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Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1
Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

SUBJECT
History, Social Studies, Language Arts
GRADE LEVEL
69
LESSON SUMMARY
In this lesson, students learn about and examine a variety of primary sources, including key government legislation, in order to better understand the historical context in which the Underground Railroad came into existence, how it operated and the reactions of people to it. The lesson includes an overview of what primary sources are and how to analyze them. Students gather facts and information from the documents, discuss their implications and engage in a variety of follow-up activities. Sixteen primary documents are provided.
OBJECTIVES
Students will: 1. Identify at least three different types of primary source documents. 2. Analyze primary source documents. 3. Understand the legal and cultural context that brought the Underground Railroad into existence. 4. Summarize the perspectives and arguments of people on both sides of the issues of slavery and the Underground Railroad.
OHIO ACADEMIC CONTENT STANDARDS

See Lesson Correlations on page 17.
TIME NEEDED
3 to 4 class periods 21
LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad
MATERIALS
Handouts 116 Safe Passage map
TECHNOLOGY
Computer with Internet access Overhead projector (optional) Safe Passage video (optional) Safe Passage CD-ROM (optional)
VOCABULARY
Broadside Single-sheet notices or announcements printed on one or both sides, intended to be read unfolded. Commissioner A person authorized by an official body to perform certain duties. Emancipation The act of freeing someone from oppression, bondage or authority; liberation. Manumission A written legal document that freed an individual from slavery. Memoirs A narrative of experiences that the writer has lived through; an autobiography. Primary source Firsthand evidence or account of something that happened. Proclamation An official or general notice in which the word proclamation is used in the heading; an official public announcement. Reminiscences A narration of past experiences; memories.
NOTES FOR THE TEACHER

First, a word of caution about Underground Railroad sources. Few contemporary documents related to the Underground Railroad itself survived. Most sources that have come down to us today are autobiographies or personal accounts written years after the described events occurred. This distance in time leads to possible distortions and inaccuracies. Biases based on different points of view can be enlightening and problematic at the same time. For example, newspaper accounts after the Civil War often embellished the stories of abolitionists and freedom seekers. Even those involved in the activities sometimes had trouble separating fact from fiction. The Introduction to the Underground Railroad section of this guide explains the pitfalls in more detail. 22
There are 16 documents to work with in this lesson. It is not likely that you will have time to explore all of them. Select those that are most appropriate for your students abilities and your specific classroom objectives. There are examples of government legislation, personal accounts, newspaper ads and public announcements such as broadsides. Many are text-heavy, while others are more visual. Many of these images are also provided on the Safe Passage CD-ROM. The pieces of government legislation are presented first to provide a contextual framework as to why the Underground Railroad came into existence. Several of the legislative pieces have been edited, some substantially, to make them easier for students to comprehend. The editing involved removing nonessential phrases and clauses while changing none of the language that remains. The text that remains captures the essence of the legislation. Primary documents make little sense if considered apart from the historical events they document. As appropriate, provide historical context for the primary sources used. For example, when examining the text of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, refer students to a history text for more information about the circumstances leading up to and the impact of the Compromise of 1850, of which it was a part. It is recommended that students work with the documents in pairs or small groups. They can assist each other with the language and offer different perspectives and conclusions to each other. For the longer selections, it may be useful to have students work in small groups and have each group work on the language of a different paragraph of the reading. The groups can then share their interpretations of the paragraphs to determine the meaning of the entire reading. Most students will benefit from help in reading and understanding legal language and 18th and 19th century text, which can be confusing. Help students define terms that may be new to them.
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PREPARATION
Decide which and how many documents to use. Make copies of selected handouts as needed. Make copies or an overhead transparency of Handout 2 (Analyzing Primary Sources).
