Slave Resistance

In 5 separate activities, students (1) share quotes from slaves; (2) write poems about resisting slavery in groups; (3) read a poem; and (4) create a T-Chart about slave resistance and how owners attempted to crush resistance. Finally (5), you have the option to assign a chapter from Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

1. (Steps 5-7): Each student is given a quote from a slave (teachers bring your scissors to cut these out). Student go around the room, reading their quotes to one another and filling out a worksheet.

   
   

2. (Steps 8-15): Then based on the quotes, each group will write one stanza of a poem about slaves resisting slavery (see example poems).

   
   

3. (Step 16): If time, students may read David Williams's essay on slave resistance,"I Freed Myself" (5 pages). Students can answer questions in step 18.

   
   

4. (Step 17): Have students "draw a line down the center of a piece of paper and list on one side the ways enslaved African Americans resisted their enslavement and on the other side the ways slave owners and slave catchers tried to prevent resistance.

   
   

5. You may also want to assign Howard Zinn's chapter "Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom" from A People's History of the United States and answer discussion questions on step 18.