1. Education resources from the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum For more information please contact the learning team on: 0117 925 4980 ext 207 or email: learning@commonwealthonline.org.uk Learning Activity Key Stage 3 Plantation Life

2. Education resources from the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum Background information The need for labour to work on plantations was a priority for the British. There was a lot of profit made from goods such as sugar, tobacco and cotton produced in the Caribbean by enslaved Africans. But this profit-making venture meant that life and treatment of enslaved men and women was brutal. They were treated as property, torn from their families and given a new identity.

3. Education resources from the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum Task 1 The tyranny of sugar Look for these images in your image file and discuss the following: What would be the worse part of this work? How could it be made more bearable? If you were in this situation, how would you preserve your humanity and sanity?

4. Education resources from the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum Task 1 Positive or Negative? Look at the images, objects and texts below (click here to view archive file) (click here to view archive file) Work in small groups and write down the name and description of image, object or text Students need to state if the items below present a ‘ positive’ or ‘ negative ’ representation of the history Students must provide reasons for their answers

5. Education resources from the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum Task 3 Work songs As field workers cut the sugar cane and carried out repetitive tasks, music was a means of expressing their hardships, as well as their spirituality and communal strength. Listen to the work song available in the archive file. Working in small groups, ask the students to decode the message and meaning of the song. What message was the singer trying to convey?