 | America's Black Founders: Revolutionary Heroes & Early Leaders with 21 Activities (For Kids series) |
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Product Description
- Amazon Sales Rank: #189412 in Books
- Published on: 2010-01-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .40" h x 8.40" w x 10.90" l, 1.15 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 144 pages
From School Library Journal
Grade 5–8—This activity-based guide reveals how African Americans played crucial roles in helping the United States gain its independence. Sanders includes well-known figures such as Phillis Wheatley, Crispus Attucks, and James Forten in her narrative, but also enriches traditional accounts of the period by explaining the contributions of lesser-known patriots. For example, she talks about black troops who fought at Bunker Hill and Valley Forge. She also tells the story of James Armistead Lafayette, a black soldier who spied on Benedict Arnold and Lord Cornwallis. Most of the activities help make this period real to young people. The "Explore Your Family Tree" project gives print and online resources that can help readers discover the roles their own ancestors may have played in the American Revolution. This book also includes information about how African Americans created social and political networks to support one another during the earliest days of the Republic. Sanders makes excellent use of primary sources, providing the original texts of documents and petitions that demanded equal rights and the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. She then explains these documents in language contemporary children will understand. A solid resource for teachers and librarians who wish to engage children in this formative period of American history.—Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KY
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From Booklist
Except for the stories of a few legendary figures, the essential role of blacks in America's early history has been largely underrepresented in standard accounts. This lively, illustrated volume fills in that gap. The browsable format includes archival prints and documents, screened biographies, and well-chosen quotes. The double standard about the meaning of "freedom" is a dominant theme in the accessible narrative, which points out that the debates about the rights of man were carried out by people who held slaves. Never simplistic, Sanders' text includes complicated views, such as that of African Americans Richard Allen and James Forten, who opposed the back-to-Africa movement because freed blacks in the U.S. were the strongest fighters for the abolition of slavery. The activities that accompany each chapter are pretty routine, with suggestions to students to pen a patriotic poem, weave a basket, or draw a political cartoon. It is the biographies, including a chapter on the Founding Mothers, that will inspire readers. The appended bibliography of books and Web sites will aid researchers. Grades 6-10. --Hazel Rochman
About the Author
Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.Read the stories of men and women of the Revolutionary War era who never made it into other history books.
By Kathryn E. Etier
America's Black Founders by Nancy I. Sanders
Let's get one thing straight. I did not go to school during the Revolutionary War. No, not even grade school. Everything I know about that time period, I learned in school (except whatever I picked up in the movies).Both grade and high school in the 1950's and 60's offered comprehensive courses in United States history, if by comprehensive we accept that United States history was made by white, Christian, men (except for Betsy Ross, but a man told her what to do). In the small grammar school I attended, there was one African-American student. My high school experience was different, and for the first three years I attended a rural high school that served thirteen towns. Kids tended to hang with kids they lived near; friendships were forged at bus stops. Neighborhoods were pretty homogeneous, so most kids were friends with people who were from the same race and class as they. Somehow I managed to end up in a multicultural group of misfits who rode the "detention" bus, which was actually the bus for juvenile delinquents and athletes. In those days that would have been two separate groups. Color didn't put me in the back of the bus, proclivity did. My family moved right before my senior year, and I ended up in the first school system to voluntarily integrate (in the early 60's). Nevertheless, high school history lessons were as white and male as grammar school's were.
America's Black Founders by Nancy I. Sanders is a combination of history and activities designed to teach children about the role of black people--men and women--in early America. It begins with the story of Richard Allen, a seven-year-old boy who was sold as a slave, traces his life, and fittingly ends with his death in his 70's. America's Black Founders is filled with photographs and drawings, portraits and illustrations of many black people who helped pour the foundation of America, as well as reproductions of documents and scores of other pictures, modern and historic. It is a rich, photographic treasury of our past.
Readers are introduced to one memorable person after another, many of whom they have never heard. Wealthy sailmaker James Forten, patriot Prince Estabrook, wealthy Louisiana farmer Marie-Therese Coincoin Metoyer, and founder of the Sunday School Movement Catherine "Katy" Ferguson are but a few of the historic figures profiled. Many of these people were influential members of their communities; some influenced our nation and society. A number were associated with more famous figures such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. It's sad to think that few of these people have appeared in history textbooks. Knowing that fifty years of history have been squeezed in since I was a lass, I doubt that they are getting all that much press now.
Certainly America's Black Founders is a terrific teaching tool for Black History Month, but its appeal is much greater. This is a fascinating collection of vignettes which Sanders has fashioned for readers of all ages. There are relatively few people who couldn't learn something new and interesting within its pages. Were that not enough, there are 21 activities designed to introduce readers to facets of subjects' lives, from stuffing a straw mattress to publishing a newspaper. Crafters will enjoy making a clay pot, weaving a fanner, or making a stamp. Artists can "Draw a Political Cartoon" and "Paint a Historic Picture"; writers can "Write a New Verse for `Yankee Doodle'" and "Pen a Patriotic Poem"; and cooks can "Bake Firecakes," "Cook Pepper Pot Soup," and "Make Homemade Salt." In addition, there are suggestions for young movers and shakers: "Write a Government Official," "Write a Petition," and "Form a Literary Society." There are activities appropriate for every age level that would make great classroom projects, but can also be done at home.
America's Black Founders is a very attractive, large format paperback--an appropriate gift for both children and families. For those interested in history, it is educational without being pedantic. For those of us with ADD, it doesn't need to be read from beginning to end; leaf through it, stopping here and there, and you will be hooked. No matter how little reading time you have, you have enough time to read these profiles, a little at a time.
Bottom Line: Would I buy America's Black Founders Enthusiastically, yes.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.Click through cyberspace as fast as you can and purchase today
By Donna M. McDine
Even the most reluctant readers will be spell bound from the onset of America's Black Founders ~ Revolutionary Heroes & Early Leaders. Nancy Sanders has weaved significant events of America's black founders with facts and activities to provide a true sense of history. Events, people, and places leap from the pages as the light shines on significant African American leaders who were instrumental in early American history. The timeline provided serves as a guide from 1760 through 1837 and the events along the way.
Breaking the chains that bound them in slavery, Richard Allen and many others rose through their adversity and became forces to reckon with. Their due place as founders of the United States of America is a fascinating time in American history and one you will not soon forget.
Run don't walk, or click through cyberspace as fast as you can and purchase America's Black Founders ~ Revolutionary Heroes & Early Leaders and become well educated in America's black founders.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.A wonderful resource for educators
By Dorit Sasson
What makes this book hands-on and informative are the anecdotes of our country's black founders that Nancy Sanders brings to life. History can be dry and boring and students need to get excited about our heroes just as writers do. It's clear Nancy Sanders has a natural gift for writing about our nation founders that will engage any class. As a teacher and teacher trainer, I'm always looking how to supplement lessons with hands-on activities that is cross-curriculum. Wonderful addition for any teacher, parent or child's library.
Dorit Sasson
The New Teacher Resource Center
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