Broteer was the son of a West African prince. He was kidnapped by slave traders and brought to New England in 1737. The man who first purchased him as a slave changed Broteer's name to "Venture," which means a way to make money. Venture later said that slaveholders might think of him as property and "turn me into cash," but he would never stop fighting for his rights as a human being.

In this lesson, you'll learn about the life story of Venture Smith, which was written down so that we know it today. It will help you better understand the experiences of enslaved and free Africans in the New England colonies.

Goals
Here are the big ideas you will learn about in this lesson:

• Resistance to slavery took strength and courage
• Slavery greatly affected the lives of Africans brought to the Americas
• Freed Africans worked hard to wipe out the effects of slavery on their lives and their families' lives.

Strategies
You will be using many reading and writing strategies to complete this lesson. The key strategies that you will focus on are:

• Connecting prior knowledge to new learning
• Determining importance
• Sequencing events
• Comparing and contrasting ideas
• Asking questions

• slavery
• venture

As a child, Venture was purchased by a slaveholder named Robertson Mumford. Mumford brought Venture to his home in Rhode Island. Venture was quiet and obeyed the orders he was given. But as he got older, he was less willing to let his slaveholder mistreat him. The fact that Venture grew to be a very big and strong man—6'1" and 230 pounds—enabled him to fight physically for his rights, but that was not the way to gain freedom in slave society. It was illegal—and often punishable by death—for enslaved people to physically attack white people. Venture had to be intelligent, brave, and trustworthy to win his freedom.

Click "View" on the left to watch this video about how Venture began to resist slavery while still young.

How did Venture put himself in danger by resisting James Mumford's orders? Write your answer in one to two sentences.

Life for enslaved people was different in the Southern and Northern colonies. In the South, slaves worked mostly on big plantations. In the North, they worked mostly for small farmers and businessmen. When Northern farmers and businessmen ran out of tasks for their enslaved workers, they allowed them to find their own jobs, working for themselves or for other white men. The workers were allowed to keep some of their wages.

Venture was smart, honorable, and strong enough to work around the clock in many different occupations; still, it took him nearly 30 years to earn enough money to purchase his own freedom and that of his wife and children. Before he did, he suffered at the hands of slaveholders and other white men, who beat and cheated him.

List two things that Venture's story tells you about slavery in America that you didn't know before.

The video you have watched and the text you have read show how Venture was purchased as a slave when he was a child. You've also learned how slaveholders threatened him, and how he resisted them.

Now show what you've learned by answering these three questions. Be sure to save all your answers before you go to the next screen.

In this lesson, you have learned about Venture's introduction to slavery. Now you will read about his experiences as an adult in the slave system, and look at a timeline of his life.

Click "View" on the left to read the passage.

When you finish reading the passage, list one opportunity that Venture had and one challenge that he faced in his quest for freedom.

You will now check your understanding of the vocabulary words for this lesson by placing them in sentences. Click "View" on the left to begin the activity.

Before moving to the next screen, choose two words from the vocabulary list and write a new sentence for each word.

Vocabulary words: occupation, purchase, slaveholder, slavery, venture

As you have seen in the video and the readings, Venture Smith showed great physical strength, courage, and intelligence while working his way out of slavery. Think about what you have learned about his experiences in slavery and how the slave system worked in New England. In this activity, you will learn about Venture's life as a free man.

Click "View" on the left to begin the activity. Your teacher will review the answers with you.

Then, before moving on to the final assignment, you may want to watch this lesson's video again or reread the passage.

The Life of Venture Smith

Video: 2m 46s

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Venture Smith Goes from Slavery to Freedom

Document

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In this lesson, you have learned about the life of Venture Smith in slavery and in freedom. You will now write an essay that shares what you have learned and what you think about it.

Begin by reviewing your notes. Click "review my work" above and view or print out the screen that pops up.

Final Assignment Instructions

• Click From Slavery to Freedom in Colonial Times—Final Assignment (PDF).
• Choose one of the topics in the PDF and write an essay.
• Organize your response so that it includes at least three supporting details that you have learned from the reading passage, video, and other materials in this lesson.
• Use at least three vocabulary words (or form of the words) as part of your supporting details. For example, for the word jump, you could use jumps, jumped, or jumping.