Duration:
February / 3 days, 45-minute segments.
Focus:
Integrated curriculum to include Social Studies, Language, Arts, Music, and Art.
Suggested Readings:
Middle Passage
From Slavery to Freedom
Before The Mayflower
Castle & Forts of Ghana
Vocabulary:
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slavery
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imprisoned
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shackled
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dehumanizing
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servitude
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indentured servant
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schooners
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slaveships
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slave trade
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slavetrader
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slavers
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libation
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Diaspora
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Middle Passage
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overseer
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miscegenation
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annihilation
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enslavement
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trans Atlantic
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legacy
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ancestors
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muskets
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shackles
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chattel
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Objectives:
Students will
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*recognize that both Africans and Europeans were involved in the sale and transport of human cargo.
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*learn about the agony of the trans-Atlantic slave trade through language, music, and song
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*re-enact a voyage on a slave vessel through storytelling and interactive role-play (Tom Feelings' Middle Passage, supported by the historical writings by Professor John Henrik Clarke, will serve as our storyboard)
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*experience the slave trade through visual images, authentic photos, and narrative writings, take an "interactive journey" from Cape Coast Castle in Ghana to the Caribbean and the Americas
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*comprehend that the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a tragic, dehumanizing ordeal
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*recognize that the use of language is a crucial aspect of effective communication and is not limited to oral and written traditions
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*subsequently create a slave narrative based on their understanding and interpretation of the dehumanizing journey
Background Information:
Should you visit the southern coastal region of Ghana today, you can see Elmina, Cape Coast, Dix Cove, Axim, and other castles-each a haunting reminder of a gut-wrenching episode in history.
Upon stepping back in time, we would find that around 1471, Portuguese explorers landed on Ghana's southernmost border; they named it "the Gold Coast" because the area was abundant in the precious metal (Anquandah, Castles and Forts of Ghana, 1999). At first, simple trade took place. Between the 14 through 1700s, news of the wealth and beauty of the land had spread extensively. Avarice and competition set in. Commerce increased and soon included not only the trade of gold, ivory, mahogany, salt, and other natural resources, but also the sale of human cargo. Both Europeans and Ghanaians were actively engaged in this lucrative business however many historians conjecture Ghanaian slaveholders were unaware of the severity of the institution as perpetrated by European slave merchants. The Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Spanish (who of the four played the least dehumanizing role in the sale of human cargo) contributed to the downfall of the once-thriving culture. More than 8,000,000 Ghanaians were forcibly shipped from Cape Coast castle alone! Many of the victims spoke different languages such as Ga, Twi, Ewe, and when herded onto slave vessels, were unable to communicate with one another. Asantehenes, queen mothers, priests, Yanas, other members of the royal family, architects, metalworkers, farmers, weavers, families, children born and unborn…. all were stripped from their homeland. Beaten and shackled, they were indiscriminately placed in holding pens until the slave schooners were ready to set sail. The women, strategically placed in a special area beneath the senior slave merchants' bedchambers, met an unpardonable fate. (Upon visiting Cape Coast castle today, you still smell the stench of death in the holding area-- you hear the haunting, disheartening echoes and whispering sounds of struggle in labyrinths beneath the castle leading to the slaveholders' chambers.)
Led through the castle gates, the people wailed recognizing that they would never see their homeland again. Theirs was an exit through what Ghanaians today still refer to as the
Door of No Return
.
Activity.
Through The Door of No Return
Before beginning this exercise, set the stage. Line your classroom tables and chairs up in such a way that one large aisle is formed. Have children come to group in this designated area, and begin with the discussion of Ghana once being a great empire. Tell your students to imagine they are living in a Ghanaian fishing village, frolicking and/or working along the shoreline when suddenly they notice a strange group of men, Portuguese slave traders drawing near. At this point, use Tom Feeling's
Middle Passage
as a visual complement. Discuss the illustrations. (Note: This beautifully illustrated work contains powerfully graphic images; be sure to preview the book and clip together those pages that you deem most appropriate for your young viewers. Note too that Professor John Henrik Clarke provides enlightening introduction to coincide with each portrayed image that can be read for additional background information purposes.) Subsequently, turn off the lights. Nurturingly inform the children that they are about to take an imaginary journey on that slave schooner. Have each child lay out on the floor side by side as closely packed as possible. Advise them that for the next five minutes, they cannot talk, turn their heads from side to side, or move any part of their bodies. They must lie perfectly still as if their hands and feet were shackled. Encourage them to close their eyes and think about these inquiries:
What would do if you saw strangers entering your community clad with muskets and shackles? How would you feel if they forced you from your homeland into an unfamiliar structure-a castle-and they stuffed you into a cramped room called a holding pen? That room contained small slits in its walls so that light and air could barely come through. How would you feel? Imagine being lead through a gate and herded like cattle onto a slaveship. Envision being stacked alongside and on top of each other. If you are sick or nauseous, you must remain in your spot. If you must use the bathroom, you must stay there. If your friend or a person unknown dies alongside you, you must lie there. Imagine the sights. The sounds. The smells. The thoughts. Imagine…
Give students a few minutes to quietly savor these questions. Then have them open their eyes and return to their seat where they will participate in syntax-development storywriting activity. Children will be allowed to use inventive spelling (words written out on a phonemic basis). Stories will be edited and rewritten on a story worksheet (see Attachment A).
Extension Activity
Continue the journey by showing
Road to Freedom
, a film produced and directed by actor Tim Reid. This film can be used to highlight life post the infamous voyage and the spirit, ingenuity, and strength of a people as they strive to be free.
