Essential Questions

· How and why are people or groups in a society treated differently based on race?

· How does religion, language, literature, the arts, architecture and traditions contribute to the development and transmission of slave culture?

· How and why did America’s popular opinion change about slavery over time? What changes occurred that reflected over this time period?

· How do slave narratives compare and contrast with other works written about slavery from a white perspective?

· What types of support systems were in place for slaves and freed slaves in the United States?

· What were the realities of slave life?

· What is oral history, and what is its role in African American culture?

· What role do slave narratives play in the society? How does this perspective change our ideas about the history of slavery?