UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
Social Studies
Pretend you’re at an anti-slavery society meeting. Some members are abolitionists who feel slavery must be ended immediately. Others are abolitionists who feel there must be a period of preparation (in the South and North) for ending slavery. Some are for freeing slaves if they can be colonized in Liberia or Sierra Leone. Some are against the cruelties of slavery, but don’t want to become actively involved with the Underground Railroad. Another member feels slaveholders have an unfair economic advantage and he opposes slavery for this reason. Still another is an immigrant who has come to this country to avoid persecution and will feel uncomfortable as long as any of his fellowmen are in bondage. A former slave has come to the meeting to report on the Canadian settlement and schools. Think what points of view would be presented by each person during the meeting. Re-enact about 10 minutes of the meeting.
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Plan an escape in winter, and one in summer based on weather conditions in your own hometown. What basic necessities would you need anytime of year? What would be the advantages or disadvantages of each season?
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Pretend that you belong to a church that is soul-searching about slavery. Many members feel slavery is sacrilegious. There are, however, some pro-slavery members—some of whom make large financial contributions. How would you solve this dilemma?
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If you have a camera, take picture of natural hiding places nearby. How do you think they were used?
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Pretend you are a farmer, a miller, an innkeeper, a barber, a deck hand, a cooper or a printer. How can you most effectively help abolitionist cause?
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Use an opaque projector to greatly enlarge the Underground Railroad map (or make a large freehand drawing).
-write in names of cities. These names can be color-coded to designated cities on different routes, cities that
have county seats, and (after doing some personal research) cities with Quaker, Presbyterian, African
Methodist, Congregationalist or Covenant churches.
-draw in rivers with blue marking pen,
-add roads, railroads, and ferry boat crossings,
-make little 3-dimmensional houses, bluffs, and caves along the rivers,
-make human figures and farm wagons to move from place to place on map,
-figure out a scale to show how many miles are represented in an inch on the map,
-pretend to “walk” the (map) route from Chester, Alton, Rock Island, or Quincy.