Tracing Trade: From Port to Plantation
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During the long 18th Century, ships regularly arrived in Irish ports heavily laden with goods such as sugar, cotton and tobacco fresh from plantations in the flourishing American colonies. These goods brought wealth and prosperity to farmers, merchants and transatlantic traders, but what of the people who toiled long hours to produce them? This workshop will give pupils the chance to trace the journey of a valuable tobacco shipment from its arrival in Ireland to the Tennessee Rogan plantation house.
During this workshop, young people will explore the multifaceted relationship between emigration and the lives of Indigenous, Black and enslaved people in the American South. From meeting the merchant on the dockside, keen to make a good profit from his imported goods to the portrait of President Andrew Jackson hung in pride of place in the Rogan house, pupils will have the opportunity to explore the complex historical narratives of the past that are still impacting on modern times.
Key activities:
- Exploring imported cash crops in the Ship Gallery
- Examining how commercial products were advertised in the past
- Investigate the lives of enslaved people at the Tennessee plantation house
- Investigate how museums interpret difficult narratives in a changing world
Price: £60 per class
Key Stage: 3 & 4
Available to book: 5th November 24 – 30th May 25