Pathway to Freedom into Mexico 8th Grade Lesson Plan
By: Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, U.S.A.
Read the articles in the “Underground Railroad” section of this website.
Big Ideas:
1. Identify the geographic, social, and political relationships between Texas and Mexico
that allowed runaway slaves to seek freedom in Mexico?
2. Interpret evidence in the Slave Narratives provided by Sally Wroe and Felix Haywood to
establish a link between freedom and Mexico, and compare / contrast with evidence
from A Journey through Texas: A Saddle-Trip on the Southwestern Frontier by Fredrick
Law Olmsted. (8 – U5.1.5)
3. Develop an understanding of the network used in the Underground Railroad by
analyzing Northern abolitionist involvement during slave insurrections in Texas, and
identifying the aid from Mexicans along the routes of escape. (8 – U4.3.2, and 8 – U5.1.5)
4. Evaluate three periods in which the Pathway of Freedom into Mexico developed, and
determine the period in which slaves would set Mexico as a destination.
Activities:
1. Brainstorm: Students list and discuss what they know about the “Underground
Railroad.”
a. Showing the proximity between Texas and Mexico on a map of North America,
ask students to hypothesize why slaves would seek freedom into Mexico.
2. Map: North America 1800-1865.
a. Students label the map and create a key identifying the following:
i. States
ii. Territories
iii. Countries
iv. Rivers
v. Borders
3. Graphic Organizer: Students categorize three periods in which the Underground
Railroad took shape from Texas into Mexico.
a. Three periods:
i. Prior to 1820: Boundary dispute resolved between Texas and Spain,
slavery legal in both regions.
ii. 1820-1829: Mexican law outlawed slavery, and granted freedom to
slaves.
Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, MI, U.S.A.
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iii. 1829-1845: Annexation of Texas and admittance into Union as a slave
state creates tension between Mexico, Texas, and the United States.
b. Closing Question: Judging the three periods, when would runaway slaves set
Mexico as a destination for escape? Explain why.
4. It Says/I Say: Students become historians by using heuristic methodologies (sourcing,
corroboration, and contextualization) to interpret and analyze primary source documents
from the Slave Narratives, and A Journey through Texas: A Saddle-Trip on the
Southwestern Frontier. Students will quote documents in It Says portion, and then
interpret the multiple documents in their own words during the I Say portion.
a. Sourcing – Looking at document’s source before reading it and using source
information to comprehend and make inferences about the document.
b. Corroboration – Making connections between information found in different texts,
with contradictions and similarities being noted.
c. Contextualization – Imagine the particular geographic, historical, and cultural
context of an event and to comprehend documents within that context.
5. Group Activity: Create signals, passwords, packing list, and plan for escaping along the
pathway of freedom into Mexico.
a. Students immerse themselves into the historical event by constructing a detailed
plan of escape. Using accounts
6. Digital Project: Pulling all the information together students create a digital poster for
the Underground Railroad: Pathway to Freedom into Mexico with supporting historical
details of who, what, when, where, and why. Students will provide critical analysis by
explaining in their own words why we should know about the pathway, and how the topic
affected them.
Assessments:
1. Formative:
a. Brainstorm
b. Map
c. Graphic Organizer
d. It Says / I Say
e. Group Activity
2. Summative:
a. Digital Project
Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, MI, U.S.A.
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STATE OF MICHIGAN GRADE LEVEL CONTENT EXPECTATIONS (GLCE) Grades K-8:
8 – U4.3.2 Describe the formation and development of the abolitionist movement by considering the roles of key
abolitionist leaders (e.g., John Brown and the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad,
Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, and Frederick Douglass), and the response of southerners and northerners
to the abolitionist movement. (C2) (National Geography Standard 6, p. 154)
8 – U5.1.5 Describe the resistance of enslaved people (e.g., Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman and the
Underground Railroad, John Brown, Michigan’s role in the Underground Railroad) and effects of their actions before
and during the Civil War. (C2)
Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, MI, U.S.A.
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Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, MI, U.S.A.
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Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, MI, U.S.A.
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GRAPHIC ORGANIZER: Three Periods of Underground Railroad: Pathways of Freedom Into Mexico
Prior to 1820:
1820 - 1829:
Pathways of Freedom into Mexico:
Judging the three periods when would runaway
slaves set Mexico as a destination for escape
and freedom?
1829 - 1845:
Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, MI, U.S.A.
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IT SAYS / I SAY: Become historians by interpreting and analyzing multiple primary source documents using source,
contextualization, and corroboration.
IT SAYS
I SAY
SOURCE:
CONTEXTUALIZATION:
CORROBORATION:
Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, MI, U.S.A.
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Group Activity:
Your group is composed of two Northern abolitionists and two slaves in Texas during 1829. You are to create
signals, passwords, packing list, and a plan for escaping along the Pathway of Freedom into Mexico.
SECTION I: Once the four person groups are established, the two Northern Abolitionists meet to discuss the five
objectives, similarly, the two slaves on a Texas Plantation will meet and discuss the five objectives.
Northern Abolitionists:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Develop plan for meeting with slaves on Texas plantation.
Create passwords and meanings for information meant only to be transferred to slaves.
Create a packing list of objects will you need to travel and what you intend to provide slaves with for helping
them travel the pathway to freedom.
What signals will you use to implement the plan?
How do you know your plan succeeded?
Slaves on Texas Plantation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Develop plan for escaping the Texas plantation.
Create passwords and meanings for information meant only to be transferred between party members.
Create a packing list of objects will you need to escape and travel.
What signals will you use to implement the plan?
How do you know your plan succeeded?
SECTION 2: Bring all four group members together to share their plans. The group will devise a final plan that
combines both parties use of signals, passwords, packing lists, and escape plan. Each group member will be
assigned a task to finalize the activity.
Group Member Roles:
1.
2.
3.
4.
On Task Manager: Keeps everyone on task during the project.
Recorder: Records the final plan.
Presenter: Presents the final plan. (Note: Other group members may act out the signals and passwords)
Materials Handler: Combines all papers into a packet, ensures group member names are on final packet,
and turns in final packet.
Joseph W. Cote, MAT Oakland University, Rochester, MI, U.S.A.
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