Lesson Title:  America’s Black Founders

By: Tami Ewell, Teacher Consultant,  Wasatch Range Writing Project

Burning Questions: What are inalienable rights? Who has inalienable rights? What is the relationship between slavery and inalienable rights?

Objectives:

• Students will understand the contribution of African-Americans in the U.S. history and fight for equal rights.
• Students will be able to analyze the role of African-Americans in the war for independence.
• Students will understand what it was like to be an African/Slave during the Revolution.

Context: Any middle class studying government or U.S. history.

Materials: America’s Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes and Early Leaders with 21 Activities. By: Nancy I. Sanders

Time Span: 3 Class periods (45 minute class periods)

Procedures:

• Give students a brief introduction to the history of the United States and discuss slavery, its purpose and consequences.
• Introduce students to the concept of inalienable rights. Explain that inalienable rights are innate and do not come from outside ourselves. It is rights we have simply by being human.
• Explain that early settlers did not see Slaves as humans but as property and were therefore denied their inalienable rights. have them analyze and discuss the 1774 petition from a group of slaves to have the colonial government of Massachusetts end slavery laws which were denying their inalienable rights.
• Using the book, America’s Black Founders, create centers (one for each section: Colonial Days, Years of Unrest, Beginnings of War, The American Revolution, African-Americans as citizens, African-Americans lead the way) Make copies of the passages to read. Set up the suggested activities for each section (some activities may be difficult such as cook pepper pot soup so you may wish to only choose a few activities from each section).
• Divide the class into groups of 6 or so. Have each group start at a center. First have students read the passages. Then have them participate in the activity.
• Have students keep a journal and after each center have them respond to how that center helped them better understand the burning questions.
• After students have rotated through all the centers, have them come together as a class and discuss the burning questions and what they learned about African Americans and their experience in the creating of our country.

Extensions:

• Have students individually look up articles on Inalienable Rights in current media.
• Have students read Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech and discuss the Civil Rights movement and how it was similar to and different from the slaves' fight for freedom.
• Have students research some of the people mentioned in the activity book.

Resources:

• Sanders, Nancy I. American's Black Founders, Revolutionary Heroes & Early Leaders. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2010.
• 1774 Slaves' Petition: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/print_documents/v1ch14s9.html
• Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
• The rough draft of the Declaration of Independence included criticism of King George for supporting the slave trade. See PBS Africans in America: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h33.html
• From Digital History is "Explorations: the Revolutionary War," which includes materials on Slavery, the American Revolution and the Constitution: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/revolution/revolution_slavery.cfm