Resisting Slavery - Oral Histories

 
Day One: 
Teacher preparation:

• Download PBS LearningMedia Video: “Hutchinson’s Rebellion” (4:31)
• Copies of “Stono Rebellion-Two Views”, one for each student.
• Copies of Governor’s Bull’s Letter (Transcript) Have 3 copies of the original letter, one for each group.

Engage: 

• Have students watch PBS LearningMedia Video: “Hutchinson’s Rebellion” (4:31).  Plan to show the video twice.  
• Tell students they will view the video twice and their job is to write down at least five key points as they watch and listen.  Each point should be written on a post-it note.  Slips of paper or index cards may also be used.  The second viewing is for students to confirm, change, or add to the key points they identified during the first viewing.  
• After the second viewing, place students in groups of four.  Tell them to share the key points they collected and have them organize those points in ways that make sense to them.  Students will use their shared points to craft a short summary of their thinking to share with the whole class.  This may be done by having groups write their summaries on large sheets of paper and posting them around the room.  

Pose this question for students to consider as they complete a gallery walk to view the summaries:  What patterns do you see in the summaries posted by each group?

Lead a whole class discussion when students have completed the gallery walk. This provides transition to the next part of the lesson.
The Stono Rebellion from Three Different Points of View:

• Students remain in the groups of four formed to summarize their thinking about the video.
• Designate each group of four as a “1”, a “2” or a “3”.  There will be multiple groups assigned to each reading.  
• Students will round robin read aloud the document assigned to their group by reading one paragraph at a time in turn. They will use the 4 Ws & an H strategy handout to take notes as they read.  

NOTE:  There is a column headed “Jigsaw Group Notes.” Tell students that column will be not be used during the reading of the document assigned to their group.
Each student needs a copy of the strategy handout.  After a student finishes reading a paragraph, the group decides what to record on their handouts.  Students take turns reading a paragraph at a time, pausing at the end of each to record notes.

Student notes are to match the point of view of the person relating the events in their document.

Group 1: Stono Rebellion – View One

• Each student will receive a copy of “Stono Rebellion-Two Views”. Students in this group will read View One, from the “white official.”
• Students round robin read one paragraph at a time in turn, using the notes handout as described above.

Group 2: Stono Rebellion – View Two
(This may be a difficult reading, as it is written in dialect.)

• Each student will receive a copy of “Stono Rebellion-Two Views”. Students in this group will read View Two, from a family member of Cato, who was involved in the rebellion. 
• Students round robin read one paragraph at a time in turn, using the notes handout as described above.

Group 3: Governor Bull’s Letter
(This may be a difficult reading as it is written in language from the 1740’s and is written in cursive)

• Each student will receive a copy of Governor Bull’s Letter (transcript)
• Students round robin read one paragraph at a time in turn, using the notes handout as described above.

Jigsaw Groups

• Each Jigsaw group should have three members – one from each of the reading groups described above:
  • Stono Rebellion – View One
  • Stono Rebellion – View Two
  • Governor Bull’s Letter

Each Jigsaw group completes these tasks:

• Identify facts each point of view has in common
• Identify facts where the points of view differ
• Use the Jigsaw Group Notes column to capture their thoughts about the driving questions for the lesson: In what ways do oral histories teach us about historical events and how might historical facts be impacted by memories and personal stories? 

When Jigsaw groups have finished their analysis of the points of view and the driving questions, bring the class back together to debrief their reading and dialogue.  Capture the main points in some way so that students can revisit the ideas as the lesson progresses through the creation of their museum exhibits.

Day Two:
NOTE: While the intent of this lesson is to utilize digital technologies to create a digital museum exhibit, other resources may be used.

Different types of museum exhibits (static, interactive, online and/or digital) may be shared with students. These are easily found on the Internet through a search.

Digital museum exhibit: 
Engage: Share the oral history narrative from “Sarah Gudger” from the Library of Congress’ Slave Narratives https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snvoices03.html by reading the narrative. (Note: It is written in dialect) Sarah Gudger, an ex-slave, was 121 years old at the time of the interview in Asheville, NC between 1936-1938.

