ppgl2eq

Activities/Extensions
Activity: The Book of Negroes – Creating Fiction from Fact (Part 2)
While both The Book of Negroes novel and television series are fiction, they are based on
historical fact. Using the following online resources related to the African presence in the
Americas, write a proposal for your own work of fiction:
1. The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database gives primary-source information on the voyages
of slave ships from 1514 to 1866. This includes such information as the outcome of a
voyage for slaves, slave resistance, the total numbers of men, women and children
embarked, as well as the mortality rates for each voyage. Choose a voyage and construct
a narrative that reflects the details provided in this database about that voyage.
http://slavevoyages.org/tast/index.faces
SECONDARY
2. 1871 Census of Ontario: To find people of African descent, type “African” in the
keyword search box. You will get over 4,000 results. Look at who they are (age, sex, etc.)
and where they live in Ontario. This should give you ideas about the type of character
you might develop around their circumstances.
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871-on/Pages/1871-on.aspx
3. In 1856, Benjamin Drew’s collected narratives presented experiences of enslavement as
told by African-American refugees settled in Canada. Browse these to find a few of
interest to you.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/drew/drew.html
4. Have a look at the narratives of those who did not make it to Canada from the American
Library of Congress’, Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’
Project. Note differences in tone, candor, etc. with a view to understanding why this is
so.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html
5. There are many additional narratives available online at Project Gutenberg, including
works such as 12 Years a Slave, on which the recent award-winning film of the same
name is based.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=slave+narratives
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