Last updated: June 4, 2023
Lesson Plan
The Lost Cause: Chattel Slavery and Corroborating Evidence (Grades 9-12) Lesson 2 of 3 Carl Sandburg Home NHS
- Grade Level:
- High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
- Subject:
- Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- State Standards:
- NC World History and American History
I.1.1 Compelling Questions
WH.C&G.1
WH.C&G.1.2
AH.B.1.2
AH.B.1.3
AH.B.1.1
AH.B.1.7
AH.C&G.1.2
AH.C&G.1.3
NC Language Arts Development
ELD-SS.9-12.Explain
ELD-SS.9-12.Argue
ELD-SS.9-12. Express - Thinking Skills:
- Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts. Evaluating: Make informed judgements about the value of ideas or materials. Use standards and criteria to support opinions and views.
Essential Question
How did slavery impact Western North Carolina (WNC)?
Why does some evidence contradict, and some evidence support basic historical claims?
Objective
I can explain the impact of slavery on western North Carolina.
I can compare different types of historical evidence.
Background
This lesson is the second of three lessons that help high school students to use historical evidence to understand the impact of slavery and forced migration on western North Carolina.
Preparation
Prepare for this lesson by accessing the Materials tab for the PowerPoint presentation and student handout.
Materials
Use this PowerPoint for delivering this lesson
Download Chattel Slavery and Collaborating Evidence PowerPoint
Students can use this worksheet to respond to questions.
Lesson Hook/Preview
(Activating Strategy)
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Can two contradictory pieces of historical evidence be true?
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What do you know about the pre-civil war history of Henderson County?
Procedure
(Teaching Strategy)
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Teachers should read through potential answers in advance but know that these are not the only possible answers.
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Use the student PowerPoint or print copies for students to analyze as they fill out the corresponding chart
(Summarizing Strategy)
Have students share their responses and discuss interpretations with one another.
Vocabulary
Corroborate—To confirm or give support to a statement, theory, or finding.
Contradict —To deny the truth of a statement by asserting the opposite.
Abolish – To formally put an end to a system, practice, or institution.
Slave codes – Every slave state had its own slave code and body of court decisions. All slave codes made slavery a permanent condition, inherited through the mother, and defined enslaved people as property, usually in the same terms as those applied to real estate. Enslaved people, being treated as property, could not own property or be a party to a contract.
Agency – The ability, condition, or state of acting with independent thought or will, or of exerting power. Even if a person is enslaved, they have countless ways of acting with agency regardless of oppressive practices.
Racism -- The belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. This also includes attitudes and actions that reflect this belief to the benefit of one group over others via social, economic, or political means.
Ellison Agder Smyth--Third owner of Connemara, now the Carl Sandburg Home NHS, industrialist and mill owner.
Christopher Gustavus Memminger--First owner of the home and property that is now the Carl Sandburg Home NHS. He was a secessionist who participated in the formation of the Confederate States government. He was the principal author of the Provisional Constitution (1861) as well as the founder of the Confederate financial system. As the first Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury, Memminger was the main author of the economic policies of Jefferson Davis's administration.
Enrichment Activities
Close with discussion questions at the end of the PowerPoint
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Why did some evidence corroborate previous claims?
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Why did some evidence contradict previous claims?
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What similarities did you see between the different “documents”?
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What perspective was missing from the documents?