthless overseer who managed via the whip (100 lashes for taking a break).
All humanity removed: no school, no religion, gathering, no African Art, language, writing, food. Removal of all things familiar including your name. Relied on spirituals (songs).
What do they remember about the typical day from their Slavery Readings?
Copy info. onto notes from slide
Read To be a Slave pages 70-72

13. Rebellion
A natural outcome but limited numbers actually resisted enslavement our of fear (punishment, rewards, unfamiliar)
Abolitionists such as Nat Turner, John Brown, Harriet Tubman and Elijah Lovejoy, risked everything to free the slave.
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (1852) written by Harriet Beecher Stowe (a white woman), sold over 300,000 copies in first year and revealed the savagery of slavery as an institution.
Show Burns “Are We Free”
Read Slavery in America, pg. 160 (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)

14. The Underground Railroad
A network of places (called stations) where escaped slaves could find help on their quest for freedom south to north (Canada)
Harriet Tubman (had a $40,000 bounty on her head during the Civil War) and other abolitionists (or conductors), both black and white, responsible for approx. 2,000 slaves per year reaching freedom.
What do they know about the underground RR?
Copy info. onto notes from slide

15. Routes of the Underground Railroad
Explain routes
Read book: Follow the Drinking Gourd
Play song: Follow the Drinking Gourd

16. Despite this…
By 1857, with 400,000 men owning 4 million slaves worth over $2 billion, slavery in America had become an ingrained institution, in practice for approximately 240 years, and inseparable from the Southern economy and lifestyle.