Slavery Comes to the New World

After the discovery of the New World, European settlers felt they needed slave labor to help build their colonies. Attempts to enslave New World natives failed. A new supply of cheap labor was found in Africa. This primary source portfolio tells the story of slavery from its ancient beginnings as a component of war to its development as a profitable, but cruel, business. Students will be exposed to conventional thought of the times, where certain humans were quite normally viewed as commodities. Students will also examine items that explain the ordeals of the people who first tried to abolish slavery. A detailed timeline displays the story of slavery, from prehistory to 1808. Also included are reproducible student activities with a response key, and a recommended reading list for further exploration. 4 Illustrated Broadsheet Essays: * Slavery * Slavery in North America * Horrors of the Middle Passage * A Change in Opinion 8 Primary Source Documents: * Plan of the slave ship Brookes, 1808 * Portrait of William Wilberforce by Sir Thomas Lawrence * A bill or advertisement for a West Indian slave auction, 1829 * Selected pages from the Journal of John Newton, 1750-1754 * Report, resolutions and remonstrance from the Council and Assembly of Jamaica to Great Britain's House of Commons, October 1789 * Accounts of the numbers of Negroes delivered to the islands of Barbados, Jamaica, and Antigua, 1698-1708 * Cartoons depicting various views of slavery, 1790-1832 * Sold into slavery: scenes from slave life