PROCEDURES
1. Discuss the Underground Railroad in general. Make clear that it developed as a reaction and response to the laws and societal practicesslaveryof the period. 2. Read and discuss Handout 1 (Primary Sources). 3. Use Handout 2 (Analyzing Primary Sources) with each document as practical. It provides an overview of the source. Then explore each document with the specific questions or activities that follow. 4. Notes on Handout 3: Article 6 contains the main reference to slavery in the Northwest Ordinance, drafted by the Articles of Confederation government. 5. Notes on Handout 4: This section is about citizens of the states and contains the main reference to slavery in the Constitution. South Carolina delegates to the Constitutional Convention pushed to include it. It made slavery a national issue, requiring Northern states to uphold the slavery laws of the Southern states. 6. Notes on Handout 5: Congress enacted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 to enforce Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution. It allowed slave owners to cross state lines to recapture their slaves if they could prove ownership in court. The $500 fine for helping a runaway slave was Congress way of acknowledging the existence and power of the Underground Railroad. Some Northern states reacted by passing personal liberty laws, which gave alleged fugitives various legal rights, including jury trials and testifying on their own behalf. Later, some Northern states passed laws forbidding state officials from cooperating in the return of alleged fugitive slaves. 7. Notes on Handout 6: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was part of the package of legislation known as the Compromise of 1850. It had a devastating effect on freedom seekers trying to build new lives in the North. Between 1850 and 1860, some 20,000 blacks fled to Canada, including many free blacks who no longer were safe even in the North. The Underground Railroad reached its peak in the decade following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, and antislavery activity increased. The act forced people to choose; would they abide by the law or help human beings in trouble? 24
8. Notes on Handout 7: The 13th Amendment was passed during the Civil War years, when Southern members of Congress were not present for debate. The Amendment did not pass the House on the first attempt. Only four Democrats voted for it. The 13th Amendment went further than the Emancipation Proclamation, abolishing slavery everywhere in the United States. 9. Notes on Handout 8: Ending slavery was not an original goal of the Civil War, until Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It applied only to slavery in states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. As Union troops advanced through the South and took control of Southern lands, slaves in those areas were freed. Lincoln recognized that his Emancipation Proclamation was a war powers action that needed to be followed quickly by a constitutional amendment to guarantee that slavery was abolished permanently. 10.Notes on Handout 9: Levi Coffin, a Quaker, is often referred to as the president of the Underground Railroad because of the success he and his wife had helping runaways gain freedom. For more than 20 years he carried on his Underground Railroad activity in Newport (now Fountain City), Indiana. Later, he moved to Cincinnati, where he continued his mission of helping fugitives escape. In 1876, Coffin wrote a book about his work in the Underground Railroad. Today, it remains a valuable source of information, as the excerpt from his Reminiscences illustrates. 11.Notes on Handout 10: In the 1880s, a journalist recorded the oral history of John P. Parker and the manuscript ended up in the archives of Duke University. Stuart Seely Sprague discovered the document and edited and published it in 1998. 12.Notes on Handout 11: This complaint was filed with the U.S. Commissioner in the Judicial District serving southern Ohio in 1858. The document requires any law officer in the district to return the slave mentioned, George, to his owner. 13.Notes on Handout 12: Manumission means freeing or being freed from slavery. Since slaves were regarded as property, and since slavery was regulated under the laws of most states where it existed, freeing ones slaves had to be accomplished legally. This usually meant petitioning the state legislature or courts. Manumission was sometimes a way for slave owners to reduce the risk of slaves running away. Often, manumission was given gradually, with the promise of freedom in the future, after a period of service. 14.Notes on Handout 13: Many citizens banded together to form societies that worked for the benefit of the Underground Railroad. This request was written by the Boston Vigilance Committee after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, which required free states to aid in the return of escaped slaves and made it illegal to assist runaway slaves. 25
15.Notes on Handout 14: Broadsides were an important means of mass communication in times before the advent of television and the Internet. Broadsides reveal evidence of past artistic and advertising techniques and provide rich social commentary on the era in which they were produced. 16.Notes on Handout 15: Slave owners usually took steps to recover slaves who ran away. They posted broadsides and newspaper ads to provide details about the runaways and the rewards being offered for their return. Thousands of such ads appeared in newspapers and towns in the North and South.
ASSESSMENT
Have each student choose one document that was examined in this lesson, and develop an argument for its importance. Why should this document, and not others, be included in a time capsule representing the era of active Underground Railroad traffic? PURPOSE: Persuasion AUDIENCE: Both for posterity (future generations) and the time capsule selection committee FORM: Essay/Argument VOICE/TONE/PERSPECTIVE: Experiment with language choices that will lead to a first-person, authoritative, objective-expert point of view.
