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Lesson Plan
iCivics

I Civics: Columbus to the Colonies

For Teachers 9th - 10th
From the time Columbus first set foot in the New World, Europeans were fascinated with this new land. In this lesson, students learn about the Three Gs that drove them here- gold, God, and glory- and find out how these settlers gave...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Free African Americans in the Colonial Era

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the ways some slaves gained their freedom and where they often lived once free.
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Primary
PBS

Africans in America: Runaway Slave Ad From Colonial New Jersey

For Students 9th - 10th
Here from PBS is the original text of a runaway slave ad for a slave named Jem. His owner in Newark, New Jersey describes him and offers a reward.
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Article
PBS

Africans in America: Runaways 1740 1783

For Students 9th - 10th
This website gives a rough idea of how many slaves were present in the South and what happened to many who ran away.
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Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Preface to Sancho: An Act of Remembrance

For Students 9th - 10th
Paterson Joseph describes how his research into Black British history led him to write his first play, Sancho: An Act of Remembrance. In this one-man show, Paterson Joseph inhabits the life of Ignatius Sancho, the 18th-century composer,...
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Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: The Rise of Consumerism

For Students 9th - 10th
With the increasing variety in clothes, food, and household items, shopping became an important cultural activity in the 18th century. This article describes buying and selling during this period and explains the connection between many...
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Website
British Library

British Library: Discovering Literature: Britain's Involvement With New World Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

For Students 9th - 10th
With a focus on the 17th and 18th centuries, this article traces the history of Britain's large-scale involvement in the enslavement of Africans and the transatlantic slave trade.
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Activity
Other

Read Works: West Africa: Introduction to West Africa [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
An informational text about the history of West Africa. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
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Handout
University of Iowa

University of Iowa: Arts and Life in Africa: Sierra Leone

For Students 6th - 8th
A record of statistics concerning modern day Sierra Leone, up to 1998. Scroll down to history section to see a brief, but informative description of pre-colonial and post-colonial history for Sierra Leone.
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Website
Other

Illinois State Museum: Native American Food

For Students 3rd - 8th
Experiences during the colonial years certainly were not the same for different cultural groups. This site compares and contrasts the housing, clothing, food, religion and family life of Native Americans, French settlers, and African...
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Website
Open Door Team

Open Door Web Site: Britain and the Scramble for Africa

For Students 9th - 10th
Briefly describes Britain's motivations for imperializing African regions. Includes the text of a speech given by Lord Cruzon entitled, "The True Imperialism."
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Lucy Terry

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the life of Lucy Terry, poet, storyteller, and activist of colonial and postcolonial America.
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Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo Attributed to Juan Rodriguez

For Students 9th - 10th
The Mestizo belongs to a larger series of works that seek to document the inter-ethnic mixing occurring in New Spain among Europeans, indigenous peoples, Africans, and the existing mixed-race population. This genre of painting is known...
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Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Mestre Valentim, Passeio Publico, Rio De Janeiro

For Students 9th - 10th
The Passeio Publico in Brazil represented several groundbreaking achievements in art. This park was designed by an artist of African descent-Mestre Valentim. View pictures and read the history of this public park, including the unique...
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Unit Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: The First Great Awakening

For Students 9th - 10th
In the middle of the 18th century, a series of evangelical religious revival movements swept across colonial America. Known as the First Great Awakening, the movements were characterized by emotional religious conversions from a state of...
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Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Stono Rebellion

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia article gives information about the Stono Rebellion by South Carolina slaves, and the outcome of the revolt.
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Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Toussaint L'overture

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia article gives an accounting of Toussaint L'Overture, freed Haitian slave who was the leader of the revolt against France.
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Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Haitian Revolution (1791 1804)

For Students 9th - 10th
This encyclopedia article is a good overview of the slave revolt that resulted in Haiti's independence.
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Website
British Library

British Library: Caribbean Views

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about plantation life during the 18th and 19th centuries by viewing images, maps, and text material in this virtual exhibition from the British Library. Writer Mike Phillips gives his personal interpretation of this exhibit on...
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Lesson Plan
University of Maryland

Howard County Public School System: Are All Men Created Equal? [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Using primary sources and contextualizing, this lesson attempts to answer the question "Did the ideals of the American Revolution affect the condition of enslaved people?"
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Website
NPR: National Public Radio

Npr: Ghana Celebrates 50 Years as Independent Nation

For Students 9th - 10th
In this article and the accompanying radio broadcasts, Ghana reflects back on its accomplishments in the fifty years since it became independent of colonial rule. It was the first African nation south of the Sahara to do so. [March 7, 2007]
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Handout
Countries and Their Cultures

Countries and Their Cultures: Pokot

For Students 9th - 10th
During the colonial period, the Pokot were called "Suk" by Europeans. To some Pokot, the older designation is a reminder of an era in which Africans lacked the power to name themselves; to others, it represents the clever ruse of a...
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Handout
PBS

Pbs: Commanding Heights: Nigeria, an Overview

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief timeline of Nigerian history in the twentieth century, from the PBS series "Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy." Includes timeline entries related to independence, which was achieved in 1960.
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Lesson Plan
Yale University

Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Black Emancipators of the 19th Century

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson unit on the people and movements that fought to abolish slavery. Looks at the Triangular Trade, and at the Underground Railroad and famous abolitionists. Includes a play about emancipation, a black history rap and a trivia quiz...