Slavery: Underground
Railroad Resource Unit
Amber Harper
Content
The Underground Railroad is one part of history that
not only African-American students need to be educated
on but all students. The key purpose of this unit is to
inform and education students on the Underground
Railroad and slavery. Students need to understand the
impact of these events in American society.
Throughout 1-2 weeks (if necessary) students will
experience slavery and Underground Railroad by
completing numerous activities. Most of the learning will
be done in the classroom. One Friday the students will
go on a field trip to The Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio to
see an actual stop on the Underground Railroad.
Vocabulary
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Slave
Freedom (what is meant for slaves)
Civil War
Emancipation Proclamation of 1863
Abolitionist
Fugitive Slave Act
Underground Railroad
Conductor
Master
Objectives/Goals
1.
2.
3.
To educate students about the
importance and impact the Underground
Railroad has in history.
Students will learn what is meant to be a
slave. (Daily life)
Students will understand the importance
of slavery in the United States.
Day 1 Activities
Students will look up vocabulary words.
Then students will use the map of the
United States to identity and label the
routes of The Underground Railroad in
Ohio. When students are finished they are
to select a book from the classroom library
(about the Underground Railroad or
something dealing with slavery) to read
over the course of the week.
Day 2 Activities
Students can travel down the Underground
Railroad as if they were slaves themselves.
Along the way students will have to make
choices that slaves would have had to make.
Use the computer and go to this website.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99
/railroad/j1.html
After students are finish have them write a one
page paper about the experience. (From a slave
point of view)
Day 3 Activities
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Students will watch the DVD, A Nation
Divided: American Civil War. After viewing
students will write a letter to President
Lincoln about their thoughts on the war.
Day 4 Activities
Students will visit a virtual slave
plantation to see how it operated daily.
http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/
hs_lp_melrose1.htm
After completing the virtual tour students
can create a diagram of a typical slave
house.
Activity 5
Students will go on a
field trip to the Rankin
House in Ripley, Ohio.
This will allow students
to see first hand an
actual stop on the
journey to freedom.
Day 6 and/or 7 Activities
First a short
review of the
unit. Then a unit
test.
Evaluation
Unit Test
1.
Who was not a conductor on the
Underground Railroad?
Harriet Tubman
b) Abraham Lincoln
c) John Rankin
d) None of the above
a)
True or False.
2. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863
freed all slaves.
3. Slaves got their freedom after 10 years.
4. The Underground Railroad was a real
railroad with stations all down the Ohio
River.
5. Slaves were often separated from their
families.
6.
7.
Slaves were free if they escaped and
made it to Canada.
The slave populations in the South were
majority made up of…
Latinos
b) African-Americans
c) Asians
d) Spaniards
a)
8.
Slaves were…
Treated fairly by everyone.
b) People that wanted to be slaves.
c) People that were taken from their native
land forced to work in poor conditions.
d) None of the above
a)
Essay Question (Choose One)
1.
2.
3.
Describe the daily life of a slave.
Explain in detail what the Underground
Railroad is. (names of conductors, stops,
etc…)
What is the Civil War? Explain one cause
of it.
Teacher Resources
Media
1.http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_lp_melrose1.htm
A virtual slave plantation that students can explore.
2.http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/railroad/j1.html
An enter active game where students can travel down the
Underground Railroad and make choices along the way.
3. http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/tubman/tubman.html
Harriet Tubman& The Underground Railroad
This site has book lists, vocabulary words, crossword puzzles, maps,
photos, classroom activities and much more.
Teacher Resources
Videos
1.
Underground Railroad
(History Channel) (2002)
2.
A Nation Divided: American
Civil War.
American History for
Kids; Slavery and
Plantation Life
Director: Christopher Lewis
3.
4.
Harriet Tubman: Animated
Hero Classics (1996)
5.
Race to Freedom: The
Story of the Underground
Railroad (1994)
6.
Slavery and the Making of
America Starring: Morgan
Freeman Narrator
More Teacher Resources
Music
1.
Stories from American History on Music Video
"On An Underground Railroad“ lyrics and music
by Kinny Landrum
http://www.ushistory.com/railr.htm
2. “Slave Work Songs” by Colonial Williamsburg
This site has a list of different songs with the
lyrics. Each song is able to be listened to from
the site.
http://www.history.org/history/teaching/ene
wsletter/february03/worksongs.cfm
3.
Slave Shout Songs From the Coast of Georgia
by Mcintosh County Shouters
Teacher/Student Resources
Books
1.
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10.
The Underground Railroad for kids : from slavery to freedom
with 21 activities by Carson, Mary Kay.
Many thousand gone : African Americans from slavery to
freedom /by Hamilton, Virginia 1936-2002
Jip : his story /by Paterson, Katherine
A good night for freedom /by Morrow, Barbara Olenyik.
Amos Fortune : free man /by Yates, Elizabeth, 1905An apple for Harriet Tubman /by Turner, Glennette Tilley.
Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad /by Martin, Michael,
1948The Underground railroad /by Hudson, Wade.
I came as a stranger : the Underground Railroad /by Prince,
Bryan, 1952The Emancipation Proclamation /by Armentrout, David, 1962-
Student Resources
1.http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/legal/featur
e2c.html
2.http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_lp_melrose1.
htm
3.http://www.blackfacts.com/fact.asp?ID=920
4. http://www.historyforkids.org/
More Student Resources
5. TO BE A SLAVE by Julius
Lester (Puffin Books,
2000)
6. Time For Kids: Harriet
Tubman: A Woman of
Courage by Editors of
TIME For Kids
7. . If You Traveled on
the Underground
Railroad (Paperback)
8. Encyclopedia of the
Underground Railroad
by J. Blaine Hudson