LESSON EXTENSIONS
Have students rewrite some of the period documents using the language of today. Have students watch the Safe Passage video or use the Safe Passage CD-ROM and count the number of primary sources they see. Have students create broadsides to warn about slave catchers from Kentucky coming to Ohio. Suggest they use the style of mid-19th century broadsides. Then have students create another broadside focusing on a current issueteen drug use, for example. Have them use modern advertising styles to design it. Ask students to write an obituary for Levi Coffin, John P. Parker or Josiah Henson. They must decide what to say about the man and write the obituary in the style of the 19th century. 26
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Library Research using Primary Sources http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/PrimarySources.html History in the Raw http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/history_in_the_raw.html Full text of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/nworder.htm Full text of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 17741875 http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/ llsl001.db&recNum=425 Reactions to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASfugitive.htm Eric Foner on the Fugitive Slave Act http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4i3094.html Emancipation Proclamation http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/almintr.html Full text of Reminiscences of Levi Coffin http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/coffin/menu.html John Parker obituary http://worlddmc.ohiolink.edu/OMP/Printable?oid=973965 Full text of the Josiah Henson autobiography http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/henson/menu.html Additional manumission documents at Delaware Public Archives http://www.state.de.us/sos/dpa/exhibits/Slavery Additional Runaway Slave Ads Baltimore County, Maryland http://www.afrigeneas.com/library/runaway_ads/balt-intro.html Who Got Away? 18th Century Runaway Slaves http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/teaching/jamestown/slave_runaways.html His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker, Former Slave and Conductor on the Underground Railroad, John P. Parker and Stuart Seely Sprague, editor, 1998. ISBN 0393317188 Understanding History: A Primer for Historical Method, Louis Gottschalk, 1969. ASIN 039430215X 27
ASSESSMENT
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ASSESSMENT RUBRIC TIME CAPSULE

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
4 Outstanding 3 Strong 2 Adequate 1 Minimal _____ The beginning of the essay captures the readers interest. _____ The essay uses arguments well suited to the audience. _____ The essay provides multiple arguments for the importance of the document. _____ Uses a consistent first-person point of view. _____ Essay establishes a clear position and provides information that supports this position. _____ Excludes irrelevant information. _____ Uses appropriate writing conventions. _____ The essay is well organized.
_____ TOTAL POINTS
HANDOUT 1
PRIMARY SOURCES
What the laboratory is to the scientist, primary sources are to the historian. Instead of Bunsen burners and test tubes, historians rely on documents to investigate the past and gather evidence for their hypotheses. Primary sources are the stuff of the historians laboratory, allowing the researcher to get as close as possible to what really happened during an event. Primary sources create a direct link to the past, and humanize history by supplying the language, emotions, attitudes and values of the people who lived that history. In general, primary sources are firsthand, or eyewitness, accounts of an event or the original work of a person. The person who wrote or created the document actually witnessed the event, participated in it or lived at the time it happened. Because people create primary source documents, they invariably have a specific perspective, purpose and/or interpretation. Primary sources show that any account of an event, no matter how impartially presented it appears to be, is essentially subjective. It is also important to recognize that people who later read or use primary source documents bring to them their own biases, created by their own personal situations and the culture and times in which they live. Examples of primary sources include letters, diaries, memoirs, court records, government legislation and business receipts. A primary source is direct evidence from the past. Just as a detective investigates a crime by looking for evidence such as fingerprints and eyewitnesses that link a suspect to the crime, likewise the historian looks for evidence left behind. Historians must examine primary sources skeptically and critically and consider the bias of those who created the sources. They make every effort to compare one primary source with others from the same time period. Finding primary sources related to the Underground Railroad challenges historians because much of the movements operations were conducted in secret and little was written down at the time, for fear of being discovered. Historian Louis Gottschalk, writing in Understanding History (1969), explains why so little often remains of the past. Most human affairs happen without leaving vestiges or records of any kind behind them. The past, having happened, has perished with only occasional traces. To begin with, although the absolute number of historical writings is staggering, only a small part of what happened in the past was ever observed And only a small part of what was observed in the past was remembered by those who observed it; only a small part of what was remembered was recorded; only a small part of what was recorded has survived; only a small part of what has survived has come to historians attention; only a small part of what has come to their attention is credible; only a small part of what is credible has been grasped; and only a small part of what has been grasped can be expounded or narrated by the historian. The Underground Railroad has become a popular research subject in recent decades, and many new primary sources have surfaced, shedding more light on this complex and important topic. These sources often raise new questions, and so the search continues for answers to the questions of who, how, where and why people became involved in the Underground Railroad resistance movement. Today, much of the work of historians is to separate the abundant myths and legends about the Underground Railroad from the reality.
