March 31

Focus Question: Who was responsible for the slave trade?


Learning Targets:

  • I can explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to create an argument
  • I can synthesize evidence from multiple sources
  • I can evaluate the African and European role in the slave trade
Narrative:

For the past several days, students have been learning about the Transatlantic Slave Trade and who was involved. Students have discovered that, while the slave trade had disastrous consequences for the African continent, Africans themselves were responsible for bringing slaves to the European slave traders that carried them across the Atlantic. 

We began today by discussing how this new knowledge fit into what author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls the "single story" of Africa. In this story, Africans are generally poor, ignorant, violent, and needy. Some students thought that learning about Africans' involvement in the trade perpetuated the single story because it showed them committing a horrible crime against people just like themselves. Others, though, argued that it helped eradicate the single story because it showed that Africans had control over their lives and were able to create a system that made them wealthy.

Next, students discussed their reading from the previous night to gain a similar understanding of the author's argument and the evidence he used to support it. After these small group discussions, the class discussed as a whole whether Africans are fully responsible or only partially responsible for the slave trade. At this point, most students think that Africans are fully responsible.

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