Freedom, The Declaration of Independence, and Slavery

Today presented an interesting learning opportunity.  We were on schedule to begin studying the Declaration of Independence when the discussion's focus turned to truly grasping what it means that, "all men are created equal".  We talked about what the founders may have intended and then we discussed the reality of the times, when slavery co-existed despite the movement for freedom.  I felt is was important to talk about slavery at the same time we were talking about freedom.

Over a week ago, I happened to have checked out a huge stack of books from the library which included two books that came into play perfectly for the lessons.  I had,  Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs and a children's folk tale, The People Could Fly.  (Please note: The book by H. Jacobs should be previewed in advance of sharing with young ones as some content may not be suitable for all age groups).  I hadn't planned on focusing on slavery at the time but it made perfect sense to explore the topic now and it seemed very coincidental that I had the perfect folktale in my hands to teach it.

Again, my children and I shared beautiful learning moments together on the couch in front of a toasty fire.  Though tears were shed (mostly by me) as we looked at the illustrations and read the very moving folk tale, it gave us a deep understanding of the heartbreaking slavery situation in our history.  Niah even stayed on for another hour as I read from the diary and I answered question after question and together, we shared compassion for the plight of the slaves. 

Here are some of the illustrations from, The People Could Fly.