Summary
Students will listen to a New York Times podcast discussing how the Constitution protected both freedom and slavery. Working in collaborative groups, students will summarize four provisions of the Constitution—the Three-Fifths Clause, the Fugitive Slave Clause, the Slave Trade Clause, and the Electoral College Clause—and determine how these clauses protected slavery in the United States. To extend their knowledge, students will connect these provisions to the development of American history and their influence on the United States today. This lesson includes optional modifications for distance learning. Resources for use in Google Classroom are included.
Essential Question(s)
In what ways did the Framers create and structure the Constitution to protect and continue the system of slavery?
Snapshot
Engage
Students listen to an excerpt of a podcast, then evaluate the relationship between slavery and the creation of the new U.S. Constitution.
Explore
Students work in collaborative groups to analyze and summarize four excerpts from the Constitution that protected slavery.
Explain
Students use the Jigsaw and Categorical Highlighting strategies to analyze transcript excerpts from the Teaching Hard History podcast and explain how four constitutional provisions maintained and protected slavery.
Extend
Students analyze historical documents surrounding the Fugitive Slave Act and the potential growth of slavery as the United States expanded.
Evaluate
Students summarize their learning using the What? So What? Now What? Strategy.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
1619 Podcast Excerpt (attached; one per student)
U.S. Constitution Excerpts (attached; one per student)
How Did the Constitution Protect Slavery? (attached; one assigned excerpt per student)
Four Clauses Chart (attached; one per student)
Historical Poster and Map handout (attached; one per student)
Engage
15 Minute(s)
Use the attached Lesson Slides to guide the lesson. Begin by introducing students to the essential question on slide 3 and the learning objective on slide 4.
Display slide 5 and pass out the attached 1619 Podcast Excerpt handout to each student. Tell students they will listen to a two-minute segment from a podcast. As they listen, ask students to identify evidence that answers the following question: “What point is the speaker making about the relationship between slavery and the creation and structure of the new Constitution?” Play the two-minute segment of the podcast.
After the segment is played, display slide 6 and have students draw an I Think/We Think chart on the back of their handout. Provide time for students to answer the question on the slide. Encourage students to review the podcast excerpt and their annotations to formulate their answers. Have students write their answer in the "I Think" column of the chart.
Place students in pairs or groups of three. Ask students to share their "I Think" response to the question in their group. Ask students to reach a consensus on the best response and record it in the “We Think” column. Have a spokesperson from each group share their “We Think” response.
Conclude the brief discussion by explaining that, throughout the lesson, students will examine how the Constitution promoted freedom and equality while also protecting and perpetuating the system of slavery.
Explore
20 Minute(s)
Distribute the attached U.S. Constitution Excerpts handout to each student. Move to slide 7 and ask students to work with their groups to analyze each of the four excerpts from the Constitution. Have students read each excerpt and write a group summary before moving to the next excerpt. Repeat this process until all excerpts are summarized.
Once all groups have completed their summaries, ask each group to share one of their four summaries with the class. As each excerpt is shared, move through slides 8–11, which provide summaries.
Explain
30 Minute(s)
Inform students that they will examine how four provisions of the Constitution protected and perpetuated slavery. Display slide 12. Using the Jigsaw strategy, assign one constitutional provision to each group. Distribute the attached How Did the Constitution Protect Slavery? handout, giving each student only the excerpt that corresponds with their assigned provision.
Introduce the Categorical Highlighting strategy. Have students highlight lines from their assigned excerpt that explain how the constitutional provision protected or perpetuated slavery.
After groups have read and highlighted their excerpts, distribute the attached Four Clauses Chart to each student. Have students write a three- to four-sentence response in the section of the chart that corresponds with their assigned provision.
Have each group share its response. As groups present, display slides 13–16, which provide explanations and additional information about each provision. Have students use the group presentations and class discussion to complete the remaining sections of their charts.
Extend
25 Minute(s)
Distribute the attached Historical Poster and Map handout to each student. Display slide 17. Provide time for groups to examine the historical poster and map and work together to answer the questions. Facilitate a whole-class discussion about the historical sources, using the questions to guide the discussion.
Evaluate
10 Minute(s)
Move to slide 18 and introduce students to the What? So What? Now What? strategy. On notebook paper or the back of a handout, have students answer the questions on the slide. Collect students’ responses to assess their understanding of the lesson content.
Resources
The New York Times. (2019, August 23). The fight for true democracy [Audio podcast episode]. In 1619. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/podcasts/1619-slavery-anniversary.html
Anderson, L., Tobin, L., & Chow, L. (2019, August 23). The fight for true democracy [Audio podcast episode transcript]. In 1619. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/podcasts/1619-slavery-anniversary.html
K20 Center. (n.d.). Categorical highlighting. Strategies.
K20 Center. (n.d.). I think/we think. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/141
K20 Center. (n.d.). Jigsaw. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/179
K20 Center. (n.d.). What? So What? Now What? Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/95
John C. Frémont Campaign. (2017, April 14). Freedom and slavery, and the coveted territories. Cornell University, PJ Mode Collection of Persuasive Cartography. https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:19343669
Teaching Tolerance. (n.d.). Poster warning Blacks in Boston: Kidnappers. https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/texts/hard-history/poster-warning-blacks-in-boston-kidnappers
Teaching Tolerance. (n.d.). Map from “Freedom and slavery, and the coveted territories” text-dependent questions. https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/texts/hard-history/map-from-freedom-and-slavery-and-the-coveted-territories