(Carlisle, PA, June 25, 2015) Today, the House Divided Project released an expanded online research guide for the Underground Railroad which includes links to dozens of highly rated sites. Teachers and students can now explore primary source documents from the most active vigilance committees in cities like Boston, New York and Philadelphia. They can explore first-rate scholarship, including several full-text essays, and they will be introduced to a wide variety of multi-media tools, including videos, interactive maps, and extensive image galleries. Those interested in using the guide can access it at Project Director Matthew Pinsker’s online Civil War course.
Pinsker will be teaching a special teacher seminar on the Underground Railroad for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History this summer in New York City, July 13-17, 2015. You can find out more about the summer seminar program at the Gilder website.
Here is a snippet of the expanded online guide:
House Divided Project
- Digital Classrooms: Underground Railroad and Emancipation
- Exhibits: Henry “Box” Brown and Daniel Anthony
- Field Trips: Google Earth files
- Videos: Henry W. Spradley
- Interviews: Kate Larson on Harriet Tubman and Fergus Bordewich on myths
- Lesson Plans: K-12 units featuring Runaway Ads
- Research Engine: Fugitive Slave Law and Underground Railroad
PRIMARY SOURCES
Federal Laws and Codes
- US Constitution: Fugitive Slave Clause (1787) with debate August 28, 1787
- Fugitive Slave Act (1793)
- Fugitive Slave Act (1850)
- Revised Articles of War (March 13, 1862)
- Repeal of 1850 Fugitive Slave Act (June 1864) with Senate debate (April)
To see more, go to the Web Guides section of the Civil War undergraduate online course.