Page 110 - 1619 Project Curriculum

“This year marks the 400th anniversary of when the first enslaved Africans were brought
to what is now the state of Virginia. Most of us are familiar with how slavery worked in
this country. We learn that enslaved men, women and children were kidnapped from
their homes in Africa, locked into heavy iron chains and crammed onto ships for a

dangerous journey. They had no idea where they were going and often died on the way

— from heat, starvation, thirst and violence. They were brought to the colonies and were
sold and forced to work on the land and in the homes of white people for the rest of their
lives, though resistance and rebellion were common. And they eventually fought for and

won their freedom — sacrificing their lives to escape bondage. But this is only part of

the story.”
Use the quote above and the details from the timeline to answer the following questions in a
class discussion:

• What information from the timeline surprised you?

• How does the information from the timeline connect to what you have already learned
about slavery and its lasting legacy?
• How does the information from the timeline reflect the lasting impacts of slavery? Where
else do you see evidence of the modern-day impacts of slavery?

Analyzing the Column: "How I Became A Historian"

After reading the column “How I Became a Historian,” write your responses to the following

questions on a separate piece of paper. Be prepared to share your responses with the class.

1. How did Annette Gordon-Reed decide to become a historian?
2. In her interview with Elise Craig, the historian Annette Gordon-Reed describes her
experience reading a biography of President Thomas Jefferson that was written from
the point of view of a fictionalized enslaved boy who is not very bright.
o How can fiction help us understand history?
How do you think a point of view might affect the story told? Is it possible for
o
a story to be written without a point of view?
3. Gordon-Reed describes the reading she does in order to confirm that Jefferson had
children with an enslaved woman on his plantation, Sally Hemings. Notice that these

sources are mostly created by white enslavers.
How does this make writing history about slavery more difficult?
o
Are there other sources that you could use to get a different point of view about
o
how enslaved people were treated, or about what the U.S. was like during
slavery?

Analyzing the Column: "4 Myths About Slavery"

Read through the myths about slavery, written by Erica L. Green and respond to the following
questions on your own, or in small groups:

1. How do you think the myths described in column came about?

2. What do you think history professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries means by “a sanitized

version of history”?

3. Which of the myths described by Green are ones you have heard before? Discuss how

you would go about correcting the misinformation, whether in person, through a letter,
or in some other way.