Designed to help readers recognize the point of view of the author of a primary source documents and analyze how that point of view influences the reliability of a text, young historians examine two personal letters, one written by former slave, and one by a former slave owner.

Concepts

slavery, point of view

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Introduce the lesson with a reading of John Godfrey Saxe's poem, "The Blind Men and the Elephant"

Classroom Considerations

• Designed for 10th grade Honors American History or AP classes

Pros

• The 15-page packet includes step-by-step directions for the lesson, the text of the letters, and links to additional research materials

Cons

• While the text of slave owner John Alexander's letter is included in the packet, the text of the former slave, O.T. McCann's is not; however, a link to the text of McCann's letter included in the packet

Common Core

RI.9-10.6 RI.11-12.6 RH.9-10.1 RH.11-12.1