The History of Slavery at Monticello

Length

45 minutes

Target Audience

Education: Grade(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Minimum participants:

10

Maximum participants:

There is no maximum

Primary Disciplines

Social Studies/History

Program Delivery Mode

Google Hang Out
Zoom
Microsoft Teams

Booking Information

We will begin to schedule for the 2022-2023 school year at the end of August.

Sorry, this program is not currently available. To inquire about future availability, please contact Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

For more information contact CILC at (507) 388-3672

Provider's Cancellation Policy

Cancellations will be accepted within 48 hours of scheduled trips.

About This Provider

 

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

Charlottesville, VA
United States

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s plantation near Charlottesville, Va., was the center of his world. At Monticello, you will learn about Thomas Jefferson and his ideas that helped shape a nation, Monticello as an architectural icon and the stories of the free and enslaved people who lived and labored on this plantation.

Monticello is owned and operated by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, a private nonprofit corporation and was opened as a public attraction in 1924. Since then, the Foundation has instituted numerous research and educational programs and major restoration and renovation projects, and Monticello has attracted more than 27 million people.

Today, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation remains committed to a twofold mission:

• preservation -- to conserve, protect, and maintain Monticello in a manner which leaves it enhanced and unimpaired for future generations -- and

• education -- to interpret and present Thomas Jefferson to the widest possible audiences, including scholars and the general public.

Monticello is a National Historic Landmark and the only house in the United States designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

From digital learning experiences with Monticello educators to onsite professional development opportunities, we offer a variety of programming for teachers and students at Monticello.

Visit www.monticello.org for more from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

Program Details

Format

During your session our Monticello educator will use images, props, and Google Streetview as well as Q & A time to engage your students. This virtual field trip uses Monticello as a lens through which to examine questions like: How could the author of the Declaration of the Independence own slaves? How could twenty percent of the population of the new United States, founded on the principles of liberty and equality, live in bondage? What was life like for enslaved people in the early republic?

Objectives

Delve into the paradox of Thomas Jefferson as a champion of liberty and freedom, yet a lifelong slave owner
Learn about specific enslaved people who lived and worked at Monticello, and how they retained family ties and humanity in a dehumanizing system of oppression
Discuss how the institution the institution of slavery has ramifications in the United States throughout its history to present day - manifesting in racist policies that deny equal rights for African Americans