Building New York

Understandings:

Students will understand that…

•    Key developments in the economic history of New York City were predicated upon the contributions of African Americans.

•    The rapid growth of the economy and infrastructure of New York City was related to the existence of slave labor in a developing metropolis; a notion that defies the assumption that American slavery was an institution of the agricultural south.

•    The slave trade was used strategically by Europeans to build colonial empires and to ensure colonial wealth.

Essential Questions:

•    Does economic progress justify social and political oppression?

•    How did slavery take root as an economic system in New York? How did slavery evolve throughout Dutch rule and the transition to British rule?

•    How did the slave trading system operate in a Northern American city?

•    How did slavery evolve throughout Dutch rule and the transition to British rule?

•    How did slavery contribute to the building of New York?