Overview
The
2012 PBS series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., explores the tapestry of American history through the stories of
celebrity guests. In Episode 4, Gates explores the family histories of actors
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick and examines the complex history of slavery in the
Northern US.
This hands-on, media-enhanced lesson explores the
extent to which slavery existed in the North. In the Introductory Activity,
students learn about slavery in the North prior to the Civil War, and explore
the attitudes of Quakers toward slavery. In the Learning Activities, students
explore census data from 1790 through 1860 to find out where slavery existed during
that time period. Students explore the story of Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman,
a woman who successfully fought for her freedom from slavery in Massachusetts,
with the help of Kyra Sedgwick’s ancestor. Students explore the request
President Lincoln made to the country to come together to heal after the Civil
War and the ways in which Quakers, including Kevin Bacon’s ancestor, responded
to that request. In the Culminating Activity, students conduct research about
the presence and ultimate abolition of slavery in the northern states.
Objectives
After
completing this lesson, students will be able to:
- Name
northern states where slavery existed.
- Describe
the extent to which slavery existed in the North.
- Discuss
the Quakers and their attitudes toward slavery and education.
- Describe
the distribution of slaves throughout the US states and territories from 1790
to 1860.
- Explain
who Mumbet was and how she attained her freedom.
- Discuss
what Abraham Lincoln asked the nation to do in his 2nd Inaugural
Address and how people responded to his request.
- Discuss
one state’s history of slavery in detail, including information about when and
how slavery was abolished in that state.
Grade Level:
8-11
Suggested Time
(2) 45-minute class periods
Media Resources
Slavery in the North Video
Mumbet Video
After Slavery Video
Materials
For each student:
For the class:
Web Sites
For the Introductory
Activity:
This Far by Faith:
African-American Spiritual Journeys
For Learning Activities 1 and 2:
100 Milestone Documents
Elizabeth Freeman
Mumbet/ Elizabeth Mumbet
Freeman
For the Culminating
Activity:
African Americans and
the End of Slavery in Massachusetts
Pennsylvania slavery by
the numbers
The Lesson
Part I: INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY
- Ask
students to list the names of states where slavery existed before the Civil
War. Record student answers on the board.
- If
students did not have any northern states on their list, ask them if they think
slavery existed in the North. If so, ask them to what extent they think slavery
existed in the northern states.
- Explain
that in this lesson they will learn more about slavery and where it took place in
the US. Let students know you are now going to show a video segment from Finding
Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a television series that
explores the history of the United States through the personal family stories
of well-known Americans. This segment, from an episode featuring actors Kevin
Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, highlights information about slavery in the US prior
to the Civil War and the attitudes of Quakers toward slavery. As students view
the segment, ask them to write down information they learn about where slavery
took place, as well as Quakers’ attitudes toward slavery.
- Play
the Slavery in the North Video. At the end of the segment, ask students to
share new insights they learned about where slavery took place. (Slavery in the North was rampant. In Rhode
Island in 1755, one in 10 adults was a slave. There were also thousands of
slaves throughout Massachusetts. Kyra Sedgwick’s 4th
great-grandfather Theodore Sedgwick owned a slave in Massachusetts. Kevin Bacon’s
6th great-grandfather Samuel Atkinson owned slaves in New Jersey.)
- Ask
students to discuss Quakers’ attitudes toward slavery. (When the Quakers arrived in America in the 1650s, slavery already
existed and Quakers owned slaves in Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey. By
the 1680s, Quakers were not happy with aspects of slavery. In the 1750s, the
Quakers officially declared the institution of slavery to be wrong and a system
that could not be improved. By 1775, only 10% of Quakers still owned slaves.
Kevin’s 6th great-grandfather, Samuel Atkinson, was among those who
did. Atkinson struggled with the morality of slavery and, in 1775, he
stipulated in his will that his slaves should be educated and, at the age of
35, they should be freed.)
- Review
the list you and your students compiled, featuring the names of states where
slavery existed. Add any additional states mentioned in the previous segment,
which were not included on your list. After revising your list, it should include
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as
additional states you and your students listed earlier.
- Optional: Lead a brief discussion
about Quakers. Ask students to discuss what they know about Quakers. (For
example: Where did they originally come from? Why/how did they come to the
United States? Who was William Penn? ) (Possible items to discuss: The Religious
Society of Friends began in England in the 17th century. Members of
the group, commonly known as Quakers, were persecuted and many moved to
different parts of the world, including the Americas. William Penn founded the
state of Pennsylvania in 1682 as a safe place for Quakers to live and practice
their religion.) Encourage students to explore resources listed in the
“websites” section of this lesson (in the Lesson Overview) for more information
about Quakers’ views on slavery.
Part II: LEARNING ACTIVITY 1
- Distribute
the States of Slavery Chart
and States of Slavery Student Organizer
to your
students. Ask them to read the information on the chart, which lists the number
of slaves and total populations in the US states and territories in 1790, 1820
and 1860. Ask students why they think this information, based on census data,
begins in 1790 and not earlier. (The
first national US census was conducted in 1790.)
- Ask
students to compare the number of slaves in each of the different states. Here
are some questions to help students with this analysis:
- In 1790, were there more enslaved
people in New York than in some southern states? If so, which southern
states had fewer enslaved people than NY? (Yes. In 1790, New York had more
slaves than Kentucky, Tennessee and Delaware. New York had 21,324 slaves,
Kentucky had 11,830, Tennessee had 3,417 and Delaware had 8,887. However,
when comparing the percentage of enslaved people to the total number in
each state, New York’s slave population was 6% of the total population,
while Kentucky’s was 16%, Tennessee’s was about 10% and Delaware’s was
15%.)
