Rationale
I contend that a closer examination of content can include non-fiction and fiction texts along with the necessary historical information that provides their context for study. I believe my students will engage in the discussion to a much greater degree than they do now. I believe their increased engagement will also answer the question posed in my 2016 Yale National Initiative Intensive Session Seminar Topic: Why Literature Matters. I believe literature matters in regards to engagement and instruction in my U.S. History classroom. Why literature? Even though I am not required to do so as part of my curriculum, I feel it is imperative that I offer additional access to narrative works to my students. I also want to convince my Language Arts colleagues that we can work across our curriculum to immerse our students in texts that teach them critical learning skills.
The examination of how and why differing geographical, political, economic, and cultural attitudes toward slavery did or did not change over time is critical as well. Each aspect was a key ingredient in leading the country to the cataclysmic event known as the American Civil War. The subsequent abolition of slavery in the United States depended on human action. These actions were not only peaceful in the form of abolitionist newspapers and speeches, but eventually resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives during the Civil War.
Understanding the big picture regarding slavery in the United States takes time, developing over and through several units of study. Even with this methodology, my experience has been that my students still have a difficult time understanding why slavery existed in America. The examination of historical content over why slavery existed in the United States only leads to further questioning by my students, a response that is an excellent thing. Questions like: Why did the framers of the U.S. Constitution allow slavery to continue, especially after Thomas Jefferson stated in the Declaration of Independence "that all men are created equal.” Students also ask questions like: “How did it end?” “What caused the eventual end to slavery?” “Who participated in that cause?" Such questions quickly link to Oklahoma state literacy standards focusing on the citation of textual evidence, an author's point of view, distinguishing between fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
To answer the questions posed above, and to engage and instruct my class on the nature of slavery in America, I feel my students need to understand the complexity of the slavery issue in the United States. They need literature, not only informational text. My students need to engage in both informational and narrative texts to understand the depth of American history. The study of U. S. History need not be a memorization of names, dates, places, and events. Or a dry explanation of history. I feel my argument for including slave narratives in U. S. History classes is compelling. If the slave narrative is considered to be literature, which I feel it is, then the first-person accounts of slavery only add to the study of U.S. history by offering a primary source within several units of content study. The personal account of slavery concretely describes how the life of the slave weaves itself into the fabric of American history.
That is my plan with this curriculum unit. Students need to connect each seemingly independent historical event critically within the full American story. The use of slave narrative is not only the story of the Abolition Movement. Their story connects vividly throughout the historical examination of our nation, from the past to the present. It is my hope that my students will connect it with their future as well.
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