Students will need a # 2 pencil and two color pencils for this bar graph.  Green and orange are good choices.  Students should study the table, then neatly label the segments of the bars with the correct percentage figures.  Remind them to add the "%" sign.
   Finally, they should very lightly shade the appropriate segments and the color key to graphically show the free and slave population.

What the Chart Shows

   This bar graph shows that the black population was growing steadily during the period from 1820 to 1860.  The majority were held in slavery, but free black communities could be found in both the North and the South.  The picture shows Harriet Tubman, the famous escaped slave who led many others to freedom.
   Although the number of free blacks was increasing, the number held in slavery grew at a slightly higher rate between 1840 and 1860.  That is why the percentage of free blacks shows a slight drop between those years.
   Keep in mind that the importation of slaves from outside the country had been banned in the early part of the century. 

   Students will need three color pencils to complete this chart.  Red, yellow, and green are good.  Each small circle represents 1 percent of the white population of the South in 1860. 
   Students should study the table, and color the circles to show the data graphically.  Color 7 circles at the top with red to represent those who owned 10 or more slaves.  Use yellow to color 17 circles just under that to represent those who owned 1 to 9 slaves.  Color the remaining 76 circles green to represent those who owned no slaves at all.

What the Chart Shows

   This chart often surprises students, many of whom have the impression that most Southern whites owned slaves in the years before the Civil War.  The great plantations that held large numbers of slaves actually represented only a thin slice of Southern society.  By far the largest group in the South was the small farmer, who owned no slaves or perhaps one or two.
   (It is certainly fair to say, however, that most whites in the South supported the system of slavery, even if they personally did not own any.) 
   A very small number of free blacks also owned slaves in the decades before the Civil War.  That fact often surprises students as well.