THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
What you already know:
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WHAT IS THE UNDERGROUND
RAILROAD?
The name "Underground Railroad" makes it seem as though this was an actual train, but in fact
the "Underground Railroad" was a series of trails and paths that slaves could follow toward
freedom in Canada.
The word "underground" was used to mean it was a secret route.
The word "railroad" was used to indicate the various people who assisted the American slaves on
their journey toward freedom.
The Underground Railroad operated from 1831 to 1865. It was most active in the 1850's, a time
when it became illegal to help the slaves escape slavery. While there are no exact numbers of
how many people it helped to escape, it is estimated it helped between 20 000 to 100 000 people.
WHY THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD WAS FORMED
Slavery was not allowed in northern United States and in Canada. The
southern United States, however, still allowed slavery. Those slaves
living in the southern United States, who were not yet free, wanted to
gain their freedom by escaping to the British Colonies in the 14 free
northern states, or Canada.
CODE WORDS OF THE UNDERGROUND
RAILROAD
The people helping runaway slaves had to communicate by mail, and letters could always be opened. So
these code words weren't just for fun - they helped confuse slave hunters.
·Promised land or Canaan: Canada (in the Bible, Canaan was the promised land to which
Moses led the
Jews out of slavery in Egypt
·Station: safe house on the route north
·Freight or cargo: runaway slaves
·Station masters or agents: people who helped hide runaways and direct them to the next station
·Conductors: people who acted as guides and travelled with the runaways
·Stockholders: people who donated money, food or transportation to runaways.
They also communicated by means of signals, such as bird calls, special knocks and coded letters.
Modified from:
Sadlier, R. and Qijun, W. (2003). The Kids Book of Black Canadian History. Toronto: Kids Can Press Ltd., pg.
24.
Assessment Activity
Create a Mind Map displaying the causes, antecedent event, consequences and subsequent events for the
Underground Railroad. Be sure to color code your mind map, using one color for causes, a second color
for antecedent events, a third color for consequences, and a fourth color for subsequent events. Use a fifth
color for the connections you make between the causes and consequences. Be sure to include information
from your handout. As well, you are encouraged to use other sources to add additional facts to your Mind
Map
Evidence to support
connections between
ideas in your concept
map.
Idea "A"
(Consequence)
Example:
Underground Railroad
Example continued (for further examples of mind maps, google "mind maps
images"):
http://www.neuralmatters.com/Reference/Buzan/MindMa
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History and Presence of Black People in
Canada:
Take a trip on the Underground Railroad: (Choose the "no" options first to discover what happened under
those circumstances, then return to the options and choose the "yes" options to follow the journey).
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j1.html
Resources:
Lunn, J. And Moore, C.(2000). Following the Drinking Gourd. The Story of Canada. Toronto: Key Porter Books Limited, pg.
164.
Sadlier, R. and Qijun, W. (2003). The Kids Book of Black Canadian History. Toronto: Kids Can Press Ltd., pg. 24, 30-31.
Hacher, C. And Mantha, J. (2002). The Kids Book of Canadian History. Toronto: Kids Can Press Ltd., pg. 39.
http://www.neuralmatters.com/Reference/Buzan/MindMa
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