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Finding Freedom Teacher Resources

Use the links below to access modular activities and ready-made worksheets to help your students dig deeper into the stories of people of African descent in the colonial and Revolutionary Eras. Each Unit is supported by one of the Big Ideas essays, as well as by the Finding Freedom Glossary. Primary Source activities are woven throughout Units 2-8. 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 Standards Alignment Chart. 

We love feedback! Send us comments, questions, suggestions, and examples of student work at [email protected]. 

Finding Freedom

Standards Alignment Chart

Finding Freedom modular activities have been designed in alignment with history standards from the National Center for History in the Schools.
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Finding Freedom

Timeline

View a timeline of important dates and years from the Museum's Finding Freedom interactive feature.
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Finding Freedom

Unit 2: Eighteenth Century African American Identities

Use maps, historical images, and more, to explore the diverse peoples of African descent living in British North American in the Eighteenth Century and the communities they created.
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Finding Freedom

Unit 3: Slavery in American Life

Dig into London’s story using discussion questions, and use worksheets to compare and contrast indentured servitude and slavery, to better understand the role of slavery in colonial life.
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Finding Freedom

Unit 4: Agency and Resistance

Through primary source analysis, physical movement, video, and more, consider the risks, rewards and motivations for people of African descent who chose to resist their enslavement.
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Finding Freedom

Unit 5: Slavery and Revolutionary Ideals

Analyze an object, think about a common saying, and respond to writing prompts to consider how slavery could coexist with ideals of freedom, equality, and liberty.
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Finding Freedom

Unit 6: Choosing Sides

Examine primary sources and imagine standing in someone else’s shoes to better understand the difficult decisions people of African descent faced as war became a reality in the colonies.
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Finding Freedom

Unit 7: Wartime Experiences

Create a mind map, examine a historical image, and engage in creative writing to explore people of African descent’s experiences of the Revolutionary War.
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Finding Freedom

Unit 8: After the War

Compare and contrast primary sources, create and analyze a map, and more, to consider the varied experiences of life after the war for people of African descent.
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Finding Freedom Primary Sources

Muster rolls, pension records, letters, and more – these are a selection of the documents that informed our storytelling.
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This graphic depicts a lightbulb and, by clicking, will provide you with short essays that put the stories of Andrew, Deborah, Eve, Jack, and London into historical context.
 

Finding Freedom Big Ideas

Explore short essays to discover how the stories of Andrew, Deborah, Eve, London and Jack fit into the broader experiences of people of African descent in the colonial and Revolutionary eras.
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This graphic depicts a glossary.
 

Finding Freedom Glossary

The Finding Freedom glossary of terms may be useful as you explore the Finding Freedom Interactive, Big Ideas, and Primary Sources.
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Finding Freedom Interactive: Explore the stories of African American men and women in war-torn Virginia.

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