Students will be given either a narrative by Olaudah Equiano describing his enslavement or a description of the practice of indentured servitude by Gottlieb Mittelberger. Students will be divided with half the class reading one source and half the class reading the other just prior to the lesson on Triangular Trade in the unit on Colonies. After reading the narrative, students will write a brief summary of the author’s message. Students will then answer sourcing and contextualizing questions about the narrative. Finally, after discussing the readings together as a class, students will learn the identity of both authors. Students will return to the paper on which they have been recording their answers and now create a Venn diagram of slaves and indentures servants.
Historical Background
Gottlieb Mittelberger traveled to William Penn’s colony of Pennsylvania in the mid 1700’s. He wrote the account back to people in Germany, his home country, to encourage them to work hard in their home country instead of coming to the colonies and working just as hard, often in servitude, and also enduring an arduous journey. In his observation, the indentures no longer had fixed formal contracts, but were auctioned off upon arrival. Mittleberger called this “barbaric.”
Oladdah Equiano was captured in Africa at age 11 along with his sister. He was bought and sold multiple times. During this time, he was a slave of a naval captain during the Seven Years War, a slave in Virginia, Great Britain, and the Caribbean. His last owner, Robert King, a Quaker, allowed Equiano to buy his freedom. Later, Equiano went back to Great Britain and married. He wrote an autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano which outlined the evils of slavery and helped influence the abolitionists’ movement.
By reading these narratives, students will compare and contrast the experience of slaves and indentured servants.
Lesson Objective
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the factors that shaped colonial America by describing colonial life in America from the perspectives of large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, free African Americans, indentured servants, and enslaved African Americans
Objective: Students will gain an understanding of the conditions both physical and emotional of enslaved African Americans and indentured servants.
The SOL standard focuses on the status of slaves and indentured servants in Colonial America. In keeping with the “How did we get from here to there?” theme, I want students to pause and think about how slaves and indentured servants were obtained, transported to the colonies, and treated.
Materials
- Narrative by Olaudah Equiano
- Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750, Equiano Narrative
- Student Organizer
Procedure
- Hook/Preview: The teacher will have students discuss what makes a primary source. The teacher will put particular emphasis on journals, letters, and autobiographies. She will then create interest by saying today students are going to read two accounts from two people who had experiences in the colonies at the time being studied. The introduction is deliberately vague so not to give clues to what the narratives are about prior to students’ reading them.
- Steps for analyzing source: Students will read the narrative assigned. They will follow the graphic organizer (attached) to help structure their historical thinking skills.
- After reading the narrative, students will write a brief summary of the author’s message.
- Students will then answer sourcing and contextualizing questions about the narrative. For example, who wrote each narrative and under what circumstances? Is the account believable? To contextualize, students will hypothesize about a physical location and time period for the narratives as well as what was happening in society.
- Finally, after discussing the readings together as a class, students will learn the identity of both authors.
- Students will return to the paper on which they have been recording their answers and now create a Venn diagram of slaves and indentures servants.
Assessment
Students will be formatively assessed on their ability to demonstrate their understanding and mastery of historical thinking skills by the answers on the graphic organizer.
References
Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750, trans. Carl Theo Eben (Philadelphia, John Jos McVey, 1898), 25-31. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5712 (accessed October 7, 2012)
Monk, Linda R. (editor), Ordinary Americans, Alexandria, VA: Close Up Publishing, 2003, pp. 8-10.