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HANDOUT 2
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ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Use this worksheet with each primary source. Not all questions will apply to every document. 1. What type of document is this? ________________________________________________ 2. What is the general subject matter of this document? ______________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. What is the date of the document? ____________________________________________ 4. Who is the author/creator of the document? ____________________________________ 5. What was this persons connection to the subject matter? Was this person neutral, or did he/she have opinions or interests that might have influenced what was written? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 6. Who was the intended audience for the document? Was it meant to be public or private? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 7. When was the information in the document recordedduring the event, directly afterward or much later? __________________________________________________________________________ 8. Was the intent of the author to inform or persuade? How do you know? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 9. List at least two facts you find in this document. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
HANDOUT 2
10. Can you find an example of opinion in the document? If so, list it. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 11. Can you find examples of biased language in the document? If so, write them here. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 12. List two things the document tells you about life and society at the time it was written. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 13. Why do you think this document was created? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 14. Why is this document important? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 15. What questions does it raise or leave unanswered? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 16. Make a list of words or expressions you do not understand, and then look to other sources for definitions or explanations. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
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HANDOUT 3
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PRIMARY SOURCE: GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Excerpt from Northwest Ordinance, July 13, 1787, Sec. 14, Art. 6 An Ordinance for the government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio Sec. 14, Art. 6 There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.
1. What does this article say about slavery? About fugitive slaves? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. What is the difference between slavery and involuntary servitude? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. What territory does this article apply to? Locate this territory on a map. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. Were Ohio and Kentucky part of this territory? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSIONS Discuss how this law affected the institution of slavery. Rewrite the article using todays words and writing style.
HANDOUT 4

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Excerpt from the United States Constitution, effective 1789, Article IV, Section 2 1. The Citizens of each state shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several states. 2. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 3. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, But shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
1. Which clause refers to criminals? To fugitive slaves? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. What is to happen to criminals? To fugitive slaves? What is the difference? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. What words or phrases are used to mean slaves and slavery? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. Who benefited from this section of the Constitution? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSIONS Discuss how this part of the Constitution affected the institution of slavery. Rewrite this section using todays words and writing style. 33
HANDOUT 5
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Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Edited version of the Fugitive Slave Act, February 12, 1793 Section 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the executive authority of any state in the Union, or of either of the territories northwest or south of the river Ohio, shall demand any person as a fugitive from justice, of the executive authority of any such state or territory to which such person shall have fled, and shall moreover produce the copy of an indictmentcharging the personwith having committed treason, felony, or other crimeit shall be the duty of the executive authority of the state or territory to which such person shall have fled, to cause him or her to be arrested and secured and notice of the arrest to be given to the executive authority making such demand and to cause the fugitive to be delivered to such agent whom he shall appear. But if no agent shall appear within six months from the time of the arrest, the prisoner may be discharged. And all costs or expenses incurred in the apprehending, securing, and transmitting such fugitive to the state or territory making such demand, shall be paid by such state or territory. Section 2 And be it further enacted, That any agentwho shall receive the fugitive into his custody, shall be empowered to transport him or her to the state or territory from which he shall have fled. And if any personshall by force set at liberty, or rescue the fugitive from such agent while transportingthe personso offending shallbe fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding one year. Section 3 And be it also enacted, That when a person held to labor in any of the United States, or in either of the territories of the northwest or south of the river Ohioshall escape into any other of the said states or territory, the person to whom such labour or service may be dueisempowered to seize or arrest such fugitive from labour, (b) and to take him or her before any judgeresidingwithin the state, or before any magistratewherein such seizure or arrest shall be made, and upon proof to the satisfaction of such judge or magistrate, either by oral testimony or affidavitthat the person so seized or arrested, under the laws of the state or territory from which he or she fled, owe service or labour to the person claiming him or her, it shall be the duty of such judge or magistrate to give a certificateto such claimantwhich shall be sufficient warrant for removing the said fugitive from labour, to the state or territory from which he or she fled.
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Section 4 And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct or hinder such claimantin so seizingsuch fugitive from labour, or shall rescue such fugitive from such claimantor shall harbor or conceal such person after notice that he or she was a fugitive from labourshallforfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars. Which penalty may be recovered by and for the benefit of such claimant
1. Who made this law? __________________________________________________________ 2. Where does it apply? ______________________________________________________ 3. Who has the power to demand the return of runaways? __________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. What might other crimes be? ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 5. How does a state get a fugitive slave back? ____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 6. Who pays the cost of this? ____________________________________________________ 7. If someone tries to rescue a fugitive, what is the penalty? ________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 8. Who is the claimant? ______________________________________________________ 9. What role did judges or magistrates have under this law? ________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSIONS Summarize what each section says in a sentence or two. Work in small groups to rewrite each section using todays words and writing style. Discuss why the government passed this law. The Underground Railroad is not mentioned in the law, but what does the law suggest about it? What effect did this law have on fugitive slaves?
