Uncovering the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade with National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts
Teachers grapple with deep questions when teaching the transatlantic slave trade and the Middle Passage. How do we teach about a particularly painful era—one with far-reaching consequences—in a way that honors the humanity of those who were enslaved?
Tara Roberts, a storyteller and National Geographic Explorer in Residence, investigates this past. In the podcast Into the Depths, Tara narrates her journey—taken with Black divers, marine biologists, and historians—searching for shipwrecks from the transatlantic slave trade. She brings what National Geographic calls an Explorer Mindset—leaning into attitudes of empathy, curiosity, and empowerment with problem-solving skills and geographic perspectives—to investigate the lost stories of ancestors who survived and those who perished.
Teaching history through inquiry
- Why is it important for people to tell their own history?
- How might learning this history lead to healing?
- How does understanding our painful past help us to better understand the present?
These questions provide a powerful framework to use as you teach about the transatlantic slave trade with OER Project materials and lessons. For example, Into the Depths highlights contemporary divers, archaeologists, and communities seeking to understand their own histories, providing a new perspective on the primary sources in First Person Accounts of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
“Speak their names”
In the Into the Depths podcast, listeners hear a recurring call: “speak their names.” It’s an invitation to remember and honor those lost to the transatlantic slave trade. While many of those names are unknowable, Tara Roberts and her interviewees strive for a sense of the full humanity of those unnamed souls. OER Project’s graphic biographies take a similar approach by spotlighting the history of individuals often left out of the more traditional historical narratives. In one example, students read the story of Domingos Álvares, a healer who built networks of care and community while enslaved. Although we don’t have the names and biographies for each of the more than 12 million Africans forced into slavery in the Americas, studying accounts like Álvares’s and the human stories of Into the Depths helps students connect with those who lived during this era.
Bringing history to life in the classroom
Another way for students to connect is by taking a virtual field trip. Bring Tara Roberts into your classroom—and bring students to the site of the shipwrecks with Virtual Field Trip Revisiting History. In this immersive experience, Roberts and a team of marine archaeologists explore the wrecks of ships that once carried enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. Students witness how scientists locate and study these sites, how artifacts are documented, and how descendant communities help interpret what’s discovered.
Then, layer in Impact of the Slave Trade: Through a Ghanaian Lens from OER Project, which transports learners to Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, guiding them through the dungeons where captive Africans awaited with dread their exit through the Door of No Return. Through the video, it’s possible to feel the eeriness of a place that attempted to turn people into commodities. And Ghanaian historians speak to the long-range impact of the system of slavery on their country’s social, political, and economic life. Just as Tara shows us the power of communities taking a role in their own story, these scholars share the history of their country and the people impacted by the slave trade.
Connect with community
When combined, resources from National Geographic and OER Project help bring the human experience to the forefront of a contentious period in history. And when you’re ready to bring these lessons to life, the OER Project Community Forum is always “on.” It’s a space to share dilemmas that come up in your planning, test out new ideas, and get feedback from fellow teachers. Teaching history is complex, but you don’t have to do it alone. The Forum is a community of educators who show up with empathy to offer classroom-tested strategies, encouragement, and thoughtful questions. Leave us a note there to add your voice to the story.