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Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Exploring the Lives of Black Women During the 19th Century
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Author: K. Wise Whitehead, West Baltimore Middle School, Baltimore City Public School System
Grade Level: Middle/High
Duration: 1-2 periods
Overview:
This lesson introduces students to the complexity of history by focusing on the diverse activities of Black women in the nineteenth century. Historians have traditionally ignored free black women during this period, and furthermore oversimplified the lives of slave women. Using a variety of sources and documents, students will learn that many Black women, whether born slaves, free, or freed in later life, resisted the system that oppressed them, earned degrees, and became politically active before, during, and after the Civil War.
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