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The Underground
Railroad Mini Unit Study
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes used by
African slaves in America to escape slavery in the 1800’s.
They fled north to free states, or even went all the way to Canada,
which did not permit slavery. Anti-slavery activists, or abolitionists,
assisted in the Railroad by setting up the travel routes, houses
where escapees could stay during the journey and other types of
help. The Underground Railroad was active until December 1865,
when the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was adopted,
outlawing slavery in the United States.
In this mini unit study, you can: read a brief history of slavery
and abolitionism, learn how the runaway slaves used the sky to
find their way to freedom, read first-hand accounts of escaped
slaves, examine primary source documents on the slave experience,
view a map of the escape routes, take a journey or two on the
Underground Railroad, listen to a song used as code to help those
on the Railroad, watch documentary segments about the Underground
Railroad in Kentucky, and create your own map and journal of a
fugitive slave experience.
Reading
Brief
history of slavery, abolition and Underground Railroad
Learn
how slaves found their way north to freedom
Primary
Source Documents
Underground
railroad stories
Primary
source material on the slave experience
Map
of the escape routes
Multimedia
Journey
#1 on the Underground Railroad
Journey
#2 on the Underground Railroad
“Follow
the Drinking Gourd” coded song
Underground
Railroad documentary video
Projects
Create a map and journal of the Underground Railroad experience
Recommended
Resource
Trouble Don't
Last
Eleven-year-old Samuel was born as Master Hackler’s slave,
and working the Kentucky farm is the only life he’s ever
known—until one dark night in 1859, that is. With no warning,
cranky old Harrison, a fellow slave, pulls Samuel from his bed
and, together, they run.
The journey north seems much more frightening than Master Hackler
ever was, and Samuel’s not sure what freedom means aside
from running, hiding, and starving. But as they move from one
refuge to the next on the Underground Railroad, Samuel uncovers
the secret of his own past—and future. And old Harrison
begins to see past a whole lifetime of hurt to the promise of
a new life—and a poignant reunion—in Canada.
In a heartbreaking and hopeful first novel, Shelley Pearsall tells
a suspenseful, emotionally charged story of freedom and family.
Includes a historical note and map.
Book (Paperback)
Authors: Shelly Pearsall
Amazon Price: $5.99
Read
more about the book on Amazon
