Zach+Martowski+-+Resource+File

"A Slave's Path to Freedom"
By, Zach Martowski

This resource file is built for students in an 11th Grade US History course. Students are studying slavery and are engaged in a multi-disciplinary unit entitled "A Slave's Path to Freedom" through Social Studies, Language Arts, and Mathematics.

This resource file is for students to use as supplementary materials outside of class. This could be for students who hold a particular interest in the topic. This file is also a page for students to use as a supplement to homework assignments and class projects. The resources provided can be external information for students to use as primary and secondary sources for their information. Students are encouraged to view the resource file for ideas for different sources. It provides a "starting point" for students to utilize. This particular class will utilize literature and primary sources as course information. Students will be reading excerpts from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Olaudah Equiano's autobiography.

This unit will culminate with the essential question "Was the Civil War an avoidable conflict?". Students will evaluate the impact that the conflict of slavery had on the nation. Students should see that the Civil War was a seemingly unavoidable conflict, resulting from two distinct ideologies.

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Text-Based Resources
1. Uncle Tom's Cabin Supplements This website provides additional supplemental readings for the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. The website provides text-based articles to American reviews, famous African-American responses, and pro-slavery responses. There is also a section for songs and poems based on the novel, as well as links to stage adaptations of the book. This could be used for student research projects and article responses.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: approx. 10.7
Various Authors

2. Huffington Post: "Missing from President's Day: The People They Enslaved" This article introduces a modern-day perspective on President's Day. Published in February 2014 on President's Day, the article reminds readers of the legacy of slavery among former US presidents and how slavery was instrumental to the lives of several Presidents. The article was published to bring awareness to Americans on slavery in the White House. This is a great supplemental article to inform students on how slavery impacted the lives of our country's own leaders.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 14
Author: Clarence Lusane

3. "An American Tragedy: The legacy of slavery lingers in our cities' ghettos" This article provides students with a perspective on how the legacy of slavery has made an impact in the ghettos of many American cities. This article demonstrates to students how the effects of slavery still linger today. Students can explore the effects of racial discrimination and recognize how the effects of slavery still impacts our society.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 13.6
Author: Glenn. C Loury

4. __12 Years A Slave__ (Chapters III + IV) Northup, S. (2013). //12 years a slave: narrative of Solomon Northup, a citizen of New-York, kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and rescued in 1853, from a cotton plantation near the Red River in Louisiana// (Second ed.). New York City: Inkflight.

ISBN: 1927970113 PDF Format

This supplemental reading is the novel "12 Years a Slave". This book is based on the Academy Award winning film released in November 2013. Students can explore a slave's story of struggle and survival. Students can compare and contrast differences between the film and the book.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 10.4
Author: Soloman Northup

5. "Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project (1936-1938) This resource provides supplemental resources to various slave narratives collected by the Federal Writers' Project. This online collection of resources provides first-hand accounts of slave experiences. This online resource provides a collection of diary entries, notes, and various published works of slaves.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: approx. 11.2
Author: Various Authors

Web-Based Resources
1. "The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery" Interactive Website This interactive activity engages the student in an escape route of a hypothetical slave. The website provides graphics and computer-simulated images of a slave's journey to freedom. The interactive activity goes alongside a story that includes historical information for students to contextualize. It provides supplemental materials such as background information, videos, and historical documents.

2. "A Map of Slavery" Interactive Map This interactive map provides census data from the 1860 Census. It breaks down population of freeman and slaves based on each country in each state. The map provides a visual depiction of areas that were dense in slaves vs. areas that did not have many slaves. How does this map help explain which states seceded from the Union and which would ultimately stay?

3. "Slavery and the Making of America" Interactive Timeline This interactive timeline organizes important historical events in historical order. The timeline also provides background information on each event when you click on the event. The map timelines important events and allows students to browse events throughout the span of time.

4. "The Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854" Interactive Census Map This interactive map shows the population of slaves vs. freemen at the time before the Kansas-Nebraska act was passed. It provides total population, the number of whites, the population of blacks, the population of men, and the population of women. The website also provides an interactive presentation of what years states entered the Union and whether they entered the Union as a free or slave state.

5. Kahoot.it Slave Narrative Quiz (Game Code: 3779) This interactive quiz allows students to check their understanding of the impact of slave narratives on American culture. The quiz requires students to use their mobile devices and can be a useful group study activity that engages students through competitiveness.

Unique Resources
1. "Slavery: Crash Course in US History" media type="custom" key="25382238" This YouTube video provides a brief background of slavery in US History. It is a great and fun review tool for assessments while putting historical events in sequential order.

2. DemocracyNow! Web Broadcast: //"Shackles and Ivy: The Secret History of How Slavery Helped Build America's Elite Colleges"// media type="custom" key="25381436" Credit: www.democracynow.org This web interview introduces how slavery was instrumental in building many of America's elite colleges. The video is an interview conducted by Amy Goodman, host of DemocracyNow.org, and aims to make students aware of the irony of slavery in the construction of universities, many of which were engaged in the abolitionist movement.

3. "Roll, Jordan, Roll" from the Motion Picture "12 Years A Slave" media type="custom" key="25382140" This video demonstrates the impact of the Bible and slave songs had on the morality of slaves and their perception of hope. This scene is from the motion picture "12 Years a Slave".

4. Political Cartoons About Slavery This PBS resource contains a digital archive of slavery-related political cartoons. The archive also provides a historical and political analysis for each political cartoon.

5. "In the Cotton Fields" (William Aiken Walker)

Source This famous image depicts a slave man and woman in the cotton fields. What is the message of this painting? What do you think this is saying about slavery? Do you think this was painted by someone who was pro or anti slavery?