Middle School (6-8)

Patrick Hammond, Niver Creek Middle School, Thornton, CO

Underground Railroad for 8th Grade US History

 

Lesson Plan: Underground Railroad

 for 8th Grade United States History

 

 

Patrick Hammond, Niver Creek Middle School, Thornton, Colorado

 

 

Social Studies Content Standards Covered:

 

2.1 Students know how to formulate questions and hypotheses regarding what happened in the past and to obtain and analyze historical data to answer questions and test hypotheses.

 

2.2 Students know how to interpret and evaluate primary and secondary sources of historical information.

 

3.1 Students know how various societies were affected by contacts and exchanges among diverse peoples.

 

5.3 Students know how political power has been acquired, maintained, used, and/or lost throughout history.

 

6.3 Students know how various forms of expression reflect religious beliefs and philosophical ideas.

 

Goals:

 

The primary goal of this lesson plan is to discover what students know and think they know about the Underground Railroad in general and William Still in particular, leading students to an actual and real understanding of these subjects. Students will analyze primary and secondary sources as a way of fleshing out details. At the end of this lesson, students will critique there learning through a comparison of what they thought they knew and what they learned.

 

Length:

 

This lesson is designed to last for three to four days.

 

Materials:

 

Chart paper and markers

LCD projector linked to computer (for showing images)

 

Map of eastern United States, showing Cambridge, Maryland and Philadelphia.

The instructor will have to provide this, either in print, or by using GoogleMap or Mapquest type of guide to show distance relationships

 

Image: "Twenty-eight Fugitives Escaping from the Eastern Shore of Maryland"

http://dickinson.edu/departments/hist/NEHworkshops/NEH/resource/images/fugitives28_use.jpg

 

Landmarks of the Underground Railroad Workbook

Page 119 (section on William  Still)

 

William Still’s, The Underground Railroad: A Record.

Pages:

Title Page: http://deila.dickinson.edu/u?/ownwords,25469

Image Facing Title Page: http://deila.dickinson.edu/u?/ownwords,24873

099 http://deila.dickinson.edu/u?/ownwords,25273

100 http://deila.dickinson.edu/u?/ownwords,25664

101 http://deila.dickinson.edu/u?/ownwords,25171

 

Day One:

 

The instructor will ask students what they know or think they know about the Underground Railroad. Students or the teacher will write their responses on chart paper.

 

Show students the image:  "Twenty-eight Fugitives Escaping from the Eastern Shore of Maryland." Make sure to cover up the title on the bottom!

 

After a silent period, ask students what they see. This is not meant to be interpretive; instead students are to describe the details of the image. Make sure that the guns are pointed out, the race of the people is discussed, and the number of people is indicated.

 

Ask students to interpret the image. Guiding questions can include, “Who are these people?” “How does this relate to the previous discussion?” “Where are these people?.”

 

As an exit slip, have each student write down a two to three sentence hypothesis of what they think this is an image.

 

Day Two and Three:

 

Show the image from day one and ask students if there are any additional insights or alternate theories of what this shows. Read a few of the more interesting hypotheses from day one, and ask students for feedback, and what are supporting and detrimental details to each of the ideas.

 

Show students the title page of William Still’s book (Title Page) . Together, read to get an understanding of what the book is and why it was written. Explain that the previous image comes directly from the book.

 

Using the information below from the Landmarks of the Underground Railroad Workbook, explain who William Still was, explaining his importance and role in the Underground Railroad. Students can read together or individually, dependant upon teacher direction and choice. Notice that I crossed out the cultural indicator, which should be taken completely out for students..

 

William Still (1821-1902) was a free black native of New Jersey who went on to become the chairman of the Pennsylvania Vigilance Committee. Still was arguably the most important figure in the nation’s Underground Railroad coalition -with a far-flung network of correspondents and participants.  He began as a clerk in the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Office before taking over the vigilance operation in 1852. He kept meticulous records.  He later published these records as part of a memoir in 1872 that still stands as the most important documentary resource on the history of the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, Still founded a coal company and helped provide supplies for black soldiers in the Union Army.  The coal company remained successful after the war, and Still used his newfound status as a respected businessman to become a major community leader in Philadelphia. 

 

 

Show students the image of William Still, explaining that he was African American (Image Facing Title Page). Further explain that many African Americans took very active roles in the Underground Railroad. This might be an opportunity to explain such ideas of the numerous free African American communities in the country. This would also serve to clarify that many African American fugitives’ destination was not Canada, but communities having large numbers of free African Americans. The overall message should be that African Americans were not passive, and that there was much more to the Underground Railroad than Harriet Tubman, as demonstrated by the likes of William Still..

 

Put students in groups to read the pages from William Still’s book (Pages 099, 100, 101). The goal of the reading is to be able to describe the event as written while relating it back to the image. After some time in groups, have students describe the event, and relate passages or details from the reading to the image, to the whole group.

 

After students share their findings, the instructor should redirect the students as to where the fugitives came from. With a standard map of the eastern United States, point out that these people escaped from Cambridge, Maryland, and not from the “deep south.” Through discussion, each that most fugitive slaves escaped from the border state area, and not from the deep south, due to distance and logistics. (On a googlemap search, the distance from Cambridge to Philadelphia is 130 miles.)

 

Discuss the problems of movement within this time period. Some discussion points include:

How long would it take to get to Philadelphia?

What sort of supplies were needed for such a trip?

What would be the positives or negatives of going alone? Or in a group?

What dangers faced people who chose to flee slavery?

Day Four

 

With the poster created from day one, and the image of, "Twenty-eight Fugitives Escaping from the Eastern Shore of Maryland" displayed,  ask students what they learned about the Underground Railroad from the previous days’ activities. As students describe their learning, create a poster using bullet points showing what they have learned. Cross out the incorrect assumptions that were written down on day one, and reinforce assumptions that were written down. Guide students to demonstrate learning through leading questions, which refer to William Still, African Americans, or  the  image itself.

 

Give the students the following prompt:

 

In a well written essay of at least three paragraphs, respond to the following questions: “How has your understanding of the Underground Railroad changed as a result of the past days’ activities?”

 

Your introduction should show your previous understanding of the Underground Railroad. Be sure to include at least three details from sources that increased your understanding.