Heart and Soul Chapter 1 - Declarations of Independence

Today we begin our Black History Unit with Chapter 1: Declarations of Independence. There are a LOT of resources here, do not feel that you need to use them all. Sometimes less is more! You could spend several weeks (or months!) doing a comprehensive study on this period of African American history, or you might choose to just hit some highlights, your choice.

Main point: Blacks, both slave and free, were present in America from the very beginning and instrumental in the foundation of our country.

Read Chapter 1 of Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans and narrate part or all.

COPYWORK/STUDIED DICTATION:

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth." - George Washington

 You might choose a longer passage for your older student. You might also wish to have your child copy and illustrate a poem from one of the below resources.

PROFILES OF FAMOUS AFRICAN AMERICANS

Download FAMOUS AFRICAN AMERICANS - Chapter 1 (You may wish to add additional persons)

HISTORY

A Kid's Guide to African American History: More than 70 Activities (A Kid's Guide series) - Chapter 2: Colonial America. Of particular note:

• African explorers were part of and instrumental to Spanish expeditions in the New World in the early 1500s; enslaved and free Africans were part of Spain's early attempts to establish colonies in what is now South Carolina and Alabama; skilled Africans were influential in the success of the settlement at St. Augustine
• 20 African indentured servants, experts in farming and ironworking, arrived in Jamestown in 1619. After earning their freedom they owned land, voted, and held political office during period prior to the beginning of slavery in the late 1600s.
• The first patriot to die in the American Revolution was Crispus Attucks, a former slave.
• Many African Americans fought with courage in the Revolutionary War.
• Congress passed a law making the slave trade (not slavery) illegal in 1808.

Choose any of the following crafts/activities:

• Make a bead necklace
• Make a 3D picture of a merchant ship
• Write an almanac
• Make a star-watching chart
• Make a kneeling slave medallion
• Trace or draw a map of the Middle Passage (p. 28)

America's Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes & Early Leaders with 21 Activities (For Kids series) - celebrates the lesser known but significant lives and contributions of our nation's early African American leaders.

Choose any of the following crafts/activities:

• Stuff a straw mattress
• Weave a fanner
• Make a stamp
• Draw a political cartoon
• Pen a patriotic poem
• Write a new verse for "Yankee Doodle Dandy"
• Design a flag
• Read the Declaration
• Explore your family tree
• Paint a historic picture
• Celebrate Constitution Day (September 17)
• Map a capital city
• Write a government official
• Organize a helpful event
• Write a petition
• Craft a clay pot
• Form a literary society
• Publish a newspaper
• Bake firecakes
• Cook pepper pot soup
• Make homemade salt

Picture Books:
D Is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet: F is for Founding Fathers
Almost Invisible - Black Patriots of the American Revolution
Phillis's Big Test - Because she is a slave, Phillis Wheatley must take a test to prove that she was the author of her poetry
Phillis Sings Out Freedom: The Story of George Washington and Phillis Wheatley

Longer Text Picture Books:
The Black Regiment of the American Revolution - slaves who fought not only for American independence but also for their own freedom
African Americans and the Revolutionary War (Journey to Freedom: The African American Library) - Good basic overview for children
Liberty or Death: The Surprising Story of Runaway Slaves who Sided with the British During the American Revolution - interesting story about a specific aspect of black service during Revolution
Come All You Brave Soldiers: Blacks in the Revolutionary War A general book about soldiers through all of the American wars from pre-revolution to Gulf War.
A Voice of Her Own: A Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet , a biography for children of a noted African American poet
Dear Benjamin Banneker - The story of a free black astronomer and mathematician who decided to take a stand against slavery by writing to then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.

Chapter Books:
The Captive (Apple Paperbacks) - experiences of an African young man taken to New England as a slave, loosely based on a true story

Poetry:
I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry - Lucy Terry and Phillis Wheatley

WEBSITES:
 U.S. Capitol Historical Paintings (note, no African-Americans depicted)
Colonial Williamsburg Introduction to Colonial African American Life
Dunmore's Proclamation offering freedom to slaves who volunteered to fight for the British
African Colonials (Click on African Colonials tab on left side halfway down)
Very interesting collection of art, pictures, letters, etc. related to blacks in the Revolution
National Park Service site about African Americans in the Revolutionary Period

OTHER RESOURCES:
Liberty's Kids - This PBS history program for kids features Phillis Wheatley in episode 2 as well as a freed black artisan throughout the show (whose still-enslaved brother escaped and chose to fight for the British).

Crispus Attucks was the first patriot to die in the American Revolution in the Boston Massacre in 1770. The US Mint issued a commemorative coin in 1998.


In 1975 the US postal service issued a stamp of Salem Poor - African-American patriot who fought at Bunker Hill


An interesting rabbit trail - finding info on Prince Whipple - often identified as the African America in the front of the boat crossing the Delaware in Leutze's famous painting. He did serve in Revolution, but story of being at Trenton in Dec. 1776 appears not to be accurate.



Thanks to MaryM and stellamaris for your many contributions of books and resources for this chapter! If anyone has any further suggestions, please do share!

Up next: Chapter 2: Slavery