The goal of this exercise is to encourage students to discern between primary and secondary documents utilizing the "Exploring Amistad " web site. This excercise was developed at Mystic Seaport for students enrolled in the State of Connecticut's Project LEARN.

Over 40 students ages 9-13 participated in this excercise in the Mystic Seaport Information Services Lab.

Exploring the primary documents:

1. Exploring Kale (one of the Amistad Africans)

    * Go to the Discovery Section.

    * Then go to People Section.

    * Click on Kale’s name.

    * Read Kale’s page.

    * At the bottom of Kale’s page, go the the letter that he wrote.

    * At the top of Kale’s letter, click on View Original Document.

    * If you have time, return to the People Section and read about Kinna.

    * Then read his letter to John Quincy Adams.

2. Exploring John Quincy Adams (the lawyer for the Amistad Africans)
    * Return to the Home Page of "Exploring Amistad."

    * Go to the Library Section.

    * Then go to the Personal Papers Section

    * Click on “The diaries kept by John Quincy Adams”

    * Read the first paragraph of “The Diary of John Quincy Adams”

    * Then go to Adams diary entry from December 12, 1840

    * Read the last paragraph of this diary entry

    * At the top of Adams’ diary entry, click on View Original Document

Discussion Topics:

1. Discussing Kale

    * What do you learn about Kale from the Barber page?

    * What is different about what you learn from Kale's letter?

    * Who may have influenced the way Kale wrote his letter? Who helped him write it?

    * What role did the abolitionists play in Kale's life?

    * Who was this letter addressed to?

    * Who might have read this letter aside from John Quincy Adams?

2. Discussing John Quincy Adams

    * What do you learn from the diaries page?

    * How is this page different from the diary itself?

    * What were Adam’s feelings about the Amistad Africans?

    * What was he worried about with regard to the pending trial?