West African Slave Ports
By Stephanie Kaufman

Overview

Students will study the Slave Ports map and the Transatlantic Slave Trade map on the site along with a current map of West Africa to become familiar with the geography of the slave trade. They will then do in-depth research on the main countries that participated in the slave trade. As a culminating activity, they will take the knowledge learned about the port cities and the countries involved, and write a descriptive essay on a port as if they were living during the slave trade.

National Curriculum Standards met by this lesson

For a list of standards that this unit addresses, click here.

Time Required

One to two traditional class periods

Materials

• Slave Ports Map
• Current map of West Africa (Geography textbook)
• Transatlantic Slave Trade map
• Internet Access
• Paper, pencils
• Descriptive Writing Model: http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_ss/teacher99/rubrics/WRGMOD05.pdf
• Descriptive Writing Rubric:http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_ss/teacher99/rubrics/RUBRIC40.pdf

The Lesson

Anticipatory Set

1. As a class, examine the Slave Ports Map on the site.


2. Compare the Slave Ports map with a current map of West Africa to determine the countries where these ports are located.


3. As a class, discuss the role of European colonies in the slave trade, both in Africa and in the Americas.


4. Display the Transatlantic Slave Trade map and discuss the goods and products involved in the slave trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. You may want to assign the Historical Overview as homework so students have a familiarity with the aspects of slavery in America.

Procedures

1. Using the "jigsaw" method, divide the class into five "expert" groups based upon the five European nations with slave ports (France, Portugal, England, Spain, and The Netherlands).


2. Display African Slave Trade map and the Transatlantic Slave Trade map.


3. Have each group conduct research online to find information on the holdings of their group's assigned country and its involvement in the slave trade. See the following sites as starting points for their searches:
   
   
   • Breaking the Silence: Learning about the Transatlantic Slave Trade at:
     http://www.antislavery.org/breakingthesilence
   
   
   • French in West Africa site at:
     http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/K-12/French_16178.html
   
   
   • Elmina and Cape Coast site at:
     http://www.theviproom.com/visions/slave.htm
   
   
   • The Collection of Slaves site at:
     http://www.umich.edu/~ece/student_projects/slavery2/collection.html
   
   
   • The National Archives: Africa and the Caribbean at:
     http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/africa_caribbean/africa_trade.htm
   
   
   • Early European Contact and the Slave Trade at:
     http://www.ghana.co.uk
   
   
4. Then, have students return to the whole class and regroup with an "expert" on each of the European countries represented in each group.


5. Have students will report their findings to the newly combined mixed groups.


6. Mixed group discussion. Have students choose a recorder and write their responses to the following questions:


• What role did each of the five European countries play in the slave trade?
• How did the major European countries' involvement in the slave trade differ?
• How were they similar?
• What interesting information did you find?
• Did it appear that any one country played a greater role than the others? Explain.


7. Return to the whole class and debrief the jigsaw activity allowing each group to summarize its findings and discuss them as a class.


8. As a culminating activity, ask students to do a descriptive writing exercise based on what they have learned about the slave ports. See Descriptive Writing Model at:
   http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_ss/teacher99/rubrics/WRGMOD05.pdf.
   
   Students are to imagine that they are living in one of the port cities during the slave trade. Tell them to write a detailed description of what they observe and their reactions to it.

Assessment

To grade students' descriptive essays, you can use the rubric at:
http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_ss/teacher99/rubrics/RUBRIC40.pdf--or create one of your own.

This lesson was submitted by Stephanie Kaufman, a teacher in Sturgis, South Dakota.