Handout worksheets, and, if you are in a computer lab, assign each
group to a computer. Make sure that the URL is posted in a prominent
place: http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vshadow2/. . . .
Students should follow the instructions on the worksheet, reading
the four wills and filling out the chart.
Teachers may choose to have students read one will instead of all
four, assigning each will to a quarter of the class. Doing so could
make the whole-group discussion more interesting, since not all students
will have read the same material.
When the students have finished the worksheet to your satisfaction,
reconvene the class as a whole group, and go over the worksheet together.
Discussion questions:
Can you think of any reasons why slaveowners would not want to
free their slaves after they died?
In addition to learning about what happened to slaves when their
owners died, what else have you learned about ante-bellum America?
(Hint: what about relations between husbands and wives? parents
and children?)
Did anything in the wills change the way you thought about slavery?
Center for Technology and Teacher
Education, University of Virginia,
This module created by Alice
Carter of the University of Virginia..