Your assignment is to learn about the feelings, agendas, and circumstances of individuals involved in slavery in Colonial America.
You Are:
- A slave trader
- A member of a plantation owning family
- A slave working on a southern plantation
Your final project for this assignment will be a paragraph on the characteristics of each individual. While you research, ask yourself the following questions to help you shape the role this character may have played in Colonial America. Your paragraph will need to contain information about each of the following:
Personal
What might my character's heritage be? What do they eat and wear? What is their religion? What would my character spend their day doing?
Environment
Where does my character live in the United States? Who do they live with? What is their housing situation?
Economic
Is my character poor or well off? What jobs are available to them?
Political
What might my character see as the disadvantages or advantages of slavery?
Is my character involved in anything unlawful during this time period?
How could my character's life change if slavery were abolished?
Ask yourself how these questions help to shape the role of your character in Colonial America. Try to think of some other important questions to answer.
Finally, when you are finished, go to this website: http://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Founding-Fathers-and-Slavery-1269536
The "Founding Fathers" are them men we typically identify as the people who created this country in the 1770's. Answer: How many of them were slave holders, how many did not own slaves? When creating a nation based on the idea that "All men are created equal", how do you think they approached the topic of slavery? Why do you think the founding fathers agreed to allow slavery in America when they declared independence from Britain?
