Slavery and the Founding
6 LessonsSpecial Features
- Rooted in primary sources with short contextual essays providing historical background and a thematic outline for lessons
- Slides providing abridged context for each lesson
- Primary source analysis models (“worked examples”) to help students practice how to read and analyze textual and visual primary sources.
- Teacher support videos of how to model primary source analysis
- Suggestions for using materials for both in-person and online learning.
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6 Lessons
LessonThe Origins of American Slavery
How did enslaved and free Blacks resist the injustice of slavery during the colonial era?
LessonThe Declaration of Independence, Natural Rights, and Slavery
What is natural rights theory and how is it at the foundation of the Declaration of Independence? How do natural rights theory and the Founding principles at the heart of the Declaration of Independence challenge slavery?
LessonPaths to Freedom: African Americans and the Revolutionary War
How did African Americans participate in the Revolutionary War? How did their actions reflect a desire to enjoy their natural rights?
LessonPost Revolutionary War Emancipation and Entrenchment
To what extent did events during and following the Revolutionary War confront the conflict between slavery and Founding principles of liberty, equality, and justice? How did the actions of individuals and groups during this time period work in concert with or against Founding ideals?
LessonSlavery and the United States Constitution
Was the United States Constitution a pro-slavery document or an anti-slavery document?
LessonThe Endurance of Slavery and the American Republic
How did the endurance of slavery challenge the American republic?