5th Grade Integrated Early American History

SS050405
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America
Lesson 5

Lesson 5: Triangular Trade and the Middle Passage

Big Ideas of the Lesson

Using multiple sources can help us better understand the terrible conditions
of the Middle Passage and slavery.
Enslaved Africans were forced into ships and across the Middle Passage to
the Americas.
The Middle Passage was a part of the triangular trade routes during
colonial times.
Conditions aboard the slave ships were horrible. Many Africans died on the
voyage.
People like merchants, plantation owners, and shipping companies
benefited from the slave trade but there were terrible costs for African cultures and Africans.

Lesson Abstract:
In this lesson, students continue their exploration of slavery in the colonies by learning about the
horrors of the Middle Passage and the slave trade. They explore a map showing a triangular trade
route, an autobiography and a set of primary sources relating to a specific slave ship. Finally, they
examine the impact of the slave trade on life in Africa.

Content Expectations
5 U2.2.1: Describe Triangular Trade including:
the trade routes
the people and goods that were traded
the Middle Passage
its impact on life in Africa.

Common Core State Standards

RI.5.3: Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events,
ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific
information in the text.

W.5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and
information clearly.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group
related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and
multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

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5th Grade Integrated Early American History
SS050405
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America
Lesson 5

b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other
information and examples related to the topic.
c. Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and
clauses (e.g., in contrast, especially).
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain
the topic.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or
explanation presented.

Key Concepts
labor force
slavery
Triangular Trade

Instructional Resources
Equipment/Manipulative
Chart paper
Overhead projector or document camera/projector

Student Resource
Bower, Burt, et al. Americas Past, Social Studies Alive Program. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers
Curriculum Institute, 2010 or a similar fifth grade social studies textbook. pp. 98-104.

Interactive Triangular Trade Map. 1 December 2011

<http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g5s_u3/index.html>.

Pace, Lorenzo. Jalani and the Lock. New York: PowerKids Press, 2001.

Teacher Resource
Account of the Middle Passage. Virtual Jamestown. 1 December 2011
<http://www.virtualjamestown.org/mpassage.html>.

Africans in America. Public Broadcasting Service. 1 December 2011 <www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia>.

Description of a Slave Ship. PBS. 1 December 2011

<http://africanhistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?
zi=1/XJ&sdn=africanhistory&zu=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h295b.html>.

Egbo, Carol. Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 5). Teacher-made material. Michigan
Citizenship Collaborative, 2011.

Slavery and the Making of America. PBS. 1 December 2011

<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/index.html>.

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5th Grade Integrated Early American History
SS050405
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America
Lesson 5

Vernons Letter. The Voyage of the Hare. Choices. Brown University. 1 December 2011
<http://www.choices.edu/resources/documents/SlaveVoyage.pdf>.

Welcome to the House of Jalani and the Lock. 1 December 2011

<http://www.lorenzopace.com/index.htm>.

Lesson Sequence
1. Briefly review some of the sources historians use to help them reconstruct the past including
letters, diaries, photographs, historic maps, and artifacts. Then, display the photograph of the
Artifact located in the in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 5). Ask students to
identify the artifact and describe it in their social studies journals.

2. Explain that this artifact from colonial times has been passed down through the generations
from family member to family member. Pose the following questions and ask students to
answer them in their journals: What do you think the lock was used for? Why would a family
keep a lock for so many years?

3. When students have completed their answers read them the short book Jalani and the Lock
by Lorenzo Pace. Make sure to read the final pages explaining the significance of the lock to
Dr. Paces family. Discuss the book using the following questions:
How is the book structured and illustrated?
A reviewer of the book stated that the book began like a scary fairy tale. Do you
agree? Why or why not?
How do the simple words and pictures contribute to the power of the book and its
story?

4. Using Word Card #12, review the term slavery and connect the term to the short book you just
read. Then, ask students to do a short journal write describing what they have already learned
about slavery in previous lessons. Give students time to write and then have them share their
ideas. Possible answers are listed below. Make sure to share any of these that students do
not list:
Enslaved Africans were brought to New Spain to work in mines and on plantations.
Enslaved Africans were also forced to work on plantations in Louisiana which was
part of New France.
The first Africans were brought to Jamestown in 1619.
Enslaved Africans worked on plantations in Maryland and the Carolinas.
Slavery was not allowed at first in Georgia but then the king took over and it was
allowed and encouraged.

5. Give each student a copy of the Text Source, located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4,
Lesson 5). Place students in groups of three and give each group one copy of Analyzing the
Text Source chart, also located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 5). Explain that

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5th Grade Integrated Early American History
SS050405
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America
Lesson 5

they should read the primary source together and discuss it. Encourage groups to use sticky
notes and/or highlighters to mark important or confusing parts, etc. Then, they should fill in the
chart. Note that a sample completed chart has been included in the Supplemental Materials
(Unit 4, Lesson 5).

