Adam Cooper
Landmarks of the Underground Railroad
Lesson Unit
August 31, 2007
Comprehending the Henry Box Brown Escape
OBJECTIVES
The following lesson explores the history of the 1849 Henry Box Brown escape from slavery within the context of the 19th century abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad. Students will learn about the events that made up Henry Box Brown’s life, from slavery to freedom, and what obstacles Brown faced in actualizing his unique and daring escape.
Students will utilize both textual and media materials to appreciate the realities of the escape. Students will also be asked to utilize their writing and artistic skills to bring to life the drama of a comparable story from their own lives. The lesson activities will include making a timeline to help set the events of Brown’s life within the context of a larger movement. Students will also be asked to teach their peers about the timeline highlights.
After students learn about the incidents and characters in Brown’s story, they will acquire a deeper appreciation of the events by engaging in open and thorough discussion and analysis of the escape and the role it played in his life and in America in general. Students will then write one narrative about a singular event in their own lives which will in turn serve as inspiration for the creation of a performance or artwork dramatizing that event. Students will create an advertisement for their work and will perform or display their art project.
In addition to the central activities of the lesson, this unit plan also includes numerous resources for further classroom activity as well as for homework assignments. These resources include topics for further discussion, Internet, textual, and visual materials, a lengthy list of questions to stimulate more expansive class discussion, and extensive listings of assessment activities involving research, writing, oral presentation, artwork, and performance. This lesson has supplemental materials useful for further research on African American history. These sources include a listing of African American achievers in a variety of fields, a sampling of African American films and books, and a catalog of content-related websites.
The Activities
Introductory Activity
To introduce students the Henry Box Brown escape, students should be assembled into small groups and each group will get a one-page summary sheet (possibly utilizing the Internet Resources listed below) describing the escape and Henry Box Brown’s life. Each group should read and discuss the material and ascertain the most salient points. On the chalkboard students will create a large timeline documenting the major events of Brown’s life before, during, and after the escape. Each student group will label their events on the timeline and make a short presentation to the class about them.
Central Activity
Following the completion of the timeline, the teacher will present a mini-lesson on the major events encompassing the escape. The teacher will also introduce the central characters shaping the events and the various key scenes of the story and will provide context with summaries on American slavery, the abolitionist movement, and the Underground Railroad. Finally, utilizing topics from “Further Classroom Discussion” and prompted by questions from “The Questions” below, students should engage in analysis of the meaning of the Henry Box Brown escape and its context within the abolitionist movement.
The teacher will then present to the students the two versions of the lithograph documenting the liberation of Henry Box Brown in Philadelphia (utilizing the lithographs from the “Comparative Media Elements” listed below). Students will be asked to compare and contrast the two images and to discuss the meaning of them and the role they likely played in shaping public opinion among disparate groups of people. The teacher should encourage students to empathize with Brown’s experience and to comment on the challenges of such a risky escape attempt, especially considering the political climate of mid-19th century America, the legality and omnipresence of slavery, and the inherent dangers of being shipping as dry goods.
Students will then be asked to write about one amazing, life-changing experience from their personal history. Students should cover the events of the story but should also provide context of the world of their lives at the time the story played out. Students should also offer detailed characterizations of the major players who shaped the story’s action. Finally, students will present their stories to the class and will field observations and comments.
Follow-up Activity
As an extension of the central activity, students should then individually conceive of some kind of performance or artwork that expresses the personal narrative they created above. Students can take Henry Box Brown’s panorama and performance of his experiences as inspiration. Students should also create an advertisement for their performance or artwork (see the Henry Box Brown panorama ad below). Subsequently, students will present their performance or artwork, followed by leading their own class discussion on the material.
