The Life of an Enslaved Person

US History European Colonization The Life of a Slave

Students review the rise of slavery in the American colonies. They work in small groups to focus on a primary source—a first-person narrative or a photograph—in order to learn about life as a slave, and they reflect on the value of primary sources as a tool for learning history.

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Experience Summary
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Overview

In this experience, students review the rise of slavery in the American colonies. Then they work in small groups to focus on a primary source—a first-person narrative or a photograph—in order to learn about life as an enslaved person. Finally, they reflect on the value of primary sources as a tool for learning history.

Note that there is no quiz at the end of this experience.

Objectives:

Describe the life of enslaved people in colonial America.

As the American colonies expanded, their economies depended on large amounts of labor. To meet this demand, enslaved people were forcibly taken from Africa and made to work without freedom or legal rights. Ideas like liberty, freedom, and justice were central to colonial society—but they did not apply to enslaved people. In this experience, you will examine a narrative or a photograph to better understand what life was like for an enslaved person.

Objectives: