I. Guide to document based questions.


Exhibit A: Poster beginning with "To Be Sold on board the ship Bance Island.


1. Who is selling these Negroes?(To the teacher: Austin, Laurens and Appleby will be the sellers of Priscilla who will be the case study in a later lesson).


2. What is the significance of calling the ship Bance Island?
(To the teacher: Bance-Island, aka Bence Island and Bunce Island, was a notorious fortress and home base for the Royal African Company among other slave companies and was a probable stop for Priscilla).


3. What indications are there that these slaves might be skilled laborers?
(To the teacher: Slaves from the Windward and Rice Coast of Africa would come with rice cultivating skills).


4. Why is there so much emphasis on small pox?
(To the teacher: Small pox was of great concern. Jettisoning afflicted passengers with illness was a routine practice during the Middle Passage to elimate the possibility of epidemic and a potential financial loss for the slaver. A pest house was set up on Sullivan's Island to ensure that only healthy slaves would be sold in Charleston proper. Immunity to small pox and malaria were desirable traits in slaves, promising a return on the slave holder's investment.)


5. What is your reaction to the illustrations? If you were designing the posters to sell a "commodity" would you have included them?
(To the teacher: This should prompt a discussion for the students should have differing opinions. The illustrations seem to be at odds with the idea of skilled laborers. Could the illustrations be an attempt to portray the captives as savage "others"? Could the illustrations focus on their strength and earning potential?)


Exhibit B: The poster entitled, "Gang of 25 Sea Island..."


1. The preceding poster advertised slaves coming from Africa. From where are these individuals arriving?
2. In light of this, what kind of skills do you believe these individuals will have?
3. Look over this list and make a hypothesis concerning the individuals who are being auctioned?


(To the teacher: These groupings seem to indicate that there might be families involved. Are they being sold as a group or individually? The names indicate that most, except Cudjoe, have been given "Christian" names, perhaps an indication that they are second generation slaves. What might be happening to the slave trade? Students might also notice that both men and women qualify as field hands and that there are other skilled workers.)


Exhibit C: The Illustration from Harper's Weekly entitled "Rice Culture...Near Savannah Georgia", and the two Illustrations labeled, "Hoeing" and "Unloading".


1. Explain at least four tasks undertaken by individuals enslaved on a rice plantation.
2. Which of these would you have preferred to have assigned to you as your task? Be sure to explain the reasons for your answer.


(To the teacher: This should lead to a discussion of the task system vs. the gang system, a discussion of which tasks might require more or less skill, and the conditions a slave might encounter like standing knee deep in mud and in snake and alligator infested waters.)


Exhibit D: The illustration from Harper's Weekly entitled, "Planter's Mansion".


1. Look carefully at this illustration and describe what is depicted.
2. Choose a different caption for this illustration and explain why you chose it.

(To the teacher: The planter's mansion is illustrated but the "slave street" is clearly visible. a discussion of the dependence of the rice economy on skilled labor would be appropriate. Observations on the proximity of slave dwellings to the plantation house might lead to further discussion.)


Exhibit E: The Plan of Middleton Place


1. Discuss two influences of geography on this plantation.
2. Although the plantation house burned during the Civil War, place an X where you believe it might have been, based on your knowledge of plantation life.
3. Place a double XX where you believe the "slave street" might have been.


(To the teacher: A discussion of this drawing will provide an opportunity to summarize what students have learned about rice cultivation, slave labor, and plantation life.)


II. For Homework
Reflect on how your perceptions of slavery have changed as a result of this lesson. Refer to at least two documents to explain your ideas.