Lesson 1: Day 2 - Historic Timeline 1770-1817

Google Doc of This Lesson:

Activity 1: Read Aloud

Overview:

In this guided reading activity, students will listen to selected excerpts from Chapter 1 of The Negro in Pennsylvania (Turner, 1911) to explore the early presence of Black people in the Delaware River region and the social and economic forces that shaped Black life in Pennsylvania. They will use the Exploring the Roots of the 1838 Black Metropolis graphic organizer to capture key takeaways from the reading.

Time: 15 minutes

Format: Whole Group

Objective: Students will be able to identify key moments, individuals, and systems that shaped early Black experiences in Pennsylvania by reading/ listening to Chapter 1 of The Negro in Pennsylvania (Turner, 1911).

Read the opening of The Negro in Pennsylvania Ch.1.pdf aloud. Remind students that the word Negroe was once used to describe people of African descent and/or Black people in America.
Invite student volunteers to read portions of the chapter aloud.
Ask students to use the Exploring the Roots of the 1838 Black Metropolis graphic organizer to capture notes while listening and reading along.

Activity 2: Share Out

Overview:

In this brief reflection activity, students will use their notes from Exploring the Roots of the 1838 Black Metropolis to share one surprising fact or moment from the reading and one big idea they want to explore further.

Time: 10 minutes

Format: Partners

Objective: SWBAT identify key details from a historical text by recording observations and engaging in peer discussion to deepen their understanding of early Black life in Pennsylvania.

Ask students to use their notes from Exploring the Roots of the 1838 Black Metropolis to discuss one surprising fact or moment from the reading and one big idea they want to explore further.

Activity 3: Moments in the Black Philadelphia Antebellum Timeline

Overview:

In this small-group activity, students examine assigned moments from the Black Philadelphia Antebellum Timeline (1770–1817) to uncover key themes such as education, labor, activism, and community leadership. Using the timeline and supporting resources, students analyze biographical and historical details to better understand the civic life and contributions of early Black Philadelphians.

Time: 25 minutes

Format: Pairs and/or Small Groups of up to three students

Objective: SWBAT analyze snapshots of Black life by identifying recurring themes—such as community leadership, education, labor, or activism—using biographical and historical details.

Access and project the Black Philadelphia Antebellum Timeline - Part 1: 1770-1817

Tell students that they will work in pairs (or in small groups of up to three students) to examine historical moments highlighted in the timeline.
Assign a particular moment in time to each pair/ small group.
Invite students to use the additional resources to help them learn more about their assigned moment in time.
Students should capture notes here Black Philadelphia Timeline Handout.docx
- Invite students to make a copy Black Philadelphia Timeline Handout- Make a Copy

Group	Moment in Time	Additional Resources
1	1776 - Enslavement and Emancipation	Philadelphia Manumissions Book- a list of names of people of African descent manumitted or legally freed from enslavers. Turner, E. R. (1911). The Negro in Pennsylvania: Slavery--servitude--freedom, 1639-1861. American Historical Association.
2	1766 - Founder James Forten	Forten, J. (1836). An Address Delivered Before the Ladies' Anti-slavery Society of Philadelphia, on the Evening of the 14th of April, 1836 (Vol. 30, No. 2). Merrihew and Gunn. Winch, J. (Fall 2024). James Forten, Sailmaker. In C. Berkin (Ed.), Black Entrepreneurship in America. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/james-forten-sailmaker
3	1770 - The Rise of Education for Black Children: Anthony Benezet	Kammerer, E. (2017). Uplift in schools and the church: Abolitionist approaches to free Black education in early national Philadelphia. Historical Social Research, 42(1), 299-319. https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/51168/ssoar-hsr-2017-1-kammerer-Uplift_in_Schools_and_the.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y&lnkname=ssoar-hsr-2017-1-kammerer-Uplift_in_Schools_and_the.pdf
4	1789 - The Rise of Black Political Organization: The Free African Society	Preamble of the Free African Society (1787). In W. Douglass (Ed.), Annals of the first African church, in the United States of America: now styled the African Episcopal church of St. Thomas, Philadelphia, in its connection with the early struggles of the colored people to improve their condition, with the co-operation of the Friends, and other philanthropists; partly derived from the minutes of a beneficial society, established by Absalom Jones, Richard Allen and others, in 1787, and partly from the minutes of the aforesaid church. King & Baird, Printers.
5	1789 - The Rise of Legal Opposition to Enslavement: The Pennsylvania Abolition Society	Newman, R. S. (2002). The PAS and American abolitionism: A century of activism from the American revolutionary era to the civil war. Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
6	1790 - The Rise of Black Social Organization: Congo Square and The First Black Burial Ground	Petition for burial ground. (1782). In W. Douglass (Ed.), Annals of the first African church, in the United States of America: now styled the African Episcopal church of St. Thomas, Philadelphia, in its connection with the early struggles of the colored people to improve their condition, with the co-operation of the Friends, and other philanthropists; partly derived from the minutes of a beneficial society, established by Absalom Jones, Richard Allen and others, in 1787, and partly from the minutes of the aforesaid church. King & Baird, Printers. Cohen, A.J. (2024). Black history in the Philadelphia landscape: Deep roots, continuing legacy. Temple University Press.
7	1792 - The Beginning of Black Churches: The Great Walkout	The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas (n.d.). The great walkout. http://www.aecst.org/walkout.htm
8	1792 - The Rise of a Stable Regional Center: Mother Bethel AME Church	Allen, R. (1880). The life, experience, and gospel labors of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen: to which is annexed, the rise and progress of the African methodist episcopal church in the United States of America: Containing a narrative of the yellow fever in the year of our lord 1793: With an address to the people of color in the United States. F. Ford and MA Riply.
9	1793 - The Formation of Black Leadership: The Yellow Fever Epidemic	Jones, A., & Allen, R. (1794). A narrative of the proceedings of the Black people during the late awful calamity in Philadelphia in the year 1793. American Journal of Public Health, 109(10), 1336-1337.
10	1794 - The Formation of a Black Elite: The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas	St. Thomas' Church (n.d.). Births and baptisms, 1795-1837, Absalom Jones. Philadelphia Congregations Early Records.
11	1791 - The Beginnings of Global Black Solidarity: 1794 Haitian Liberation	Nash, G. B. (1998). Reverberations of Haiti in the American North: Black Saint Dominguans in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, 65, 44–73.
12	1814 - Building a Sense of a Unified Black Community: The Gray's Ferry Redoubt	Dunkley, D. A. (2022). Black Radicalism in the Episcopal Church. Anglican and Episcopal History, 91(3), 284-285.Dunkley-BlackRadicalismEpiscopal-2022.pdf
13	1817 - The Beginning of an African-American Identity: The Great Decision	Garrison, W. L. (1832). Thoughts on African colonization, or, an impartial exhibition of the doctrines, principles and purposes of the American colonization society: Together with the resolutions, addresses and remonstrances of the free people of color. Garrison and Knapp.