About This Lesson
A week-long lesson sequence on American slavery that uses a selection of original documents to study the life and views of an enslaved person, from the perspective of Frederick Douglass.
Provided as part of TAH.org's American History Toolkits project.
Image: Public Domain. File:Frederick Douglass portrait.jpg. Circa 1879
This lesson plans to explore the issue of slavery through the lens of former slave and ardent abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, by looking at two separate chapters of his autobiography which address two fundamental themes of slavery—violence and denial of a proper education. The students will analyze the institution of slavery by reading two chapters in his autobiography and by using Douglass’s individual experiences to create a unique piece of historical fiction.
