Fieldtrip: Zoar Village October 15, 2011

 The APRIL NEWSLETTER is now availible! Click the link at left to Learn about:

Resources for teaching the War of 1812

Acting Out History 

Chronicling America Podasts

Narratives of Slavery: Analyzing Primary Sources

In this 5 minute video teachinghistory.org  (you can also read a transcript), historian Richard Follett analyzes two narratives of slavery: an investigative report written by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1853 for the New York Times and Solomon Northrup's book Twelve Years A Slave. He discusses each document separately and then compares their very different perspectives on slavery in Louisiana's sugar growing parishes. Follett models several historical thinking skills, including: close reading;attention to key source information, including who wrote each account, when, and for what purpose; and exploring how to make sense of multiple perspectives and conflicting accounts. Note that the Primary Source Activity Assignment related to the The Slave Trade seminar is on organized on the theme, Point of View.