6. Give groups time to work and then have them share the ideas they have written on their charts
with the whole class. Discuss the primary source as group. Then, share the following
information about the source:
The source was written by Olaudah Equiano, who was born in West Africa in 1745. 1
At age eleven, he was kidnapped, taken to Virginia, and sold to a British sea captain,
who renamed him, Gustavus Vassa.
The captain then sold Equiano, who then ended up as a slave to a Quaker merchant
in the West Indies.
Permitted to trade his own as well as his master's merchandise, Equiano had earned
enough money to purchase his freedom by 1766.
An excellent navigator and writer, Equiano traveled widely and became a well-known
abolitionist, or someone who opposes slavery. In 1789, he published his
autobiography, and it became a bestseller. This selection is from this book.
He died in London in 1797.

7. Explain that what happened to Jalani and Equiano happened to millions of Africans. They were
taken from Africa by force and transported to the Americas and enslaved there. The journey
across the ocean was unbelievably miserable as indicated in Equianos description. In the
Americas they were far from home, without freedom and destined, in most cases, to remain
enslaved. Explain that the story of how and why enslaved Africans were brought to the
colonies is a very important part of our history and the shaping of our country.

8. Using Word Card #13, explain that the term Triangular Trade describes the exchange of
enslaved Africans and goods between Europe, the Americas and West Africa. Give each
student a copy of Triangular Trade diagram, located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4,
Lesson 5). Using the Teacher Reference Sheet from the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4,
Lesson 5) guide students in completing the diagram. Then, discuss the trading patterns using
the information below:
Ships from New England carried fish, lumber, and other goods to the West Indies.
In the West Indies these New England traders bought sugar and molasses, which
was a dark-brown syrup made from sugar cane sugar.
Ships then sailed back to New England where colonists used the molasses and
sugar to make rum.
1
The literary scholar Vincent Carretta has recently provided evidence that Equiano was likely born in South Carolina,
not in Africa as his memoir claims. Scholars still consider Equianos account to be one of our very best sources on the
Middle Passage and the experience of slavery even if it was slightly fictionalized. See Carretta, Vincent. Equiano, the
African: Biography of a Self-Made Man. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2005.

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5th Grade Integrated Early American History
SS050405
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America
Lesson 5

Ships carried the rum as well as other goods such as cloth and tools to West Africa.
In West Africa, these goods were traded for enslaved Africans.
Ships then took enslaved Africans to the West Indies where they were sold.
The money was used to buy more molasses and sugar.

9. Explain that other triangular routes existed also. Note that there is likely to be a map showing
these routes in your textbook. For example, if you are using the text listed in the Student
Resources, a map can be found on page 103. You may also want students to explore the
Interactive Triangular Trade Map at the following website:
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g5s_u3/index.html

10. Using Word Card #15, explain that the route of enslaved Africans between Africa and the
Americas came to be known as the Middle Passage. This was because it was often the
middle leg of a three-part triangular trade route. Share and discuss the following information
regarding the Middle Passage:
After a long and difficult journey from the interior of Africa to the coast, enslaved
Africans were forced to wait in dungeons or other prison-type areas. Waiting lasted
weeks, months, and sometimes as long as a year.
Enslaved people were commonly branded with the imprint of the French, English, or
Dutch company that had purchased them.
When slave ships arrived, the enslaved people were forced onboard into cramped
living quarters beneath the decks where there was little ventilation and no sanitary
facilities. There was no space for standing. People were chained together on their
backs.
The journey across the Atlantic usually took from sixty to ninety days but could
sometimes last up to four months.
Death rates were high. Historians estimate that between ten and twenty percent of
those transported died on during the Middle Passage.

11. Divide students into groups of four and give each group a folder containing a copy of Primary
Sources #1 - #3, the Transcriptions Sheet, and the Analyzing Primary Sources Group
Recording Sheet located in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 5). Explain that
groups should work together to analyze the primary sources and complete the group-recording
sheet. Emphasize that groups should look for connections between the three primary sources.

12. Give students time to work together and complete the activity. Then, have them share their
ideas with the entire class. Note that a sheet showing Sample Answers for the group-recording
sheet has been included in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 5). Use the following
questions to guide your discussion:
In what way were the three primary sources connected?
What helped you connect the sources together?
What was difficult about analyzing the primary sources?
How do these primary sources help us better understand slavery and the slave trade?

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5th Grade Integrated Early American History
SS050405
Unit 4: Life in Colonial America
Lesson 5

13. At this point in the lesson, you may wish to have students explore sections of their text relating
to the slavery and the Middle Passage. If you are using the text listed in the Student
Resources the following pages can be used: 99-104. Have students compare and contrast
what they have learned from primary sources and literature with what they read in their
textbooks.

14. Ask students the following question: What consequences do you think slavery had on the
cultures of Africa? Have them write an answer in their social studies journal. Give them time to
write and then have them share ideas in the whole group. Possible answers include:
Families were broken apart.
Villages lost large numbers of people.
Cultures lost farmers, artists, and leaders.
Farming, trading, and other activities were completely disrupted.
Conflicts rose between African cultures over slavery.
The population in many areas went down drastically.

Assessment
An assessment has been included in the Supplemental Materials (Unit 4, Lesson 5), in which
students write a short informational piece describing Triangular Trade. Use your own writing rubric
to assess the writing or develop one using the criteria listed on the checklist included with the
assessment.

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