Read from the 19th
Century School Books Collection Pages 240-242"...a conversation between a slave
(that has attempted to escape) and his master."
Even in Free Illinois, many complications for the Underground Railroad
made it very dangerous and scary
(In Illinois) The Black Laws of 1819 Click Here to find out about them.
Plus---
The Fugitive
Slave Law-- A federal law that demands that runaway slaves be
returned from the north, and no aid be given to them. Jail time
and a $1,000 fine could occur by persons breaking this law.
Songs used by
slaves to communicate to each other. Very few could read & write, and it
would be very dangerous to use written notes, so ........
A song like "Follow the Drinking Gourd" was
used
Songs slaves sang often had
double meanings. Since slaves were forbidden to read and write, they
had to communicate in ways that would not be obvious to their slave
owners. One way was through song. (In tribal cultures of Africa, songs
were often used to transmit information and therefore
historians tell us that slaves used this same method when captured and
enslaved in America.)
Have students listen to and/or read the lyrics to the song “Follow
the Drinking Gourd” and then challenge them to crack its code.
(Historians know that the lyrics secretly
identified landmarks and constellations to guide slaves along the trail
to freedom. A “drinking gourd” described the Big Dipper constellation
and its North Star, since slaves were familiar with carved gourds which
they used to scoop water from buckets to get a drink.) Teachers can
find lyric meanings at
The NASA
Quest Archives.
20th Century
Declaration of Human Rights
These Underground Railroad sites will be used to find your information.
• Aboard
the Underground Railroad (Listing and description of RR sites by state)
• The
Underground Railroad (National Geographic)
• American
Visionaries: Frederick Douglass
• Ads for
Runaway Slaves
Break into groups and do the Part that you are assigned. Decide on who
will report to the class on the part studied and answered. You may submit
your answers to Mr. Taylor, using the submit page.
Part 1
Charleston, (Coles County) Illinois, was the location of a
Lincoln-slave court case, in which
Mr. Lincoln had to take the part of a slave owner.
This is a very interesting, and early demonstration of
Lincoln-the-lawyer's dealings with slavery. Go to Mr.
Lincoln and Freedom site (lower half of the reading) to read about this case.
---Do you
think Abraham Lincoln was right in taking the case of Mr. Matson, the
slave owner?
---How do you think Lincoln, the lawyer, felt after
losing this case in the Coles County Courthouse?
---What happened to the Bryant family?
Part 2
Slavery and Underground Railroad Activity
1. Go to the webpage: http://www.alincolnlearning.us/Slaveryproject.html
2. Read the two pages from the 19th Century School Books Collection, involving the conversation between a slave and a slave-owner.
3. Write a statement about what you think about slavery in our country.
4. What was the Fugitive Slave Law?
5. Where were the Underground Railroad Stations in Illinois? Other States? What country would the runaway slaves be most safe in?
Part 3 Follow the Drinking Gourd
1. Listen to the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd.”
2. Read the words to the song (same link as #1).
3. Go to the NASA Quest site and decipher the meaning of the words in the song.
4. Go to the ADs for Runaway Slaves rewards and read some of them.
Be able to tell exactly what the song Follow the Drinking Gourd means
Part 4
Go to the Frederick Douglass National Park Service site. What does the introduction say he is now called? Go to the Mighty Word link, and what was his newspaper called? Go to the Power of an Idea. What is the F.D. quote? Go to Women’s Rights. How did F.D. stand as far as women’s rights are concerned? Go to Home In Washington D.C. Where did F.D. end up living the rest of his life?