Name: Claret, Mary

E-mail: Von1953@Yahoo.com

Topic: Blacks in Arkansas

Grade: Fourth

Time: One Class Period

Ark. Hist. Framework: 2.1.4, 3.1.6, 5.1.10

Objective: Students will be able to understand the changes that have occured in the lives of Arkansas blacks since their arrival through the 20th Century.

Set: Wearing clothing similating that of a former slave, dramatize a slave woman preparing breakfast for her master.  Then change the act to similate the slave woman preparing breakfast for her family.

Materials: Slave Woman's attire:  Red or blue headdress (bandetta), cotton print full - waist dress with apron, and dusty old shoes.

Kitchen utensils:  Iron skillet, eggs, oil, cut - up white potatoes (hash browns), bacon for Master's breakfast; boiled rice and bread (Slave's breakfast.)

Adventure Tales of Arkansas:  Guidebook for Students, page 34.

Adventure Tales of Arkansas: A Cartoon History of a Spirited People,  p.17

ARKANSAS, The World Around Us (text)

Key Terms: slavery, abolish, Civil War, enfranchised, "Jim Crow", Union Army, Civil Rights Movement.

Key Facts: Blacks that first arrived in Arkansas, came from west Africa in 1541.

In 1721, John Law brought  a dozen slaves with him and started a French colony near Arkansas Post.

Blacks brought many skills to the New World:  carpenters, woodcarvers, weavers, cloth dryer, iron smelting, basketry, pottery, and music.

Between 1836 and 1960, cotton was the main crop.  Blacks made a vital contribution to Arkansas' economy.

In 1863, Slavery was abolished and over 5,000 freed slaves in Arkansas joined the Union army.  During Reconstruction blacks were made citizens and gain the right to vote.  After the Civil War there were over 100,000

freed, enfranchised blacks in Arkansas.  But after 1890 "Jim Crow" laws enforced segregation and kept blacks from voting.

Between 1900 and 1954, blacks developed their own businesses, colleges, and churches.

The Civil Rights Movement since the 1950's has helped restore the rights and priviledges of citizenship to blacks.

Activities: 1.  Ask students if they can identify the character protrayed by Mrs. Claret.

Have them tell how they might have felt  to be a slave child eating such a breakfast.  Ask:  Do you think this is fair?

2.  List and define Key Terms.

3.  Pass out the two -page handout.  Then select 15 volunteers to read part of each cartoon section of the lesson.  (Do not rush through the lesson.)

4. Discuss the important contributions blacks made to the Arkansas economy between 1836 and the 20th Century.

5. Explore the effect Reconstruction and "Jim Crow" laws had on blacks in Arkansas.

6. Discuss the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and its impact on blacks in Arkansas.

Closure: Ask:  How did blacks get in Arkansas?

Ask:  Name some of the contributions blacks have brought to Arkansas.

Ask:  Which president was responsible for abolishing slavery?

Assessment: Students will  write three paragraphs that explains how blacks came to Arkansas.  Include at least five skills blacks brought with them to Arkansas.

Resources: Adventure Tales of Arkansas:  A Guidebook for Students, by Jody Potts, Signal Media Corporation / K - LITE 94 Radio, 1988.

Adventure Tales of Arkansas: A Cartoon History of a Spirited People, by C. Fred Williams, Signal Media Corporation / K- LITE 94 Radio, 1988.

ARKANSAS, The World Around Us, MacMillian/ Mc Graw - Hill, 1991.

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