Introduction

Historians often wish they could go back into the past. Well, you will have an opportunity to do just that! To promote the struggle to end slavery, abolitionists helped collect and publish the reminisces of hundreds of former slaves. For this webquest you will use these memoirs and journals to 'interview' between three and five former slaves about their life and work in the United States south.
Sources: http://docsouth.unc.edu. Click on North American Slave Narratives and Collection of Electronic Texts.

The Quest

Question: What were life and work like for enslaved Africans in the United States south?

The Process and Resources

This is an individual project. Step 1 is to design a questionnaire with between ten and twenty questions you will 'ask' each respondent. Step 2 is to select and read memoirs and journals by between three and five former slaves about their life and work in the United States south. Some of these narratives are quote long (approximately 200 pages). I recommend doing some background research on possible interviewees before selecting people to interview. Frederick Douglass, Solomon Northup and Harriet Jacobs are highly recommended. You must 'interview' at least one of them. You might copy text into your word processing program to help search for specific information and to make it easier to include direct quotes. Step 3 is to prepare your final report on the 'interviews.'

Phase 1 - Background: Something for Everyone

The final product has two parts. Part 1 is a series of questions and 'answers' (direct quotes) based on your questionnaire and the reminisces of former slaves. Part 2 is a summary report of approximately 2,000 words where you explain what you learned about life and work like for enslaved Africans in the United States south. This summary report should contain specific references to your 'interviews.' The final product will count as a full unit test in your marking period grade. It will be evaluated using the following rubric.
Quality of the interview questionnaire 20%
Quality of the interview and research (questions and answers) 30%
Quality of the summary report (content and concepts) 30%
Quality of the summary report (written expression – clarity, evidence of editing, presentation) 20%

• Slave Narratives - First hand accounts by formerly enslaved Africans in the United states.

Phase 2 - Looking Deeper from Different Perspectives

Possible People to Interview about life and work like for enslaved Africans in the United States south:

Ball, Charles. Fifty Years in Chains; or, The Life of an American Slave. New York: H. Dayton, Publisher, 1859. 430 p.

Bibb, Henry. Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American slave, Written by Himself. New York: Author, 1849. 207 p.

Brown, Henry Box. Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself. Manchester: Printed by Lee and Glynn, 1851. 69 p.

Douglass, Frederick. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass his Early Life as a Slave, his Escape from Bondage, and his Complete History to the Present Time. Hartford, Ct: Park Publishing Co., 1881. 516 p.

Grandy, Moses. Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy; Late a Slave in the United States of America. London: Gilpin, 1843. 72 p.

Hughes, Louis. Thirty Years a Slave from Bondage to Freedom: The Institution of Slavery as Seen on the Plantation and in the Home of the Planter. Milwaukee: South Side Printing Company, 1897. 210 p.

Jackson, John Andrew. The Experience of a Slave in South Carolina. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1862. 48 p.

Jacobs, Harriet Ann. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Boston: Published for the Author, 1861. 306 p.

Jones, Thomas H. The Experience of Thomas H. Jones, Who Was a Slave for Forty-Three Years.
Boston: Bazin & Chandler, 1862. 48 p.

Mason, Isaac. Life of Isaac Mason as a Slave. Worcester, Mass.: s.n., 1893. 74 p.

Northup, Solomon. Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853. Auburn: Derby and Miller, 1853. 336 p.

Robinson, Rev. William H. From Log Cabin to the Pulpit: or Fifteen Years in Slavery. Eau Claire, Wisc. 1913.

Roper, Moses. A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper, from American Slavery. Philadelphia: Merrihew & Gunn, 1838. 89 p.

Stiles, Robert. Four Years under Marse Robert New York, Washington: The Neale publishing Co., 1904. 368 p.

Veney, Bethany. The Narrative of Bethany Veney, a Slave Woman. Worcester, Mass.: [s.n.], 1889. 47 p.

Williams, James. Narrative of James Williams, an American Slave, Who Was for Several Years a Driver on a Cotton Plantation in Alabama. New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1838. 108 p.

Phase 3 - Debating, Discussing, and Reaching Consensus

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Phase 4 - Real World Feedback

You and your teammates have learned a lot by dividing up into different roles. Now's the time to put your learning into a letter you'll send out for real world feedback. Together you will write a letter that contains opinions, information, and perspectives that you've gained. Here's the process:

1. Begin your letter with a statement of who you are and why you are writing your message to this particular person or organization.

2. Give background information that shows you understand the topic.

STATE THE TASK / QUEST(ION) AND YOUR GROUP'S ANSWER.

3. Each person in your group should write a paragraph that gives two good reasons supporting the group's opinion. Make sure to be specific in both the information (like where you got it from on the Web) and the reasoning (why the information proves your group's point).

4. Have each person on the team proofread the message. Use correct letter format and make sure you have correctly addressed the email message. Use the link below to make contact. Send your message and make sure your teacher gets a copy.

Your Contact is: the designated contact

Conclusion

So is an elephant smooth, rough, soft, or hard? Well, when you're blindfolded and only *looking* at one part, it's easy to come up with an answer that may not be completely right. It's the same for understanding a topic as broad or complex as Slavery: when you only know part of the picture, you only know part of the picture. Now you all know a lot more. Nice work. You should be proud of yourselves! How can you use what you've learned to see beyond the black and white of a topic and into the grayer areas? What other parts of Slavery could still be explored? Remember, learning never stops.