Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Black History and Blacks in U.S. History Colonial America (1492-1776)

Slavery Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

---

Slavery
Print Slavery Reading Comprehension with Fifth Grade Work

Print Slavery Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Slavery Reading Comprehension

Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 5 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.02

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		money-making, occupation, revolt, proposition, colonial, various, ports, arrival, cargo, knowing, region, slavery, crossing, aboard, privacy, port
	content words:		New World, West Coast, Middle Passage, Chesapeake Bay

Other Languages
     Spanish: La Esclavitud

---

Slavery By Sharon Fabian

---

¹     Many of the settlers who arrived in America during colonial times were from the continent of Africa. Unlike settlers from Europe, these settlers did not come to America voluntarily. They arrived in the New World during the 1600s and 1700s by way of slave ships as part of a business triangle.
 
²     The slave trade was a money-making business proposition in three steps. In the first step, ships loaded with cargoes of European goods sailed for the western coast of Africa. There the goods, such as European fabrics, guns, and iron, were traded for African people. In the second step of the process, the Africans were forced to board a slave ship. They were transported to America, where they were sold into slavery. For the final step, ships loaded with American products, such as tobacco and sugar, returned to ports in Europe.
 
³     Africa's western coast became home to entrepreneurs who made it their occupation to provide African people for the slave ships that kept arriving. These slave traders did not capture slaves themselves. Instead, they made business arrangements with native Africans to handle that part of the job. Slaves were captured in various ways. Sometimes they were kidnapped. Sometimes they were captured in fighting between neighboring states. They were brought to the slave traders on the coast and held captive there until the arrival of the next ship.
 
⁴     While they were being held captive, the slaves had no idea of where they would be going or what would happen next.
 
⁵     Descriptions of the Middle Passage, or the crossing of the Atlantic from Africa to America, show that it was a life not fit for human beings. Hundreds of people were packed side by side below deck on the ship. The space was often so small that a person could not even stand. The slaves were chained and shackled to each other at the ankles. There was no fresh air to breathe, and there was no privacy. Since the slaves were considered property, to be sold on arrival in America, the ships' captains did make sure that they were fed. Still, many slaves died during the long Atlantic crossing.

Paragraphs 6 to 11:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on Slavery

Leave your feedback on Slavery   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

---

Colonial America (1492-1776)

Colonial America (1492-1776)

---

United States

United States

American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

---

United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

---

50 States

Fifty States Theme Unit

---

Document Based Activities

Document Based Activities

Copyright © 2018 edHelper