The Atlantic slave trade: how it worked and what it did to millions of people
Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Use this
Voices, resistance and the end (cards A to D; quotations are exact, other text is in our words). Card A, Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative (London, 1789), volume I, chapter 2. Equiano wrote that he was kidnapped as a child in West Africa: "One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both, and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood." Some historians question where Equiano was born, because two records from his life name South Carolina; others accept his own account, and the question is still debated. Card B, the same book, volume II, chapter 7, after Equiano bought his freedom: "…before night, I who had been a slave in the morning, trembling at the will of another, was become my own master, and completely free. I thought this was the happiest day I had ever experienced…" Card C, a timeline from museum, archive and State Department pages. 1791 to 1804: the Haitian Revolution, a revolt of enslaved people, creates the second independent country in the Americas. 1807: Britain's Parliament ends its slave trade, though about a quarter of all the people enslaved were carried across the Atlantic after this date. January 1, 1808: the United States bans bringing in enslaved people, but buying and selling inside the country goes on. 1833 to 1838: slavery ends in the British colonies, freeing 800,000 people in the Caribbean. Brazil ended slavery in 1888, the last country in the Western world to do so. Card D, a note on resistance: it took many forms, including keeping traditions alive, escaping, plotting uprisings, and revolts on some ships, after which some voyages were turned aside.
Card A is Equiano's own words, published in London in 1789. What kind of source is it, Ren asks?
- A later historian's summary, written after the trade had ended in Britain
- An unreliable story, since a source written years later has nothing to teach us
- A first-hand account of his life, written years later to persuade readers
- A merchant's ledger, kept during the voyage to count profit
Card A says some historians question where Equiano was born. How should Tala treat the claim of a kidnapping in West Africa?
- As what Equiano wrote about himself, with other evidence needed before each detail is settled
- As settled by the two records naming South Carolina, so that Equiano's own account is set aside
- As proven, because a first-hand account cannot be questioned
- As false, because historians who debate one detail must be wrong about the whole book
How does card B change the picture of the trade that a merchant's ledger gives, Zee asks?
- It gives the view of a person who was enslaved, which ledgers of profit leave out
- It replaces the ledger, because one person's view is a full account of the whole trade
- It shows the ledger was wrong about prices
- It shows how many people were carried across the Atlantic each year
A student writes, "The slave trade ended in 1807." Which part of card C challenges this, Esme asks?
- The Haitian Revolution began in 1791, so the trade had already ended there before 1807
- About a quarter of those carried crossed after 1807, and the US ban came in 1808
- Britain's 1807 law bans each country from the trade, so the date holds
- Slavery ended in 1838, so the trade must have ended that year too
Which pair of cards best supports the claim that enslaved people resisted in more than one way, Jun asks?
- No pair, because resistance can be shown by a record from a ship alone
- Cards A and C, because both give dates in the 1700s and name a revolt
- Cards A and B, because both describe Equiano making a plan to resist
- Cards C and D, one naming an uprising and one listing escape, traditions and revolts on ships
Why does the place and date of card A, London in 1789, matter for its purpose, Kira asks?
- He published just for merchants, to show them how to run voyages for profit
- He published to explain the Haitian Revolution to British readers in London
- He published after the trade had ended, to record a finished chapter
- He published for British readers while the trade was still legal
Card B says Equiano was "trembling at the will of another" before he was free. What does the wording show, Luz asks?
- He describes slavery as an ordinary job from which he was given a free day each week
- He describes how he planned the Haitian Revolution
- He describes freedom as a reward for obeying his master
- He describes slavery as living at another's will, and freedom as being his own master
A student writes, "By 1838 slavery was over everywhere in the Americas." Which part of card C challenges this, Milo asks?
- Slavery ended in the British colonies, so the claim about the whole of the Americas is true
- The US ban of 1808 shows slavery ended in the United States in 1808
- The Haitian Revolution ended in 1804, so slavery had ended in Haiti
- Brazil ended slavery in 1888, the last country in the Western world to do so
Using card C, which statement about change over time is best supported, Noah asks?
- Lawmakers alone changed things, since card C lists just laws
- Laws against the trade came first, in 1807 and 1808, and slavery ended in British colonies later
- Laws against the trade stopped shipments of people after 1808
- Slavery ended first in British colonies, and the laws against the trade came decades later in Britain and the United States
Which new source would best help Pia test whether people resisted during the Middle Passage?
- A museum page that repeats card D's list of resistance in new words
- A map of the Atlantic currents and winds that the ships used to cross
- Records of voyages turned aside after revolts, read with the ship's log
- A list of plantation crops grown in the Caribbean in later years