Slavery in Tennessee

Slavery was an integral part of Tennessee's economy and culture prior to the Civil War. This lesson is designed to help students understand how slave owners and enslaved people defined and challanged the slave system in Tennessee.
Note: Slavery and the lives of enslaved people are difficult topics to teach and learn about. Teachers should be sensative to how students may be impacted by this lesson.

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 

In this course of the lesson, students will:

  • Analyze primary source documents
  • Describe how slave owners viewed enslaved people
  • Make inferencess about the lives of enslaved people including how they adapted and resisted in their daily lives.
Essential and guiding questions: 
  • How did slave owners view enslaved people?
  • How did enslaved people adapte to and resist slavery in their daily lives?

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Understanding

Helpful Hints

Materials Needed:

  • Letter from John W. Childress to Sarah Childress Polk about runaway slave
  • Letter fom Anderson Childress to Sarah Childress Polk about runaway slave
  • Robert H. Cartmell diary- Chart on amount of cotton picked per person
  • Runaway slave ads from Newspaper for Pherbia and Nancy, John, and Jim and Jack (found at the end of this lesson plan)
  • Franklin vs. Franklin Slave inventory