To Be a Slave

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Based on your prior knowledge, define the word “slavery.” How is the history of the US and the term “slavery” intertwined? What were the conditions that enslaved people worked in? How did enslavers treat enslaved communities?

Teaching Suggestion: This Short Answer question invites students to consider their prior knowledge on the historical context of Lester’s text: slavery in the US. Broadly speaking, “slavery” is a system of forced and unpaid labor in order to produce goods and services. Portugal’s arrival in Africa in the late 15th century initiated the triangle trade system , a multi-continental economic system of raw goods, manufactured goods, and slave labor. As a part of this system, the Middle Passage, which was the movement of enslaved people from Africa to the North American continent, was a notoriously horrific and deadly transit, where many people lost their lives. For those who did survive, enslaved people were sold to enslavers in North America, who would force them to work in difficult and degrading conditions with no pay. This system of slavery, called chattel slavery, reduced people to commodities who were owned completely by enslavers; even the children of enslaved people were considered property under this system, to which the parents had no rights.