Diary of a Grain of Rice OR an Indigo Plant
The mid-1700s saw the rise of plantations across the South and the move from sustenance to cash crops saw a greater dependence on slave labor. The labor-intensive, back-breaking work of planting and harvesting indigo and rice led to a surge in the African slave trade, and with it, both positive and negative impacts on the population, culture and economy of South Carolina. Seeing the world through another’s eyes oftentimes opens up perspectives that give new meaning to historical facts. In the following scenario you will have an opportunity to convey history from a whole new point of view in order to gain a new perspective on South Carolina’s past.
Problem
Your story begins sometime in the late 1700s on a South Carolina plantation where indigo and rice are the main cash crops. You are either a grain of rice or an indigo plant being grown on one of these plantations where African slaves labor in the fields owned by wealthy southern families. You will tell your story of what you see, hear, feel and smell to describe what life was like for those living on a plantation during this time period and to address the following driving questions:
- What was life like for various peoples on a South Carolina plantation during the 1700s?
- What were the contributions of these groups to South Carolina’s economy and way of life?
- What were the positive and negative effects of the growing slave population on the population of South Carolina, including way of life?
Lesson Created By: Christine Horowitz and Kim Buice
Lesson Partners: Spartanburg School District 7, ETV Education, Knowitall.org
Essential Question
Would South Carolina have been one of the most prosperous of the 13 colonies without slave labor?
Grade(s):
- 8
Subject(s):
Recommended Technology:
For photostory videos: iMovie, Slidestory.com, videolicious, Animoto, Prezi, PowerPoint, Keynote, Microsoft Photostory
For digital books/comic books: any word processor!, comic life, storybook creator app, Powerpoint, Keynote, iMovie
Other Instructional Materials or Notes:
Possible graphic organizer/mind map tools:
Any word processor, popplet app, Bubbl.us, Mind42.com
Lesson Progression
Step 1
Use the resources provided as well as any additional reliable resources to gather and synthesize information on the following:
- Life on a plantation during the 1700s of plantation owners, workers and especially African slaves (consider working conditions, food, clothing, roles, etc.)
- Physical attributes of a southern plantation (i.e. slave quarters, ‘the big house’
- Explain how the slave trade of the 1700s had an impact on the population, culture and economy of South Carolina (both positive and negative)
- Describe the contributions of African Americans to the southern economy (specifically agriculture)
- Compare and contrast the life of a slave with that of a plantation owner/owner’s family
Step 2
Collect primary and secondary source images that can be used in your narrative. Be sure to cite all sources using the proper format. Make sure these are cited in your finished product. View the RESOURCES tab for possible internet resources for research.
Step 3
Complete a graphic organizer/mind map, placing at least three facts in each category. Categories include:
- Physical characteristics of a Southern plantation
- Facts about the slave trade of the mid-1700s
- Processes of how African slaves planted/harvested rice and indigo, including any special talents that Africans were considered to have in agriculture
- Contributions of Africans on the southern economy
- Impact of increase in slave trade on population, culture and economy
- Roles and way of life of those who lived on the plantation
Possible graphic organizer/mind map tools:
- Any word processor
- Bubbl.us - https://bubbl.us/
- Mind42.com - https://mind42.com/
Step 4
Choose the resource and format in which you would like to tell your story (see possible tools below). In first person, write the narrative as if you were a grain of rice or an indigo plant that can see, hear, smell, feel (and even taste!) its surroundings. Include important information from your research as you narrate your story, as well as any images that help convey your story. Make sure that your narrative also answers the essential question, giving factual evidence to prove your position.
Rice and Slavery | Circle of Inheritance Segment 10 (7:45)
Circle of Inheritance delves deeper into the rice and slave industries in the early South.
View AssetGeorgetown | Pee Dee Explorer
Learn the history of Georgetown, South Carolina as well as the booming rice culture supported by slavery.
View AssetPBS: Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation
The Narrative orients you to the history and historical resources of this era. The Resource Bank provides annotated images and documents, stories, biographics, and commentaries. The Teacher's Guide helps you use the web site and TV series in U.S. history courses.
View ResourceGrowing Indigo in South Carolina – Ancestry Insights
In little over a decade after its cultivation by 16-year-old Eliza Lucas, indigo became one of South Carolina’s most profitable cash crops.
Plantations
This article on Plantations providing facts and information about the different plantations in Colonial America.
View ResourcePBS: The Stono Rebellion
South Carolina, September 9, 1739: A band of slaves march down the road, carrying banners that proclaim "Liberty!". They shout out the same word. Led by an Angolan named Jemmy, the men and women continue to walk south, recruiting more slaves along the way. By the time they stop to rest for the night, their numbers will have approached one hundred.
View ResourceStandards
- 8.1.CO Compare the three British North American colonial regions economically, politically, socially, and in regard to labor development.
- This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into how the three British colonial regions developed in terms of their culture, economies, geography, and labor. The indicator was also developed to encourage inquiry into the unique story of the development of South Carolina.
- 8.1.CE Analyze the factors that contributed to the development of South Carolina’s economic system and the subsequent impacts on different populations within the colony.
- This indicator was designed to encourage inquiry into the geographic and human factors that contributed to the development of South Carolina’s economic system. This indicator was also written to encourage inquiry into South Carolina’s distinct social and economic system as influenced by British Barbados.
- 8.1.P Summarize major events in the development of South Carolina which impacted the economic, political, and social structure of the colony.
- This indicator was designed to encourage inquiry into the development of South Carolina as a result of mercantilist policies, which ranged from the Navigation Acts to trade with Native Americans to the use of enslaved people as labor. This indicator was designed to promote inquiry into agricultural development, using the rice-growing knowledge of the enslaved West Africans.
- 8.1.E Utilize a variety of primary and secondary sources to examine multiple perspectives and influences of the economic, political, and social effects of South Carolina’s settlement and colonization on the development of various forms of government across the colonies.
- I Inquiry-Based Literacy Standards
- I.3 Construct knowledge, applying disciplinary concepts and tools, to build deeper understanding of the world through exploration, collaboration, and analysis.
- I.3.2 Examine historical, social, cultural, or political context to broaden inquiry.
- I.3.3 Gather information from a variety of primary and secondary sources and evaluate sources for perspective, validity, and bias.
- I.3.4 Organize and categorize important information, revise ideas, and report relevant findings.
- I.3 Construct knowledge, applying disciplinary concepts and tools, to build deeper understanding of the world through exploration, collaboration, and analysis.
- W.MCC Meaning, Context, and Craft
Assessments
Rubric for Assessment
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fn8DrFciPSPT52hgqn5x6GMe4WXG9gP9J1JO...