- How did the number of slaves in
Georgia change from 1790 to 1860? (It
increased dramatically--- from 29,364 in 1790 to 149,654 in 1820 to
462,198 in 1860. In 1860, the slave population comprised 43.7% of
Georgia’s total population.)
- In 1860, in which state did slaves
make up more than 50% of the population? [South Carolina- 402,406
people out of 703,708 (57.2%) were enslaved.]
- What 4 states had the most slaves in
1860? (Virginia, 490,865; Georgia,
462,198; Mississippi, 436,631; and Alabama, 435,080.)
- Compare the number of slaves in
South Carolina in 1860 with the total population in each of the following
states: New Hampshire, Vermont, Delaware, California and Minnesota. Which number is bigger? [The number of slaves in South Carolina
in 1860 - 402,406 - was larger than the total populations in each of the
following states: New Hampshire (326,073), Vermont (315,098), Delaware
(112,216), California (379,994) and Minnesota (172,206)].
- Ask
your students to complete the States of Slavery Student Organizer, showing which
states had slaves in the years 1790, 1820 and 1860. Ask your students the following:
- Did
any northern states or territories, which became part of the US anytime after
1790 (including after 1820), have slaves? If so, which states? (Yes. Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas.)
- Which
of the northern states had slaves in 1790? (All
of them except for Massachusetts.)
- Ask
your students why they think Massachusetts was the only northern state not to
have slaves in 1790. Ask if they have heard the story about a slave named
Mumbet. If they have, ask them to share what they know. If they haven’t, explain that Mumbet was a
slave in Massachusetts who asked a lawyer to help her attain her freedom.
- Explain
that the next segment tells the story about Mumbet and the role that Kyra
Sedgwick’s ancestor, Theodore Sedgwick, played in helping secure her freedom.
Ask students to find out what Mumbet did to secure her freedom and the strategy
Sedgwick used to help her become free.
- Play
the Mumbet Video. After playing the segment, ask students to list the actions
Mumbet took to secure her freedom. (She
heard a reading of the Declaration of Independence, including the part where it
mentions all men are born equal and have a right to freedom. She went to
Theodore Sedgwick’s law office the next day to ask him if the law would enable
her to be free as well.) Ask students to describe how Mumbet reacted when
her master’s wife was about to beat Mumbet’s daughter, Lizzy, with a hot iron
shovel. (She raised her arm and was hit,
sparing her daughter from being hurt.)
- Ask
students to describe the strategy Theodore Sedgwick used to argue for Mumbet’s
freedom. (He argued against the
institution of slavery itself. He argued that since the new Massachusetts
Constitution (issued in 1780) stated that all
men are born free and equal, nobody could be held as a slave. He argued that
if it is true that everyone is born free and equal that should hold true for
black people, as well. Therefore, under the Constitution, slavery should not be
allowed.)
- Optional: Ask students to read the
transcript of the Declaration of Independence and identify and discuss the lines that refer to men being free and equal. (We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. )
- Let students know that
Mumbet’s trial, as well as another trial concerning a slave named Quoc Walker,
helped bring about the legal end of slavery in Massachusetts. Optional:
Ask students to find out more about the trials of Mumbet and Quoc Walker and
the roles they played in helping to bring about the end of slavery in
Massachusetts. (Encourage students to use a variety of resources, including
websites listed at the beginning of this lesson in the Lesson Overview.)
Part III: LEARNING ACTIVITY 2
-
Explain
that in 1865, two years after Lincoln declared the end of slavery, he was sworn
in as president for his second term. Ask
students to watch the After Slavery Video
to see what Lincoln asked the
country to do during his 2nd Inaugural Address, and how some
individuals, including Kevin Bacon’s ancestor, responded to that appeal.
- Play
the After Slavery Video. After showing the segment, ask students to describe
what Lincoln asked of the nation. (He
asked the country to join together to help rebuild the nation.)
- Ask
your students to read Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address.
- Ask
the class to identify and discuss the line(s) where Lincoln is asking Americans
to rebuild the country. (“With
malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God
gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to
bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle
and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a
just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”)
- Ask
students how Kevin Bacon’s great-grandmother, Lydia Atkinson, responded to this
call from Lincoln. (At the age of 20, she
moved from New Jersey to Washington, DC, where she worked as a teacher in a
school for newly freed slaves.)
- Discuss
the fact that, in the video, Christopher Densmore of the Friends Historical
Library at Swarthmore College mentions the term “manumitting” slaves. Ask
students what “manumit” means. If they don’t know, ask them to look it up. ("Manumit" means to free from slavery.)
- Ask
your students to describe Quakers’ attitudes and actions toward manumitted
slaves, based on what was presented in the previous segment. (Quakers
felt they had a responsibility to help newly freed slaves and, by the 1750s,
were strongly involved in educating African Americans.)
Part IV: CULMINATING ACTIVITY
- Divide the class into groups of 2-3 students. Ask each group to
conduct research about slavery in one of the following northern states:
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Vermont
See the resources listed in the “websites”
section in the Lesson Overview for potential student use.
- Ask students to find out the following about each state:
- The number of slaves that existed.
- How slavery was abolished.
- When slavery was abolished.
- Additional details about slavery in that state.
- Ask students to present their findings to the class.
- Lead a discussion about the information presented in this lesson. During
the discussion, ask students to reflect on the following:
- Has your understanding of the United States’ history changed based
on the information you have learned in this lesson? If so, how?
- Why do you think the history of slavery in the North is less
well-known than the history of slavery in the South?
- After hearing a reading of the Declaration of Independence, Mumbet
(Elizabeth Freeman) was inspired to seek her freedom. Have you ever been
inspired to take action based on something you have read, heard or seen? If so,
what have you done? If you ever felt that your rights were being compromised,
what actions would you take to make sure that you were treated fairly?
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