Reconstructing Resistance through Fugitive Slave Ads

Abstract

Slavery is an integral part of the American story. It is essential that students understand the complexities of this institution and the ways in which it shaped the social, economic, and political landscape of the nation. It is also important that students understand that slavery was shaped by the activities and aspirations of the enslaved. Though they were subject to the often overwhelming and arbitrary power of their owners, enslaved women and men were not powerless. In countless creative and contingent ways, the nation's bound workers struggled to carve out spaces for themselves within the system of slavery, and in some cases, to escape slavery entirely. The following teaching strategy is designed to introduce students to the everyday lives of slaves in the antebellum American South, and especially to the ways in which they articulated their own aspirations through flight from their owners. These objectives will be achieved through the analysis of primary sources using a Museum Walk activity, in which students develop visual “exhibits” based on runaway slave advertisements. Working with both secondary and primary sources, students will learn how and for what purpose enslaved people used flight to advance their own interests. By inviting the students to assume the role of teacher, the Museum Walk creates a learner-centered environment focused on developing insight into the lives and activities of antebellum American slaves. By working with primary sources, students also gain insight into the process of historical thinking.