Black Founders Teacher Resources
Use the links below to access modular activities and ready-made worksheets to help your students dig deeper into the lives and legacies of free Black Philadelphia, Revolutionary War privateer, and successful businessman James Forten and his descendants. Each unit is supported by one of the big ideas essays as well as a glossary of key terms. Additional primary sources are woven throughout each of the units.
Activities are geared towards students at the middle school level but are written to support teacher flexibility in increasing or decreasing the challenge as appropriate for your students. See how these activities fit into national history standards using the National Standards Alignment Chart.
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Black Founders National Standards Alignment
Unit 1: Young James Forten's World
Unit 2: Black Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War
Unit 3: African American Freedom and Community, 1780-1813
Unit 4: James Forten and Entrepreneurs of African Descent
Unit 5: The Forten Family: Abolitionists and Reformers
Unit 6: Elder James Forten's World
Unit 7: Continuing the Forten Family Legacy
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Black Founders Big Ideas

Black Founders Glossary
