Slavery Teaching Worksheets

Printable Slavery Teaching Worksheets

Ancient Romans are credited with countless contributions to humanity. These include the Roman alphabet, unbelievable architectural styles, bridges, and even inspiring modern Democracy. The worksheets below can be very helpful for your classes.

Slavery Related Bulletin Board Printables

What Is Slavery?

We have often heard about slavery in the popular media. When conversations about race are brought up, slavery is at the forefront of these conversations, especially in the United States. It is not limited to the Americas. It was a war tactic in the past, where prisoners of war were made to serve under duress. Most empires and kingdoms had some slave system in place.

Recent developments keep igniting conversations about race in the US. Therefore, we will also focus on how the slavery systems came to exist in the US and how people abolished them.

Slavery is a system that includes forced labor and the use of people against their wishes. Enslaved people are not considered free. They are not free to make their own decisions because they can be bought and sold like property.

The working conditions for enslaved people are menial, and abuse is rife since they have no rights. They are at the mercy of their owners, leading to many owners keeping their slaves in horrible conditions. Enslaved people are people of all genders, and even younger children can be enslaved.

How Did Slavery Begin in America?

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, African people were kidnapped from their home countries and brought to the US so that white people could benefit from their labor. They were forced to work in the American colonies. Many consider the beginning of the North Atlantic Slave Trade to be 1619, when the White Lion brought 20 enslaved Africans to Jamestown, Virginia.

In the 17th century, many European traders would frequent Africa and bring back slaves to work in cotton fields. The African labor was much cheaper and plentiful, and many historians believe that it allowed for the construction of New Age America as it is.

There aren't proper records of the number of enslaved people. However, many think that the number ranged from 5 to 7 million enslaved people, depriving the African continent of some of the best women and men in the continent.

The History Behind It

The slavery of African folks continues to exist in a revolutionary way even after that. Many enslaved Africans are noted to have fought with Americans against the tyranny of the British until they were finally able to win the war. However, the slave trade seemed to continue in the South after the revolutionary war. The transaction never went all the way up to the North.

However, many historians believe that Business owners in the North still managed to take advantage of Slave labor. Many enslaved people lived on plantations or small farms. Many masters owned many enslaved people, up to 50 at a time. They would face conditions that were sub-human at best.

The enslaved Africans had no agency and weren't even allowed to carry out normal relations. They weren't given the right to education, marriage, or earn their living apart from the work they did at the masters' farm.

Marriages between the enslaved had no legality, and relations were often punished. However, if the couple bore children, they would automatically become enslaved once they were of age.

Many enslaved people carried out rebellions to end the slave trade. However, very few of them were successful.

How Was It Abolished?

After the revolutionary war, more and more Northerners grew sentimental about the fact that the Southern slaves were being treated the same way the British treated the American Colonies. Many different events occurred that brought about the abolishment of slavery.

However, the northerners weren't just interested in abolishing slave labor because of the human rights violations. Many believed they were against the cause due to the free market system that slave labor didn't support. They thought slave labor didn't make any economic sense.

Significant Events in the Abolitionist Movement

Missouri Compromise

Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a compromise between the South and North of the US. It was passed by Congress and made Missouri the 24th state in the USA. It helped to mark the beginning of a sectional conflict between the North and South on the existence of slavery and was one of the biggest reasons for the American Civil War. It was the first time in American History that Slavery was acknowledged, with Maine being accepted into the House as a Free State and Missouri being admitted as a Slave state.

Kansas- Nebraska Act

This act of 1854 may have been the most important event leading to the Civil war. In 1850, settlers and entrepreneurs wanted to settle in Nebraska for business. However, it hadn't been recognized as a territory. When there were questions about admitting Kansas and Nebraska into statehood, there were also questions about whether they would admit slavery within these territories. It opened the wounds of the North and the South all over again.

Civil War

The South was at a breaking point when Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln became the President. It was the beginning of the confederacy in the United States. Seven southern states had aligned themselves as confederates, and four more would follow.

Lincoln began his anti-slavery views as a Civil war broke out between the North and the South, which many claimed was fought against slavery. Still, other people stated how it was fought to preserve the sanctity of America.

When Did Slavery Come to a Halt?

Slavery ended with the emancipation proclamation made by Lincoln on September 22, 1862. However, it was made official in January of 1863 with proper legislation that freed many enslaved people. Slavery didn't end with the Emancipation Proclamation. That happened by passing the 13th amendment as the Civil War ended in 1865.

Final Thoughts

Slavery is a system of abuse that relies on taking advantage of the weakness and vulnerability of another human being. There's no room for slavery in modern-day society. However, there is much we need to learn from the history of slavery. Not just in the United States but in the rest of the world today. It is our job to ensure that the history of slavery doesn't repeat itself.