Teaching Elementary Civics

Freedom for All? Black Revolutionary Voices

In this lesson, students will explore the contributions of Black Americans during the Revolutionary War and examine the contradiction between America’s founding ideals of freedom and the reality of slavery. Through a primary source analysis of Phillis Wheatley’s poetry collection, a student-performed talk show featuring four Black Revolutionary figures, and guided worksheet activities, students will investigate how enslaved people like Elizabeth Freeman, William Lee, James Lafayette, and Phillis Wheatley fought for American independence while being denied their own liberty, developing an understanding of whose voices were included and excluded from “all men are created equal.”