Last updated: October 30, 2023
Lesson Plan
Salem, Slavery, and the Sacred Cod
- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 90 Minutes
- Common Core Standards:
- 5.L.4, 5.L.4.a, 5.L.4.c, 5.L.6
- State Standards:
- Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Science 3.T5, 4.T4a, 5.T1
Essential Question
How were maritime communities in New England, like Salem, Massachusetts, connected to slavery?
Objective
As a result of this lesson plan, students will:
1. Describe the Triangular Trade, and the role New England played.
2. Use historical documents to identify some trade commodities of maritime New England.
3. Create a document-based argument (written, verbal or video) that maritime New England was, in fact, connected to the Atlantic slave economy.
Background
Slavery is often taught and thought of as something unique to the South in U.S. history. Students are often taught how slavery “never took hold” in the North. The reality, however, is that slavery was deeply connected in the North, in places like New England, Massachusetts, Essex County, and Salem. In addition to the labor gained from opressing and enslaving people of African descent, tremendous wealth was made trading local resources to the West Indies. Much of this trade, through commodities like salted fish, was to support and maintain slave plantations there.
A Note on Language: Over the course of American history the language used to describe Black people has changed and most likely will continue to change. In these materials we use Black and African American interchangeably. Be sure to discuss with students that some of the primary sources they will encounter in these lessons use outdated terms as well as racist and offensive language to describe Black people. We recommend developing a plan or guidelines with students to ensure a respectful, reflective classroom discussion.
Preparation
Be prepared with the graphic organizer and primary sources which can be dowloaded from the "Materials" section as well as the following secondary sources:
Secondary Sources
Video (2 minutes): “How did the “business of slavery” link economies in the Atlantic World?” by Christy Clark-Pujara, The Choices Program, Brown University (2017). https://www.choices.edu/video/business-of-slavery/
Virtual Tour Artifact*: The 'sacred cod' hangs in the House Chamber of the Massachusetts State House on the third floor. The picture above of the Historic Codfish (1780), by an unknown artist, is from the Massachusetts State House Art Collection. Courtesy Commonwealth of Massachusetts, State House Art Commission. https://malegislature.gov/VirtualTour/FloorView?floorId=3
Book: The Cod's Tale: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky (pages 30-33 are most relevant) https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316144/the-cods-tale-by-mark-kurlansky-illustrated-by-sd-schindler/
Materials
Graphic organizer to use with the primary and secondary sources.
Download Graphic Organizer: Salem, Slavery and the Sacred Cod
This packet includes 5 scanned images of a primary source documents and their transcriptions.
Download Primary Source Packet - Salem, Slavery, Sacred Cod
Lesson Hook/Preview
Project or provide students with the image and description of the 'sacred cod' provided in the linked secondary resource. After looking at and reading about the artifact with students, ask:
- Why do you think the 'sacred cod' is there?
- What could it represent?
- What do you know about the history of cod fish and cod fishing?
- Why do you think a codfish would have been an important symbol for Massachusetts?
End by telling students they will be exploring whether the 'sacred cod,' and the Massachusetts economy and maritime communities like Salem, might be connected to slavery.
Procedure
- Students will be introduced to the focus questions of the lesson, the final task and how they will be keeping track of their research on the graphic organizer.
- Begin with the “Business of Slavery” video. Video can either be viewed whole class or students can watch individually or in small groups, based on technology availability and teacher preference. Ask students to jot down at least three notes from the video.
- After students view the video and collect notes, ask students to share their learning and reactions with the whole group. Repeat this process with the relevant pages of the supplemental text, The Cod's Tale, if available.
- Independently, or in small groups, have students begin to answer the focus question in the second column of their graphic organizer. (In what ways does this show maritime communities in New England were connected to slavery?)
- Ask some students to share their thinking and writing before moving on to primary sources. Teacher will introduce students to primary sources for the lesson and ask students why they might be helpful as we construct our arguments.
- As the Timothy Orne letter features the most challenging language, we recommend starting with it as a model. Show the original document to students. Read through slowly and carefully, paraphrasing for students in chunks. At the end, have students independently or with partners jot down at least two notes in their graphic organizer about the document and review with the whole class.
- Have students turn and talk: How does this connect to what we learned in secondary sources? Use student responses to generate an answer for the second column of the graphic organizer.
- Use the same process to examine the other documents. After students have processed primary sources, the class shares out key findings.
Vocabulary
adventure: an enterprise/investment involving financial risk
alewives/elvives: the alewife is a small common fish found in New England waters
bb: an abbreviation for the word “barrel” which was an English unit of measurement; in the United States a barrel would be about 30 gallons
butt: an English unit of measurement that was used for barrels; in the United States a butt would be about 135 gallons
hoops: the rings that hold the staves of a barrel together
Johannes: a gold coin formerly used as currency in Portugal
neat: with all deductions or allowances made; net
spars: poles of wood used on a sailing vessel to carry its sail
staves: wooden strips or parts that make up a barrel
tierces: an English unit of measurement that was used for barrels; in the United States a tierce would be about 42 gallons
West Indies: the term West Indies is often interchangeable with the term Caribbean; a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea
A note about barrels: During the time these primary source documents were written, wooden barrels were used as shipping containers. Barrels were used to store both liquid goods and dry goods. They came in many sizes with different names. A ton was set at 252 gallons which was a liquid measurement. The next size down of each barrel size was cut in half. A pipe barrel was next which held 126 gallons, or half of a ton, a hogshead would be 64 gallons, and so on. However, there were exceptions to this rule, many more barrel sizes existed, and some barrels were known by more than one name. For example, a butt is the same as a pipe. Dry goods, such as salted fish, would be packed into the barrel until the weight matched the same as the barrel full of water.
Assessment Materials
Creating ArgumentsIndependently, or in small groups, students will combine their learning from the primary and secondary sources to create arguments about how slavery was connected to New England.
Arguments can be written and presented as short responses or longer essays, based on time and teacher preference. Students can also present their arguments and learning orally by creating a video.
If possible, have students share or respond to each other’s work. Have students discuss and respond to these questions:
-
Did anything you learn surprise you? Why or why not?
-
If you were leading a tour of the Massachusetts State House, what information would you want people to know about the Sacred Cod?
Additional Resources
Author Recognition: "Slavery, Salem, and the Sacred Cod" was developed by Peter Doherty, grade 5 teacher, Saltonstall School, Salem, Massachusetts.
Donor Recognition: This program was made possible by a grant from the National Park Foundation through the generous support of Union Pacific Railroad and donors across the country.
Partner Recognition: The National Park Service at Salem Maritime collaborated with The Hard History Project and local teachers to co-create lesson plans dealing with slavery and freedom. Thank you to the staff of The Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum where most of the documents used in these lessons are preserved and made accessible.