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Imagine being forced to wake up early in the morning. It is still dark outside. You are given a cup of milk and and a biscuit. You are still hungry, but you know that you will not eat again until supper. Maybe if you are lucky there will be corn cakes for lunch. Feeling hungry and tired, you go out to the field with a basket to collect cotton. You work all day in the hot field. When you stop to wipe your neck, a man whips you.


 * This was the life of a slave. **



For the next week we will be exploring the topic of slavery.

Your job is to read a piece of the wiki every night.

Any word written in blue is a vocabulary word. Look up the definition and write it in your vocabulary notebook.



Check to see if there is a video to watch, or a discussion question to answer.

Your final project will be to write a journal pretending you are a slave boy or girl. (We will talk about it more later.) Keep this in mind as you are reading.

**Monday**

Back to where it all began:

The first slaves in America came from [|Africa] in 1619.

At that time, America was stilled ruled by the British government. They came on a Dutch ship to Virginia. These Africans were not supposed to be slaves. Slavery was illegal. They were to be indentured servants. They worked for long hours in the field picking tobacco. When the time came for the Africans to be set free, the American farmers did not want to give up their cheap workers.

In 1641 the government passed a law that said slavery was legal.

Slavery was so profitable that in 1660, Charles the 2nd, the King of England, started the Royal African Company. This was a company that sent boats to Africa to pick up slaves. Charles called slaves "Black Gold" because he made so much money from them.

In 1807 slavery was outlawed in England. The next year America made it illegal to import slaves, but slavery was still allowed.

How did slaves get from Africa to America?
 * Tuesday**

They were transported on slave ships across the Atlantic Ocean. It took two to three months to get to America.



On the ships the people were treated very badly. Slave ship captains put as many slaves on the ship as possible.The captains did not want them to be comfortable. They just wanted to make money, and the more slaves they had the more money they could make. The ship was so crowded, it was very difficult to breathe.



The Africans were branded on the arm or chest with the symbol of the captain or slave owner. They were given very little food. Many even starved. Captains would beat them in order to keep them from rebelling and to make them feel powerless. Sometimes they would hurt them for no reason, or throw some off the ship into the water.


 * Wednesday**

What happened to them when they got to America?

They would be sold at auctions.

Sometimes only a few slaves would be sold, and other times there would be hundreds. White men would come from all over and they would bid on the slaves. The slaves were called chattel.

The white men wanted to look at the slaves before they bought them. They would inspect them like cattle. They watched them walk, opened their mouths and checked their teeth, and pinched their arms and legs to feel their muscle. Sometimes families were sold together, but many times they were not. Plantation owners wanted the best workers for their fields. They bought whoever they thought was the best.

Go to the discussion page- watch the video of a slave auction and answer the question.


 * Thursday**

Do you think a slave lived in a house like you? Did they go to school?

explore this website and see what you can discover about the life of a slave.

[]


 * Friday**

__The Underground Railroad__

What kind of trains do they have?

Watch this video and find out: []

abolitionist conductor

On the discussion page watch the short Harriet Tubman Video and answer the question.

**Final Project**