55 pages • 1 hour read
To Be a Slave
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
AUTHOR’S NOTE-PROLOGUE
Reading Check
1. According to Lester, what is “[o]ne of the greatest overlooked sources for information concerning slavery?”
2. What was the Desire?
3. What item did Granny Judith say that traders of enslaved people used to lure Africans to ships?
4. How many Africans were estimated to be taken from their continent and sold into slavery?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What was the purpose of the Federal Writer’s Project? How was this project important to Lester’s text?
2. Compare the narratives recorded by the Federal Writer’s Project with those recorded by abolitionists in the 19th century.
3. Briefly summarize the introduction of slavery to the American colonies. How did white colonists utilize existing forms of enslaved labor in Africa to their benefit?
4. How was slavery different in the US compared to other countries that used slavery in the North and South American continents?
Paired Resources
“Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938”
- This Library of Congress collection features first-hand accounts from enslaved communities.
- Experiences in the narratives connect with the themes The Need to Correct Historical Misconceptions About Slavery in the United States and The Humanity of Enslaved People.
- How was the Federal Writers’ Project instrumental for Lester as he compiled To Be a Slave?
“Slave Ships & the Atlantic Crossing (Middle Passage)”
- Slavery Images offers a collection of drawings and visuals related to the Middle Passage.
- The images may provide an opportunity to discuss the theme The Humanity of Enslaved People.
- What kinds of conditions did enslaved persons endure on the Middle Passage?
CHAPTERS 1-3
Reading Check
1. According to Lester in Chapter 1, what does it mean “to be a slave?”
2. What type of education did slaves have?
3. Why were “[b]lack men, black women and black children enslaved” (Chapter 1)?
4. What does Lester note that auctions were “synonymous with”?
5. What type of labor did slaves begin at the end of August?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Summarize the story that Frank Cooper shares about his mother. What was his mother’s motivation for her actions?
2. What do the majority of the stories have in common in Chapter 1? Identify two pieces of information that unify the narratives.
3. What were some of the motivations for enslavers to sell enslaved people?
4. Describe the journeys that enslaved people made after being sold to enslavers. What were the conditions of these journeys?
5. Identify two misconceptions regarding plantations and enslavers in the South.
Paired Resources
“Retracing Slavery’s Trail of Tears”
- Smithsonian Magazine provides an overview of firsthand accounts of coffles along “Slave Trail.”
- The information in this resource connects to the themes of The Need to Correct Historical Misconceptions About Slavery in the United States and The Humanity of Enslaved People.
- According to this resource and the text, what were the effects of “Slave Trails” on enslaved peoples?
- National Geographic offers information on the topic for teachers and students in grades 5-8.
- The information and vocabulary on the site connect to the themes of The Need to Correct Historical Misconceptions About Slavery in the United States and The Humanity of Enslaved People.
- How was the plantation system instrumental in slavery’s continuity?
CHAPTERS 4-5
Reading Check
1. Who were “Uncle Toms”?
2. Which role was often hated by enslaved people who worked in the fields?
3. Who were “paddyrollers?”
4. What tool does Lester highlight in Chapter 4 as “a way to resist the spiritual brutality of slavery?”
5. What “knowledge” did enslavers live with?
6. Where did many fugitives from slavery hide?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How did slavery have an effect on an enslaved person’s identity? Identify an example that Lester uses in the text.
2. Analyze the role of religion in the slavery states. How did enslavers try to use religion to their own benefit? How did enslaved communities respond?
3. Who was Josian Henson? How did his story depart from the traditional enslaved narrative?
4. Who was Nat Turner? How did he affect the mindset of enslavers?
5. Why did many enslaved persons choose not to kill their owners? How might this have been different under changed circumstances?
Paired Resources
“A Brief Overview of Black Religious History in the U.S.”
- Pew Research Center’s describes the function of religion for enslavers and enslaved communities. (Teacher-facing; not-student-appropriate due to complexity and length)
- This information connects to the themes The Need to Correct Historical Misconceptions About Slavery in the United States and The Humanity of Enslaved People.
“The Superpower of Singing: Music and the Struggle Against Slavery”
- The National Park Service features this compilation of information and recordings of music of enslaved communities.
- This information connects to the themes The Humanity of Enslaved People and Continued Racial Injustice in the United States.
- What was the importance of music in the lives of enslaved people?
CHAPTER 6-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
1. What does Lester note was President Lincoln’s primary concern during the Civil War?
2. As mentioned in Chapter 6, to which state did many enslavers relocate at the end of the Civil War in order to “hold on to their slaves awhile longer?”
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How did the onset of the Civil War affect enslaved communities? What did many enslaved people in the South try to do?
2. Summarize some of the challenges that enslaved communities experienced in the postbellum period.
Recommended Next Reads
Day of Tears by Julius Lester
- Lester’s 2005 young adult novel centers on the events of the largest slavery auction in US history in 1859 Savannah, Georgia.
- Shared themes include The Need to Correct Historical Misconceptions About Slavery in the United States and The Humanity of Enslaved People.
- Shared topics include slavery in the US, auctions of enslaved persons, and young adult books set in the antebellum era.
- Day of Tears on SuperSummary
Why We Can't Wait by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1964 nonfiction account focuses on the aims of the civil rights movement.
- Shared themes include Continued Racial Injustice in the United States.
