Florida SS.68.AA.1.2

Social Studies8th GradeUnderstand the causes, courses and consequences of the slave trade in the colonies.

The Standard

Describe the contact of European explorers with systematic slave trading in Africa.

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students trace early Portuguese voyages along the West African coast and identify how sailors entered existing markets that included enslaved people. They explain how European demand, ships, and coastal trading posts expanded and redirected that trade toward Atlantic markets.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can place African systems of enslavement, Portuguese coastal contact, and growing Atlantic trade in a clear sequence. The student distinguishes earlier regional slavery from the larger, racialized Atlantic system that developed later, using a map or source detail.
Common Misconceptions: Students may say Europeans introduced slavery to Africa, or that all African societies participated in the same way. They may treat one voyage as the start of the full plantation trade, ignoring gradual expansion and African resistance.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: What forms of slave trading already existed, and how did Portuguese coastal contact change their direction or scale? Require one map detail in three sentences.

Lesson moves

Give pairs six dated cards about Portuguese voyages, African trade networks, captives, goods, and forts to arrange on a timeline.
Ask: Why is the claim that Europeans discovered slavery in Africa inaccurate, and what did European coastal contact change?
Run a map relay where teams place Portugal, West Africa, Elmina, Atlantic routes, and trade goods, then explain each placement.
Examine images of Elmina Castle, then write a caption explaining how a gold-trading post later became tied to trafficking enslaved people.

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