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Elementary | Middle School | High School | Home | Topical Index | Links | Standards |
ACTIVITIES
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1. Reading. Students read the INTRODUCTION and study the eight Documents and Images, using the guidelines for reading primary documents. 2. Research Project. Students research the circumstances of the passage of the New Jersey Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, 1804. Why did the New Jersey legislature pass a gradual abolition act instead of abolishing slavery once and for all? How did the Act benefit slave owners? How did the Act benefit slave families? Who do you think benefitted most from this law? How was this Act amended in 1820? 3. Document Discussion. "To Be Sold." Compare this newspaper advertisement with the Classified Ads in your local newspaper. What information about this slave does the owner think a potential buyer needs to know? What does this ad tell us about the relationship between the slave and the slave owner? "Certificate of Abandonment." What reasons do you think Mary Boice would have had for relinquishing her claim to the baby daughter of Judi? Does this mean that Judi and her baby will be separated? "Who Shall Not Vote." This act was passed three years after the Gradual Abolition Act of 1804. What relationship to government does the NJ Legislature envision for free black men and women? "Manumission of Abigal." Abigal was obviously born before 1804. What reasons might Ephraim Pyatt have had for freeing her? "Portrait of a Scrubwoman." Why do you imagine depictions of enslaved New Jersey women are so very rare? Why would the visiting French artist choose this women as a subject for her art? "The Manumission of Ann and Rufus Johnson." Rufus and Ann were born before the Gradual Abolition Act of 1804. Why do you think Hannah Thomson is manumitting them but not also relinquishing claims to the services of their children? How might their new legal status have affected Ann, Rufus, and their children? "The Little Wanderer." In what ways does "Hetty" Saunders’ poem reflect her thoughts and feelings about her own childhood and situation in life? "Portrait of Jarena Lee." Jarena Lee was born of free African-American parents in 1783 and thus was never a slave. Read about her life in Past and Promise: Lives of New Jersey Women, p. 77-79, (Introduction Note). Discuss the impact of freedom and of slavery on her life experience.
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