history9: August 2008

Friday, 29 August 2008

Across the Atlantic

In the 15th century there were important civilisations and empires on both sides of the Atlantic.

In West Africa, the powerful kingdom of Benin.

In North Africa, the Muslim Empire of Songhay (or Songhai).

In Central America, the Aztec Empire.

In the South American Andes mountains, the Incas.

Your task is to find out about these four kingdoms. Visit the websites and find our about the way people lived, what they ate, how they dressed, their beliefs, their warfare...

Then choose two objects from each society. They could be buildings, weapons, jewellery, statues, pots, clothing.... They must be objects that represent the society and people they came from.

Copy each object onto a PowerPoint slide and write on the slide why you chose that object and what it teaches us about the society it came from. Add some relevant and interesting information that you have discovered.

Remember to save the Powerpoint as you go along... Call it 'Across the Atlantic' followed by your name.

LINKS:
Benin:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1624_story_of_africa/page86.shtml

http://www.nmafa.si.edu/exhibits/beninsp.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Benin http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlights_search_results.aspx?searchText=benin
Songhay:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songhai_Empire
http://www.history.com/classroom/unesco/timbuktu/goldenage.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1624_story_of_africa/page83.shtml

Aztecs:
http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/
http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/mexico.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Aztec_culture
http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/everyday4.htm
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/words/activities/aztecdr.html http://www.indians.org/welker/aztec.htm Incas:
http://coe.fgcu.edu/students/webb/meso/inca.htm
http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_inca_pantheon.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incas
http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/inca/eg_inca_menu1.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/incan.html
http://www.42explore2.com/inca.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/5058/inca.htm

You will have 8 slides, two for each kingdom.

Thursday, 28 August 2008

THE SLAVE TRADE: topics

Choose one of these sections.

A. IDENTITY.
How do Black people of African descent see themselves and how are they seen?
Has this been affected by the legacy of slavery?
Where did racist stereotypes come from?

B. HERITAGE.
Does knowing about slavery change how we see Britain and being British?
Is there guilt or blame? Should there be?
How should we remember unpleasant and difficult stories?

C. ROUTES.
How did slavery impact on language and culture in Britain and the Americas?
What part has been played by music, art, film and popular culture?
How and why did enslaved people hold on to their own traditions?

D. ACTIVISM.
What was it like being an activist during the fight against slavery and what does it mean today?
How effective was the anti-slavery campaign and what was its impact on other protests?
What similar campaigns exist or are needed today?

Tuesday, 26 August 2008

The transatlantic slave trade

TASK 1:

Using Comic Book on the Mac, create a comic strip story of the chattel slave trade.
It can be the personal story of one enslaved African.
It can be the general history of what happened.
Find images here: Image library

What to include:

Life in Africa before slavery.

Capture and imprisonment on the coast.

The 'Middle Passage' - slave ship journey to America.

Rebellion.

Slave auction.

Life on the plantation.

Plantation crops: sugar, cotton, tobacco.

TASK 2:

The Slave Trade, how Britain got rich
and our world today.

Before 1500 England was a small northern European country most people in the world hadn’t heard of. Cities in China, Turkey, India, South and Central America and Africa were as rich as or richer than London.

By 1900 London was the richest city in the world and Europe was far more powerful than Africa or Asia. The world we live in was shaped then. It is a very different world from the one people lived in 500 years ago.

Was the trade in enslaved Africans the reason for this? If so, why? If not, why not? Were there other factors, too?

You will try to answer this and other questions to look at the link between their past and our present.

WHAT TO DO

You must:

tell the story of the triangular trade and what happened to enslaved Africans
explain the link between this trade and Britain’s wealth
describe life on the slave plantations
find out about slave resistance and rebellion
find out how the slave trade was abolished (got rid of)
choose at least one of topics A,B,C,D to investigate

design a memorial to the slave trade

HOW TO DO IT

You are going to create a multimedia disk exploring questions connected with the slave trade and how Britain got rich. You will use artwork, animation, film, your own music, drama role play and writing. All your work will be put on a disk. You must include at least 4 of the following (it can be more):

well structured writing, either word processed or handwritten (then scanned)
your own original artwork including a design for your disk cover
an electronic presentation (PowerPoint or similar)
a paper display (photographed)
a story in comic form (using ComicLife)
a stop motion animation using stills
music that you have composed (blues, reggae, soul, gospel….)
music soundtracks linked to slavery, resistance or freedom
a review of a commercial film about the slave trade (we have a selection on DVD)
a short film that you have made (to get ideas go to www.runnymedetrust.org/vap for over 30 one-minute films on slavery made by young people)
a role play that you create, practise and then film

Here are some links