Further Classroom Discussion
- Discuss what life was like for a slave and the challenges of escaping from slavery
- Have a discussion exploring the motivations and point of view on slavery by slaveholders and abolitionists
- Analyze how the events of the Henry Box Brown escape played a role in shaping national and international politics
- Explore how the Underground Railroad functioned: the economics, politics, labor, structure, philosophy
- Analyze how racism and slavery work in a society shaping both minds and behaviors
- Compare the Underground Railroad to other social movements of the 19th century
- Discuss the role that newspapers, lectures, music, books, photographs, and entertainers played in shaping thought about the slavery, the Underground Railroad, and their participants
- Explore the role that less well known, ordinary “foot soldiers” played in the Underground Railroad
- Analyze the responses of the local, state, and federal governments to the events of the Underground Railroad and the Henry Box Brown escape
- Compare the work of 19th century abolitionists to that of 20th century civil rights activists
- Compare and contrast the work of different abolitionists and their activities
- Evaluate tactics the abolitionists used to actualize the end of slavery: writing, consciousness-raising, artwork, music, speeches, moral suasion, protests, violence, utilizing the media, voting power, suing in court, promoting new legislation, forming societies, subterfuge
Internet Resources on the Henry Box Brown Escape
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/brownbox/menu.html
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASbox.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Box_Brown
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/boxbrown/boxbrown.html
http://www.explorepahistory.com/odocument.php?docId=100
Extension Activities for Assessment
Research Papers
· Write a research paper on the history of the Underground Railroad or the abolitionist movement
· Write a short biography on one of the key players in the Henry Box Brown escape
· Write a short biography on one abolitionist
· Write a survey paper on national and international events that shaped and provided a backdrop for events of the Underground Railroad
· Write a report on the history of Philadelphia Vigilance Committee
· Write an argumentative essay on the pros and cons of using nonviolent direct action to achieve social change
· Write a personal essay on what the abolitionist movement means to the student
· Write an analytical essay on the causes and effects of the events of the abolitionist movement
· Write a comparative essay on arguments for and against slavery
Oral Presentations
- Present a researched comparison of life under slavery versus life under Jim Crow segregation for both whites and blacks
- Describe a detailed timeline of another major event of the abolitionist movement
- Present a demonstration of what the Henry Box Brown escape would be like
- Give a researched talk on the philosophy of nonviolence and passive resistance as articulated in the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.
- Offer a detailed summary of the role that religion played in the abolitionist movement
- Give a presentation on the history of slavery in America
- Make a presentation on civil rights issues that pertain to today’s world
- Offer an oral report on the lives of either Frederick Douglass or William Still
Artwork and Performances
- Give a presentation on (or sing) selected 19th century songs which reveal different points of view about slavery and racism
- Write and perform a new song or poem that might reflect attitudes and events of antebellum America
- Write a play that dramatizes the events of the Henry Box Brown escape
- Give a performance of a real speech made by a supporter or opponent of abolition
- Make a collage of images expressing what the abolitionist movement means to the student
- Draw or paint three images: one conveying life under slavery, the second depicting escape from slavery, and the final image illustrating living in freedom in the 19th century
- Assemble a collection of photographs which express various experiences of slavery and the abolitionist movement
- Create a video using the student’s world as a landscape from which to compose a vision of what slavery and freedom mean to him/her
- Create a dance or movement piece that would express the spirit of the struggles of the abolitionist movement
Comparative Media Element: Visual Images
1) The Resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia, lithograph
2) The Resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia, alternative lithograph
3) Advertisement for the panorama, “Mirror of Slavery”
In addition to analyzing the history of Henry Box Brown escape and completing the exercises above, students should view and discuss the lithographs and advertisement above (and other important images) from the escape experience. Topics for discussion might include the following:
- Describe in detail what observations students make of the two lithographs
- Compare and contrast the two lithographs’ images
- Explore the lives of Frederick Douglass and William Still
- How do the images in the lithographs relate (or not) to students’ perceptions of the escape
- What point of view is expressed in each of the lithographs
- What kinds of experiences are conveyed in the lithographs
- How did the use of lithographs contribute to the national understanding and appreciation of the realities of racism, slavery, and institutional violence
- Explore ideas on what the life stories were of the activists and Henry Brown depicted in the lithographs
- How do these images compare with visual coverage of other movements in American history
- How do these lithographs differ from texts or other media in conveying truth about slavery and the Underground Railroad
- Ask students to imagine being the individuals in the lithographs and to describe what that would be like
Questions for Class Discussion
- What challenges did Henry Brown face in being shipped in a box from Virginia to Pennsylvania?
- Would you take the same risky journey that Henry Brown did to escape from slavery? Why or why not?
- What would it mean to forever leave behind one’s spouse and children to escape to a new life?
- What effects do you think news of Brown’s escape had on northerners? southerners? abolitionists? slaveholders? elected officials? other slaves? foreign governments and peoples?
- Why did Brown go on to write his autobiography and create a performance about his experiences?
- How did Brown’s escape contribute to the abolitionists’ cause and the Underground Railroad itself?
- What is a panorama and why did Brown choose to create and exhibit this kind of medium to tell his story? Why was the panorama called “Mirror of Slavery”? Who would likely attend his presentation?
- Compare and contrast Henry Box Brown with the dry goods he was masquerading as during his escape.