HANDOUT 6
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Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Edited version of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, September 18, 1850 Section 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the persons who have beenappointed commissionersare hereby, authorized and required to exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred by this act. Section 5 And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of all marshalsto obey and execute all warrantsissued under the provisions of this actand should any marshalrefuse to receive such warrantor to use all proper means diligently to execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand dollarsand after arrest of such fugitive, by such marshalor whilst at any time in his custody under the provisions of this act, should such fugitive escape, whether with or without the assent of such marshalsuch marshal shall be liableto be prosecuted for the benefit of such claimant, for the full value of the service or labor of said fugitive in the State, Territory, or District whence he escaped: and the better to enable the said commissionersto execute their duties faithfully and efficientlythey are hereby authorized and empoweredto appointany one or more suitable persons to execute all such warrantswith authority to such commissionersto summon and call to their aid the bystandersof the proper countyand all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient execution of this law, whenever their services may be required Section 6 And be it further enacted, That when a person held to service or labor in any State or Territory of the United States, has heretofore or shall hereafter escape into another State or Territory of the United States, the personto whom such service or labor may be duemay pursue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by procuring a warrant from some one of the courtsor by seizing and arresting such fugitiveand by takingbefore such courtwhose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in a summary manner; and upon satisfactory proof being made that the person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the personclaiming himin the State or Territory from which such fugitive may have escapedand that said person escaped, to make out and deliver to such claimanta certificate setting forth the substantial facts as to the service or labor due from such fugitive to the claimant, and of his or her escape from the State or Territory in which he or she was arrested, with authority to such claimantto use such reasonable force and restraint as may be necessaryto take and remove such fugitive person back to the State or Territory whence hemay have escapedIn no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and the certificates
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shall be conclusive of the right of the personin whose favor granted, to remove such fugitive to the State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all molestation of such person or persons by any process issued by any court Section 7 And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimantfrom arresting such a fugitive from service or laboror shall rescue, or attempt to rescue, such fugitive from service or labor, from the custody of such claimantor shall aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or laborto escape from such claimant; or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge of the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or laborshall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before the District Court of the United Statesand shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thousand dollars for each fugitive so lost Section 8 And be it further enacted, That the marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of the said District and Territorial Courts, shall be paid, for their services and in all cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner, he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certificate to the claimantor a fee of five dollars in cases where the proof shall not warrant such certificate and delivery The personauthorized to execute the process to be issued by such commissioner for the arrest and detention of fugitives from service or laborshall also be entitled to a fee of five dollars each for each person hemay arrestwith such other fees as may be deemed reasonable by such commissioner for such other additional services as may be necessarily performed by himsuch askeeping the fugitive in custody, and providing him with food and lodging during his detentionand, in general, for performing such other duties as may be required by such claimant Section 9 And be it further enacted, Thatafter such certificate has been issued, that he has reason to apprehend that such fugitive will he rescued by force from hispossession before he can be taken beyond the limits of the State in which the arrest is made, it shall be the duty of the officer making the arrest to retain such fugitive in his custody, and to remove him to the State whence he fled, and there to deliver him to said claimant[T]he officeris herebyrequired to employ so many persons as he may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain them in his service so long as
HANDOUT 6
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circumstances may require. The said officerto receive the same compensation, and to be allowed the same expenses, as are now allowed by law for transportation of criminalsand paid out of the treasury of the United States. Section 10 And be it further enacted, That when any person held to service or labor in any Stateshall escapethe party to whom such service or labor shall be duemay apply to any courtand make satisfactory proofof the escapeand that the person escaping owed service or labor to such party. Whereupon the court shall cause a record to be made of the matters so proved, and also a general description of the person so escapingand a transcript of such recordbeing produced in any other Statein which the person so escaping may be found, and being exhibited to any judgeshall be held and taken to be full and conclusive evidence of the fact of escape, and that the service or labor of the person escaping is due to the party in such record mentioned And the said courtshall, upon the production of the record and other evidences grant to such claimant a certificate of his right to take any such person identified and proved to be owing service or laborwhich certificate shall authorize such claimant to seize or arrest and transport such person to the State or Territory from which he escaped.
