Mobile: Arrival Site of Enslaved Africans

Learning Resource Type

Learning Activity

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

5

Overview

Students will view and manipulate an interactive map that shows documented arrival sites of enslaved persons in the United States. They will locate and identify areas with natural harbors, such as Mobile, New York, Boston, Savannah, etc., that served as arrival sites of slave ships and centers of the slave trade. Students will use a template to identify these natural harbors that served as arrival sites from the Middle Passage.

Phase

After/Explain/Elaborate
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.6

Describe colonial economic life and labor systems in the Americas.

UP:SS10.5.6

Vocabulary

  • economic
  • labor system
  • establishment
  • Triangular Trade Route
  • Hemisphere
  • Americas
  • Latin America
  • North America
  • South America
  • island

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Each colony's economic life and labor system was unique and based on the geographic location of the colony.
  • Most slaves came from a variety of countries in Africa and were brought to the Americas by slave traders using the Triangular Trade Route.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Locate each colony on a physical and political map.
  • Describe and explain the types of labor used in each colony (indentured servitude, slaves, free blacks, merchants, farmers, shipping, fishing/whaling, among others).
  • Trace, examine and evaluate the Triangular Trade Route and its impact on colonial economy and labor systems.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Different labor systems were used to build and grow each of the 13 colonies.
  • Slave labor was brought to the Americas by the Northern colonial shipping industry and purchased and used in the Caribbean islands and Southern colonies.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.6.1

Recognizing centers of slave trade in the Western Hemisphere and the establishment of the Triangular Trade Route
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.1

Locate on a map physical features that impacted the exploration and settlement of the Americas, including ocean currents, prevailing winds, large forests, major rivers, and significant mountain ranges.

UP:SS10.5.1

Vocabulary

  • impact
  • exploration
  • settlement
  • prevailing
  • legend (key)
  • physical features
  • cultural features

Knowledge

Students know:
  • How geographic features such as ocean currents, prevailing winds, large forests, major rivers, and significant mountain ranges influenced exploration and settlement of the Americas.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Correctly use maps to identify various physical and cultural features, including natural harbors, states and capitals.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Geographical features influenced the exploration and settlement of the Americas.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 5

SS10.5.1.2

Identifying natural harbors in North America

Learning Objectives

The students will:

  • use an online map to recognize centers of slave trade in the Western Hemisphere that served as Middle Passage arrival sites of ships on the Triangular Trade routes.  
  • use an online map to identify natural harbors in North America that served as Middle Passage arrival sites.

Activity Details

The teacher will:

  1.  Ask students to recall what colonies or states they know were arrival sites on the Middle Passage. Direct them to recall Alabama especially, but they should also recall South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, or Texas.
  2. Direct students to go to the Middle Passage Arrival Sites map on their device and project the site on the classroom screen.  
  3. Instruct them to locate Alabama on the map and zoom in to see that Mobile was the arrival site of slave ships in our state.  
  4. Using your screen, point them to look at a few other areas that had concentrations of arrival sites, such as Boston, New York, Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans, etc. Ask them to determine what main physical feature these major areas have in common with Mobile (a natural harbor).
  5. Guide the students to use the template document to capture and paste a screenshot of each of the natural harbors you have discussed plus an additional one of their choice. Allow them time to complete the template making sure to add the major city name and state name.  
  6. Give students instructions on how you will collect their electronic documents.

Assessment Strategies

Review answers on the students’ electronic documents to see that they identified the correct centers of slave trade/natural harbors as documented on the map.  Use the provided Answer Key. 

Acceleration

Provide an opportunity for students to add additional arrival sites/natural harbors to the document beyond the one of choice.  

Allow students to scroll down below the interactive map to view the markers placed at each site. They may add that information to the document as well. 

Intervention

For students who may struggle with zooming in on the map and capturing the image or typing the city and state names, you may want to edit the template beforehand to include some of the information and/or provide a “bank” of the correct screenshots so they can move them into the corresponding fields on the template. It may also be helpful to allow students to work in pairs to complete the template.  

Background / Preparation

Students will need to be familiar with the fact that Alabama was a site of slave trade and have knowledge of the Triangular Trade Route and how the process worked. They will also need basic computer skills that will allow them to navigate to and manipulate the map’s zoom features.  The teacher will need to be familiar with the interactive map, Middle Passage Arrival Sites https://www.middlepassageproject.org/documented-arrival-sites/, and have a general idea of the natural harbors that served as sites of arrival of enslaved persons documented on the map (Mobile, Boston, New York, Savannah, New Orleans, Providence/New Port, Biloxi, Norfolk, Charleston, etc.).  The teacher will need to make a digital copy of the document Middle Passage Arrival Sites at Natural Harbors and distribute it to students electronically. Make a digital copy of the Answer Key and be familiar with how students will complete it. Be prepared to treat this topic with sensitivity following your district’s policies for teaching about enslaved persons.

Learning Activity (Before)

Domain-Specific Vocabulary Check - Western Hemisphere

Total Duration

16 to 30 Minutes

Learning Activity (During)

Centers of Slave Trade in the Continental U.S.

Learning Activity (After)

Mobile: Arrival Site of Enslaved Africans

Materials and Resources

Student Materials:

Electronic device with internet

Middle Passage Arrival Sites at Natural Harbors (copied and shared by the teacher)

Access to Learning Management System or Shared Drive

Teacher Materials:

Classroom projector to show teacher computer screen

Middle Passage Arrival Sites at Natural Harbors (copied and shared with students via a Learning Management System or Shared Drive)

Answer Key

Middle Passage Arrival Sites
https://www.middlepassageproject.org/documented-arrival-sites/
Middle Passage Arrival Sites at Natural Harbors
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdez335r7Pi4sPCX5LfsXJcrR6oVd8UbNf2j2c3jX3Q…

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

sjordan
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