Introductory question: What would you do if you felt like something was unjust or unethical? [Discuss]

Introduction: 

“In the nineteenth century, people fought against injustice in different ways. Some devoted their lives to fighting for the abolition, or immediate end, of slavery. They fought not just with weapons during the Civil War, but with words, writing and publishing pamphlets and newspapers, sharing the stories of enslaved people, and delivering speeches to persuade their fellow Americans to end slavery, a system that sat at the foundation of America’s economic and social order. This week, you’re going to learn more about abolitionists and activists in Worcester, Massachusetts, and you’re going to think about how you would persuade others to care about an issue that is important to you. At the end of the week, you will all have a chance to share your message and try to persuade your classmates.”

Provide Background

Depending on what you’ve previously covered on the antebellum period in US history, it may be helpful to watch one or more of the following clips and discuss them with your students. 

• • “The Underground Railroad,” Crash Course Black American History
    • This is a longer video that discusses the Underground Railroad, narratives of enslaved people (William Still), the Fugitive Slave Act, and the complexity of highlighting the stories of those who escaped from slavery, or self-emancipated. It provides useful context for the history that follows, and some great jumping-off points for conversation, if you have time. 
  • “What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?”: James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass’s Historic Speech,” Democracy Now!
    • This is a recording of Frederick Douglass’s speech reflecting on the cruel irony of celebrating liberty in a nation where slavery was still practiced. 
  • “The Fugitive Slave Law,” Becoming Frederick Douglass, PBS 
    • This is a brief overview of the Fugitive Slave Law, showing the tension between North and South over what to do about people who escaped from slavery by moving north. It incorporates discussions of the use of violence to resist “slave-catchers,” something also addressed in the readings below.

Read and Discuss

Read: “Black Anti-Slavery Activists in 1850 Worcester” by Cheryll Toney Holley (Hassanamisco Nipmuc) and discuss the following questions. 

• • What were some ways that community leaders resisted slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act? 
  • The clips from earlier and the text you read have talked about times when people used violence to fight for their rights and against slavery. Is their violence justified? When, if ever, is violence justifiable in the fight for rights or equality? What other strategies can also be employed in these struggles?

Pick an Issue

• • Say: “Starting in class tomorrow, you will be researching a contemporary issue related to education, discrimination, or equality that you care about. Take some time right now to brainstorm potential topics, then see if you can narrow it down to one or two that you can start researching tomorrow.” 

Closing

“Today you learned about important civil rights and abolitionist leaders in the nineteenth century. However, their strategies informed the movements for equality and against discrimination and racism that followed, whether that was the movement for women’s suffrage, school integration, or equal opportunities. Tomorrow, and for the rest of this week, you’ll have a chance to think about how you’ll apply the lessons of leaders like Lucy Schuyler and Frederick Douglass to an issue you care deeply about–what will your message be? How will you share it with the world in a way that will persuade them to join your fight? You’ll figure that out this week, and share that message on Friday.”

Establish or Review Norms: Prepare students by reviewing the following before beginning research:

• • Acceptable sources for research 
  • Note-taking (make sure to write down source information before taking notes) 
  • Quoting and paraphrasing 
  • Class independent work norms

Student Research: Students will conduct independent research on a contemporary issue that they care about, write a persuasive essay on it, and create a medium (a poster, pamphlet, TikTok, song, etc.) to share their message.  

Closing: You might ask students to share something interesting they learned from their research and ground them again in the goals of the activity.

Introduction: Students will use class time to turn their notes into a draft of their persuasive essay on their chosen issue. 

Discuss: “Think about a time when something changed your mind. What got you to change your mind?” Brainstorm strategies on the board and then add in other persuasive strategies that students might incorporate into their writing. OR Take an example from a text referenced above (like Douglass’ speech) and identify persuasive strategies used. 

Establish or review norms:

• • Standard outlines for a 5-paragraph persuasive essay 
  • Quoting, paraphrasing, and citing 
  • Class independent work norms

Depending on class length and if students complete the work in class or as homework, this may need to be 2 sessions

Introduction: Have students brainstorm ways to share a message that persuades people. Share out and create a running list on a large piece of butcher paper or whiteboard. Say: “You’ve all done the hard work of researching your topic and writing a persuasive essay about it. Now you want to think about all those persuasive arguments you made–how would you share them with the world to persuade others to agree with you? Would you give a dramatic reading of your essay as a passionate speech? Would you create a poster, using compelling images to help you tell your story? Would you write a song? [include examples from your students] Whatever you do next is up to you, but you’ll want to make sure whatever you create has the following elements: 

• • A clear message 
  • Persuasive details 
  • Persuasive presentation 
  • Stays on-topic

Group/Independent Work Time: Remind students of expectations around independent work. Circulate during work-time to answer questions or help clarify expectations.

Depending on class length and number of students, this may need to be 2 sessions

Student Presentations: Depending on your class size, these presentations may need to be conducted over two sessions. Whatever option you choose, end with a whole-class discussion to highlight key themes, strategies, and takeaways from their presentations. This is a chance both for students to share what they learned and build connections between their presentations, and for the teacher to help model some of that thinking (making connections), highlighting some of the trends in what students did. This is also a chance to bring students back to the original figures from the anti-slavery texts, comparing their work to what Frederick Douglass, Lucy Schuyler, and William Lloyd Garrison did.

Options for how students can share:

• • Gallery-walk for posters with students standing by their posters
  • Small-group presentations with whole-class discussion at the end 
  • Whole-class presentations with discussion at the end