Transcript The Underground Railroad The Secret Route to Freedom

The Underground Railroad
The Secret Route to Freedom
Ms. Esposito
United States History & Government
Introduction
►
The end of the scorching hot day was drawing near when
your plantation master discovers you haven’t fulfilled your
duties for the day. As you are parched with thirst, lips
cracked and bleeding, and every muscle sending shots of
pain through your body, he throws you down to the
ground as you sense him behind you unlatching his whip
from his belt. Drawing on all that is left of the strength in
your body, you spin around and kick his knee in as he falls
to the ground. Quickly realizing what you’ve done, you
gag him and run...your escape to the North on the
Underground Railroad has begun…
Some Background Information
►
The Underground Railroad was not a real railroad at all. It was an intricate system of
escape developed and maintained by ex-slaves and abolitionists who’s goal was to help
others reach freedom in the North. The harsh conditions of the South were worse than
anything they could expect on their travels to the North. They survived starvation,
malnutrition, animal attacks and close encounters with their past captors, but nothing was
more rewarding then when they took their final steps to freedom…
Roles
► Please have each of the three members of your group
take one of the following roles:
 An escaping slave
► Will be responsible for documenting examples of what runaway slaves
went through on the Underground Railroad during each task.
 The conductor
► Will be responsible for determining where the roads will take you.
They will choose the routes to travel and the decisions to make along
the way throughout each task.
 The cartographer
► Will be responsible for mapping the journey taken based on the
conductors instructions throughout each task.
Process
► If you follow the steps of this WebQuest exactly, you will
be able to experience what it was actually like to survive
slavery and make it to freedom in the North.
► With the information you gain from this experience, you
will be able to put yourself in the mindset of an escaped
slave and write a diary entry based on your journey.
Task No. 1
► Go to http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/
and enter the journey by clicking on “Yes, I want to go.”
Proceed through the adventure, but be cautious…there
will be life or death choices to make…will you make it to
the promised land?
►
Task No. 2
Go to http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/ read the
introduction and then click on “map” on the lower left-hand side
of the page.
 This map is a depiction of some of the common routes traveled by escaping
slaves in the years before the Civil War.
►
►
Click on New York on the map.
Select Number 4: “John Brown Farm & Gravesite – Lake Placid”
and answer the following questions:
 What year did John Brown die?
 What was going on at Harpers Ferry when he was killed (follow the link)?
 What role did he provide to black families who settled in upstate New
York?
Task No. 3
► Using the same website, select a location of your
choosing from the list of routes in New York.
► Use the information you uncover to create a map
of your own journey on your escape to freedom.
Task No. 4
► Go to http://pathways.thinkport.org/flash_home.cfm
► Click on “Following the Footsteps” and take a trip
through time…
 As you imagine yourself as a slave in 1850, you must
make decisions that will ultimately change your life.
Feel free to scan your mouse over the pictures to find
the hidden messages revealed…
Task No. 5
► Write a diary entry as if you were a runaway slave in
1850. You must included INTRICATE details about who
helped you, the experience you had and how you
survived the trip.
► To help you with these details, visit “About the
Underground Railroad” at
http://pathways.thinkport.org/flash_home.cfm .
► Attach the map you’ve created of your journey to your
diary entry.
Evaluation
100-90
90-80
Tasks
Student
completes
all 5 tasks
Diary
Map
80-70
70-60
60-50
REDO
Student
completes
at least 4
tasks
Student
completes
at least 3
tasks
Student
completes
at least 2
tasks
Student
completes
at least 1
tasks
Student
completes
no tasks
Uses at
least 5
relevant
details
Uses at
least 4
relevant
details
Uses at
least 3
relevant
details
Uses at
least 2
relevant
details
Uses at
least 1
relevant
details
Shows detail
– towns,
routes
traveled, etc
Shows
some detail
but some
evidence
missing
Shows half
of the detail
needed, but
more could
be present
Shows less
than half the
detail
needed for a
map route
Shows little
to no detail
necessary to
show route
taken
Uses no
detail complete
irrelevance
Shows no
detail
whatsoever
Teacher Resources / Bibliography
►
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/
 This website offers a virtual experience of traveling on the Underground
Railroad and the challenges/choices that have to be made in order to
survive it.
►
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/
 This website defines the Underground Railroad and its role in the history of
Slavery. It also offers a map of commonly used routes and explanations of
why they were important in history.
►
http://pathways.thinkport.org/flash_home.cfm
 This website is a great resource for information on the Underground
Railroad, it offers an interactive experience controlled by the student and
additional information about what made the Railroad work as well as it did.
Standards
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Social Studies
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Technology
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History of the United States and New York
World History
Geography
Economics
Civics, Citizenship and Government
Basic operations and concepts
Social, ethical and human issues
Technology productivity tools
Technology communication tools
Technology research tools
Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools
English Language Arts
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Language for information and understanding
Language for critical analysis and evaluation
Language for social interaction