Alabama Social Studies SS24.US1.4b
The Standard
- SS24.US1.4
- Assess how the American Revolution and its rhetoric affected the status of slavery in the newly formed United States.
Explain why the Northwest Ordinance's ban on slavery in new states north of the Ohio River (1787) was significant.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students locate the Northwest Territory north of the Ohio River. They explain how the ban on slavery shaped future states there and added to the divide between free and slave states.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can point to the territory on a map and name Ohio as a state formed from it. They can explain that the ban applied to this territory, not the whole country.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the ban ended slavery throughout the United States. Others put Kentucky in the Northwest Territory or assume it changed the laws of every northern state.
How to Assess It
- Ask on an exit ticket: “Why did the 1787 ban matter for Ohio, and why did it not end slavery nationwide?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Use string to mark the Ohio River on a floor map, then have students place Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky on the correct sides.
Ask students to write two sentences answering: How could a rule made before Ohio became a state affect its later laws?
Give pairs four state cards: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky; have them sort which fell under the ban and explain one choice.
On a current Ohio-Kentucky road map, find a bridge across the river and label which side the 1787 ban covered.
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