The role of Maine and New England in the Atlantic maritime trade known as "the Triangular Trade" provides important context for understanding the economic and cultural relationships between New England and the European, African, and South American continents during the colonial and ante-bellum periods.

Teacher Resources:

Carey, David Jr. Comunidad Escondida: Latin American Influences in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Portland in Creating Portland: History and Place in Northern New England, Joseph Conforti, ed.

Salzman, J., Smith, D.L., West, C. "Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, Entry for Maine, Volume 3." Simon and Schuster Macmillan (1995).

Stakeman,Randolph." The Black Population of Maine 1764-1900." New England Journal of Black Studies,Number 8 (1989): 17-35.

Stakeman,Randolph. "Slavery in Colonial Maine." Maine Historical Quarterly, Volume 27, No.2 (1987) 58-81.

YouTube Abyssinian Meeting House Restoration Project

University of Southern Maine Special Collections’ African American Collection

Instructional Resources:

Student Reading : In 1904, a writer named L.C.Bateman interviewed Miss Charlotte Thomas at her home in Portland. They talked about her personal experience with the abolitionist movement in Portland, in particular, an anti-abolitionist riot in 1847.

. New England Slavery Triangular Trade Powerpoint  A powerpoint presentation that places slavery in the context of trans-Atlantic trade, particularly as it pertains to New England's and Maine's participation in maritime trade with the Caribbean and Central America.

"Classroom Gallery" Graphic Organizers Student worksheets to help students engage actively with genuine and reproduction artifacts, as well as modern analogies to trade commodities (molasses, wood, etc.)