- Shared topics include writings during the civil rights movement and continued discrimination against Black communities.
- Why We Can’t Wait on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
AUTHOR’S NOTE-PROLOGUE
Reading Check
1. “[T]he words of those who were slaves” (Author’s Note)
2. “[T]he first American-built slave ship” (Prologue)
3. Red cloth (Prologue)
4. “[S]ome fifty million people” (Prologue)
Short Answer
1. The Federal Writer’s Project was created in the 1930s to “interview those ex-slaves still alive.” Lester uses these interviews for the content of his nonfiction account. (Author’s Note)
2. While the Federal Writer’s Project sought to “preserv[e] the speech patterns and the language of the ex-slaves,” abolitionists of the 19th century often rewrote narratives of enslaved people “to conform to the literary standards of the time.” (Author’s Note)
3. Lester briefly summarizes the introduction of slavery to the American colonies by noting that Africans were not the initial source of labor used, as colonizers tried to use both Indigenous peoples as well as indentured servants; however, both sources proved unreliable and difficult to manage, ultimately leading Europeans to capitalize on existing intra-African slavery systems by making deals with West African chiefs in order to enslave their populations. (Prologue)
4. Although slavery was used in many regions throughout the American continents, Lester notes that the US had “a system of slavery […] that was more cruel and total than almost any other system of slavery devised by one group of men against another.” (Prologue)
CHAPTERS 1-3
Reading Check
1. “To be a slave was to be a human being under conditions in which that humanity was denied.” (Chapter 1)
2. There was no formal system of education for enslaved people, but “[t]he education of day-to-day living” based on observations was important for survival. (Chapter 1)
3. “[B]ecause it was profitable to other men” (Chapter 1)
4. “[T]he breaking up of families” (Chapter 2)
5. Cottonpicking (Chapter3)
Short Answer
1. Lester includes a narrative from Frank Cooper, who recalls a memory of his mother in which he and his siblings inquired about the marks on his mother’s back. In response, his mother whipped her children in order to show them “a taste of the slavery days.” (Chapter 1)
2. Lester compiles stories that focus on the lived experiences of enslaved people. In particular, the narratives in Chapter 1 are either from formerly enslaved persons or those who were related to enslaved people; the narratives discuss their relationships with their enslavers as well as their punishments, such as whipping. (Chapter 1)
3. Lester notes that enslavers would sell enslaved people in order to pay off debts, deal with “unmanageable slave[s],” or participate in the moneymaking business of “breeding slaves to be sold.” (Chapter 2)
4. Enslaved people were often transported in “coffles,” lines of chained people, from the auction to the enslaver’s property. The conditions were difficult, as they were forced to walk through difficult weather and terrain with little to no clothing. Additionally, some enslaved people were shipped by steamboat, and were forced to walk the remaining distance to their new homes. (Chapter 2)
5. Lester notes that contrary to popular depiction, the majority of enslaving plantation owners were not wealthy, but rather lived “modestly and some even poorly.” He also notes that only ¼ of southern society owned enslaved communities, with many plantation owners having fewer than 20 enslaved people in their possession. (Chapter 3)
CHAPTERS 4-5
Reading Check
1. “The slaves who most exemplified those qualities of obedience, submissiveness and dependence [...]” (Chapter 4)
2. House servants (Chapter 4)
3. “White men […] hired to patrol the roads and woods surrounding the plantations to catch any slave who might be going to a gathering or trying to escape” (Chapter 4)
4. Music (Chapter 4)
5. That “[a]t any moment his slaves might try to kill him” (Chapter 5)
6. The woods (Chapter 6)
Short Answer
1. Lester notes that enslaved people often did not have identities of their own, as their enslavers would deny their basic freedoms from the beginning. One of the most common examples of this was the lack of an enslaved individual’s name, as this person was usually referred to in conjunction with whoever the enslaver was. (Chapter 4)
2. Religion, primarily Christianity, was used as a tool by enslavers in order to control enslaved people through pre-approved sermons that supported submissive behavior. Enslaved communities, however, rarely believed this form of pro-slavery propaganda and instead used religion to their own benefit, turning to faith for strength. (Chapter 4)
3. Josian Henson was entrusted by his enslaver to lead his fellow enslaved community and manage their work. He also led a group of enslaved people to another plantation in Kentucky. Despite the temptation to allow them to be free, he equated becoming a fugitive with stealing and made sure that his counterparts ended up at their new plantation. (Chapter 4)
4. Nat Turner was an enslaved person who led a rebellion against enslavers in 1831, ultimately killing “more than sixty whites.” As a result, many enslavers lived in fear of possible insurrections by enslaved communities. (Chapter 5)
5. Lester notes that the many enslaved persons would not have held back in killing their enslavers if they knew they would be successful in their insurrections. He notes that with the proper weapons and “necessary means,” more enslaved people would have retaliated against their owners. (Chapter 5)
CHAPTER 6-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. Lester notes that many enslaved people volunteered their services either as soldiers or workers for the Union army. (Chapter 6)
2. Although enslaved communities were technically “free” after the end of the Civil War, many enslaved people were not able to financially survive on their own; this ultimately resulted in many enslaved persons returning to their former enslavers to find work, for which they often were not paid in money. Furthermore, racist attacks became more prominent with the formation of the Ku Klux Klan and the passing of segregation laws in southern states. (Chapter 7)
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