• Explain what an oral history is. 
• Ask students to review the Driving Question and record a few initial thoughts. Allow several students to share their thinking. 
• Ask students in what ways was the narrative from the Great-great grandson of the slave Cato different from the “unidentified white official’s” account? In what ways are they both different from Sarah Gudger’s story?
• Ask students if they were to write their own oral history, perhaps from a grandparent or great-grandparent, what story might they tell? What historical facts might they include? How might they ensure their narrative is historically accurate? (ie transportation, lifestyle, technologies, etc.)

Scenario: Explain that the local historical museum has asked for student created digital oral history exhibits for a new project. Students will be creating a digital oral history museum exhibit portraying South Carolinians in the mid 1700’s, prior to the American Revolution. They will research and choose a South Carolinian from the time period and create a “museum” exhibit with a recorded oral history narration. This narration is an example of historical fiction. One of the requirements should be that the events included in the oral history exhibit should be historically accurate. 

Introduce the “museum exhibit” concept. (The Instructional Planning and Instructional Process documents from Kids Curators, LLC are helpful. See Instructional Materials for links.)

Ask students, in groups or “museum teams” to brainstorm answers/ideas to these questions: 

• What is the purpose of a museum? 
• How do museum teams work together to create an exhibit?
• What might the roles of team members be?
• What is the difference between a “static” exhibit, “interactive” exhibit, and a “digital” exhibit?
• What is the purpose of our exhibit?
• What are artifacts that we might include in a “digital” exhibit?

Following brainstorming, share the Oral History Museum Exhibit Rubric and Student Directions. Student Directions adapted for this lesson from Kid Curators’ Instructional Process

Overview: http://kidcurators.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/kid-curators-instructi...

Ask for clarifying questions. 
Students submit their brainstorm ideas as an Exit Slip. 
 
Days Three-Five

• Museum Team Research
• Exhibit Creation using appropriate apps and/or software
• Exhibit presentations and constructive feedback by peers
• Effort and Achievement Self-Assessment

What is Oral History? - Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st-century digital technologies. http://www.oralhistory.org/about/do-oral-history/

Web Guide to doing Oral History:
http://www.oralhistory.org/web-guides-to-doing-oral-history/

Stono's Rebellion, September 9, 1739 
Stono's rebellion was only one among the 250 rebellions documented in the Colonies and later in the southern United States. In 1822, a conspiracy to incite 9,000 slaves became known as Vesey's Rebellion. After Nat Turner's Rebellion in 1831, where nearly 60 white people were killed, Turner was executed.

When the slave owners caught up with the rebels from the Stono River in 1739, they engaged the 60 to 100 slaves in a battle. More than 20 white Carolinians, and nearly twice as many black Carolinians, were killed. As a result, South Carolina's lawmakers enacted a harsher slave code. This new code severely limited the privileges of slaves. They were no longer allowed to grow their own food, assemble in groups, earn their own money or learn to read. Some of these restrictions were already in place, but they had not been strictly enforced. 
 

Library of Congress: This Day in History September 9
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/sep09.html

Another reason behind the uprising was that Spain, who was at war with Britain, was offering slaves their freedom in return for their fighting on the Spanish side against Britain. Word quickly spread from Florida through the backwoods of Georgia and into the lowcountry of South Carolina. There are several other reasons that have been speculated, however, no one knows for sure. There is only one known eyewitness account to the Stono Rebellion. William Bull, then Governor of South Carolina, came upon the uprising. He and his accompanying party barely escaped the ravages of the rebelling slaves. He summoned help from the militia, who in turn, battled with the enslaved Africans until all were subdued, shot or killed. Several of the killed Africans were beheaded and had their heads placed on mile markers on the road. A scene similar to what was done to two of the white storekeepers the rebels killed when they looted Hutchinson’s General Store to procure weapons and ammunition. 

Governor Bull wrote a letter to the Royal Council describing the events on September 9, 1739.  He requested that a charter be drawn up to help prevent any uprising from slaves in the future. Native Americans were even offered money for being slave catchers. 

Team Museum Exhibit Rubric:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g3ug5kHgY-LDZu_tvzY9FumOGJEDOG3-ViZH...

Effort and Achievement Rubric:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16XkOWSEQ8LaSmn39QqfZvAM4mPGHcAkwQAK7...