Describe the experiences of How is this account similar Is this a reliable source to people in the Middle to or different from the understand the Middle Passage. other sources? Passage? Why or why not? Document A: Portuguese The Middle Passage was This source gives an No, this source is a textbook account dangerous. There wasn’t overview of the conditions textbook which is a enough room for the of the Middle Passage. It secondary source. The number of people on the doesn’t have specific textbook is also from ship. The ship was hot and information like the other Portugal which was one of dirty. Because the two sources. the first countries to begin conditions were so bad, making money off of the slaves sometimes revolted. slave trade. In the text, it describes benefits of the slave trade that seem to be rationalizing their involvement in the practice. Document D: Slave Ship Ships that carried slaves on This source gives more Yes, this source is a primary Diagram the Middle Passage were specific information than source from legislation that overcrowded. The slaves source A. was supposed to improve were packed in tight and conditions for slaves. had very little room to move. People were even kept under shelves. Document E: The conditions on the This source gives some of Yes, this source is a primary Autobiography of a Former Middle Passage were very the same information as source that gives a Slave bad for slaves. The ships the other sources, but it account of what it were crowded and dirty. describes the conditions in was like to be on a Middle The smell was so bad it more detail because the Passage ship. made people sick. Slaves author was actually there. were often treated harshly. Slaves were beaten if they didn’t eat, and they were punished if they tried to jump off the ship. Unit Four Instruction
Describe the experiences of people in the Middle Passage. How is this account similar to or different from the other sources? Is this a reliable source to understand the Middle Passage? Why or why not? Document A: Portuguese textbook account The Middle Passage was dangerous. There wasn’t enough room for the number of people on the ship. The ship was hot and dirty. Because the conditions were so bad, slaves sometimes revolted. This source gives an overview of the conditions of the Middle Passage. It doesn’t have specific information like the other two sources. No, this source is a textbook which is a secondary source. The textbook is also from Portugal which was one of the first countries to begin making money off of the slave trade. In the text, it describes benefits of the slave trade that seem to be rationalizing their involvement in the practice. Document D: Slave Ship Diagram Ships that carried slaves on the Middle Passage were overcrowded. The slaves were packed in tight and had very little room to move. People were even kept under shelves. This source gives more specific information than source A. Yes, this source is a primary source from legislation that was supposed to improve conditions for slaves. Document E: Autobiography of a Former Slave The conditions on the Middle Passage were very bad for slaves. The ships were crowded and dirty. The smell was so bad it made people sick. Slaves were often treated harshly. Slaves were beaten if they didn’t eat, and they were punished if they tried to jump off the ship. This source gives some of the same information as the other sources, but it describes the conditions in more detail because the author was actually there. Yes, this source is a primary source that gives a account of what it was like to be on a Middle Passage ship. Unit Four Instruction
social-studies-sample-scope-and-sequence---grade-5.docx