Concept
: Migration of southern blacks in the 1800’s
Generalization
: Many immigrants who came to New Haven were from rural North Carolina and had been slaves themselves or had parents who had been.
Objectives
: 1) Students will learn to read and understand vocabulary related to this subject as it is presented in the reading. 2) Students will begin to think about what it meant to be a “successful” Negro in the rural South and in the urban north in the mid-nineteenth century.
Materials
: Excerpt on Catherine Muse from
New Haven Negroes: A Social History,
pp. 128-130.
Activity 1
: Vocabulary study. The teacher will list on the board those words in the reading which relate in some way to black life in the South or migration as well as any other words which the students may not know. Every teacher will have an idea of the appropriate words for his/her class, but here are some suggestions:
Subject related
|
Other words
(These should be
|
migration
|
pronounced, understood, but not
|
immigration
|
necessarily mastered completely.)
|
Edenton (North Carolina)
|
significant
|
plantation (most students will know
|
divergent
|
the meaning of this word but may
|
maternal, paternal
|
not know how to read it)
|
aloof
|
weaving
|
associate, -d
|
seamstress
|
accompany, accompanied
|
supervisor
|
neurosis
|
emancipation
|
adventuresome
|
wrenching
|
promptings
|
derivatives (of slavery)
|
flank, -ed
|
competitive capitalism
|
severe
|
enter service
1.
|
The teacher will guide the students in pronouncing the words.
|
2.
|
The class will discuss the meaning of the words.
|
3.
|
Students will have the opportunity to make sentences with the words orally or in writing. (A comfortable knowledge of the vocabulary above will give the students an ideal introduction to the themes of the reading.)
|
Activity 2
: Students will read together or separately the excerpt on Catherine Muse. The teacher can pose questions that raise issues for discussion. Examples:
1.
|
How did a Negro attain “success” on a southern plantation? What did it mean to be “superior” to the “common Negro”?
|
2.
|
Why would Catherine Muse think that the old times were really better? What does it mean to exchange slavery for competitive capitalism?
|
Teacher’s note
: This reading and the vocabulary in it, like many personal histories, are a rich source for teaching general ideas and information while captivating student interest and offering a concrete and manageable challenge.