- What makes Henry Box Brown’s escape attempt so noteworthy?
- How did Henry Box Brown’s life under slavery inspire him to attempt such a risky and untried escape method? Why do you think Brown elected not to escape on foot utilizing stations on the Underground Railroad?
- Who were the other participants in Brown’s escape plan? What might be their motivation for attempting such a daring act?
- What about slavery might inspire risking one’s life to escape from it?
- Who were other influential figures in the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist movement and what roles did they play in the unraveling of slavery in America?
- How did slavery play a role in other societies and in other periods of history?
- What tactics and strategies did activists use to fight against slavery and for social change during the 19th century? How did these tactics and strategies develop? How did the tactics and strategies of the abolitionist movement differ from other movements? What were the causes that brought the abolitionist movement into being? What was the abolitionist movement’s relationship to the women’s and labor movements of the 19th century?
- What were some of the challenges of aiding African Americans escape from slavery?
- Describe the roles the different levels of government, local, state, and federal, played in the challenge to slavery in America.
- Compare and contrast the major abolitionist figures from the 19th century.
- Historically, how did local and state power structures maintain African Americans in a state of slavery?
- How was Henry Box Brown’s escape connected to other abolitionist acts of the 1850s?
- Why did Brown move his performance and panorama to England? How might have his presentation affected British opinion on events in America?
- Who and what were obstacles to Brown’s escape plans?
- Why were strategies of non-violent direct action employed in the abolitionist movement?
- Why did Brown have himself shipped to Philadelphia? What is the significance of Philadelphia in American history?
- Compare and contrast the cities of Richmond, VA, and Philadelphia, PA, in 19th century America.
- What items did Brown bring with him on his escape? Why these items? What other objects might he have brought with him? What items would you bring on such a dangerous expedition?
- What were the advantages and disadvantages of publishing the story of Brown’s escape?
- How was the white power structure in Richmond, VA in the 1900s similar to that of the antebellum period in the 1800s?
- Compare the struggles to end slavery in the US with those in other countries.
- Compare and contrast abolitionist struggles in the urban areas versus the rural and plantation areas.
- What role did religion play in the abolitionist movement?
- What role did women play in the abolitionist movement?
- What role did the media play in the national questioning of slavery?
- What role did government play in the national questioning of slavery?
- How was racism in the South different from that in the North in the 19th century?
- What forms of slavery exist today? Why?
- What does it mean to be an abolitionist?
- How did challenging slavery change America?
- Is it “right” to break laws that are considered by some unjust? Why or why not?
- What were the responses of the various branches of the federal government to the unfolding events of the 1850s?
- How did the abolitionist movement affect different members of the white community in the South?
- Would the students be willing to participate in a march, rally, or other form of protest to fight for a cause s/he believes in? Which kinds? Why or why not? What causes are the students concerned about in their world today?
- What did participants in the abolitionist movement have to gain? to lose?
- Why was the city of Philadelphia tied in with so many freedom struggle events in American history?
- Are civil rights movements patriotic? Why or why not?
- How did race, gender, and class play a role in abolitionist movement politics?
- What issues should present-day activists focus on to achieve social change? What goals might they have? What tactics might they employ?
- How did challenging slavery affect the American economy?
- In what ways did the abolitionist movement affect popular culture? What challenges did white people face in response to the demands of the abolitionist cause? In what ways do white people treat black people differently now than they did prior to the abolition of slavery?
- What jobs were tied into slavery? What jobs were associated with abolition?
- How are white and black Americans alike? How are they different? How do these similarities and differences affect how people think about and act toward each other?
- What is racism? How does it work in society in both the political and personal worlds? How did racism play a role in American society prior to the civil rights movement? How does racism play a role in American society today? How have students’ lives been affected by racism?
- What is racial discrimination? How has it affected African American lives in the working world throughout the 19th and 20th centuries? What kinds of jobs could blacks hold prior to the end of slavery? What challenges did blacks face after slavery ended? How were blacks’ experiences different from whites’ experiences in the workplace? How has racial discrimination played a role in African Americans’ learning experiences and educational opportunities? What are possible effects racial discrimination has on people’s psyches?
- What are the major Supreme Court cases that have shaped civil rights and race relations in American history? What have been the effects of each of these cases on American society?
- How have African Americans and African American life been portrayed in the following art forms: television, film, theater, radio, painting, photography, music, dance, sculpture?
- What are stereotypical images of what it means to be black in America? Why do these stereotypes exist? What effects do such perceptions have regarding how African Americans are viewed and treated by others?