Find the section of the act that explains each item. 1. _____ Federal marshals fined $1,000 for not arresting runaways when ordered to do so. 2. _____ Six months in jail for person who aided a runaway in any way. 3. _____ Denied fugitive slave or free black a jury trial. 4. _____ Officers who captured a fugitive slave earned a fee. 5. _____ Citizens required to assist in the recovery of fugitive slaves. 6. _____ Those charged under law not allowed to testify on own behalf. 7. _____ Federal government allowed to deputize citizens. 8. _____ Heavy penalties for those who assisted runaways. 9. _____ Commissioners decided if slave owners testimony was valid or not. 10. _____ Marshals and clerks earned larger fees if the alleged fugitives were delivered to the claimant.
EXTENSIONS Compare the terms of this act with those of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act. Work in small groups to rewrite each section using todays language and writing style. Investigate the circumstances of the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Discuss the impact of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 on the Underground Railroad.
HANDOUT 7

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
United States Constitution Thirteenth Amendment Amendment XIII, December 6, 1865 Sec. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Sec. 2. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
1. What did this amendment do? ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. What word is used in it that does not appear in earlier legislation? __________________________________________________________________________ 3. Where did its terms apply? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSIONS The Constitution did not mention slavery by name. What other terms were used instead? Review Article I, Section 9, and Article IV, Section 2. What did this amendment do that the Emancipation Proclamation did not?
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PRIMARY SOURCE: PROCLAMATION

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 By the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation. Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtythree, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States. Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
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Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh. By the President:ABRAHAM LINCOLN WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
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1. Who made this proclamation? ________________________________________________ 2. What major event was happening when it was issued? __________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. Where did its terms apply? Where did they not? ________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. What and who does the phrase be in rebellion against the United States refer to? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 5. What does Lincoln ask freed people not to do? What advice does he give them? What does he ask them to do? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 6. How was this Proclamation to be enforced? ____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 7. By what authority did Lincoln make this Proclamation? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSIONS Discuss the difference between a proclamation and a law. Identify on a map the states or parts of states the proclamation affected. Working in small groups, translate the Proclamation into todays language and writing style. Discuss the accuracy of the statement that Lincoln freed the slaves. If you were a Southerner and/or slave owner at the time, how would you have responded to this Proclamation?
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PRIMARY SOURCE: PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
The category of personal accounts, as in memoirs and reminiscences, provide an intimate and often uninhibited look at daily life. Readers learn about the past through the eyes of participants as written in their own words. Excerpt from The Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, 1876 Soon after we located at Newport, I found that we were on a line of the U. G. R. R. Fugitives often passed through that place, and generally stopped among the colored people. There was in that neighborhood a number of families of free colored people, mostly from North Carolina, who were the descendants of slaves who had been liberated by Friends many years before, and sent to free States at the expense of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. I learned that the fugitive slaves who took refuge with these people were often pursued and captured, the colored people not being very skillful in concealing them, or shrewd in making arrangements to forward them to Canada. I was pained to hear of the capture of these fugitives, and inquired of some of the Friends in our village why they did not take them in and secrete them, when they were pursued, and then aid them on their way to Canada? I found that they were afraid of the penalty of the law. I told them that I read in the Bible when I was a boy that it was right to take in the stranger and administer to those in distress, and that I thought it was always safe to do right. The Bible, in bidding us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, said nothing about color, and I should try to follow out the teachings of that good book. I was willing to receive and aid as many fugitives as were disposed to come to my house. I knew that my wifes feelings and sympathies regarding this matter were the same as mine, and that she was willing to do her part. It soon became known to the colored people in our neighborhood and others, that our house was a depot where the hunted and harassed fugitive journeying northward, on the Underground Railroad, could find succor and sympathy. It also became known at other depots on the various lines that converged at Newport. In the winter of 182627, fugitives began to come to our house, and as it became more widely known on different routes that the slaves fleeing from bondage would find a welcome and shelter at our house, and be forwarded safely on their journey, the number increased. Friends in the neighborhood, who had formerly stood aloof from the work, fearful of the penalty of the law, were encouraged to engage in it when they saw the fearless manner in which I acted, and the success that attended my efforts. They would contribute to clothe the fugitives, and would aid in forwarding them on their way, but were timid about sheltering them under their roof; so that part of the work devolved on us. Some seemed really glad to see the work go on, if somebody else would do it. Others doubted the propriety of it, and tried to discourage me, and
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dissuade me from running such risks. They manifested great concern for my safety and pecuniary interests, telling me that such a course of action would injure my business and perhaps ruin me; that I ought to consider the welfare of my family; and warning me that my life was in danger, as there were many threats made against me by the slave-hunters and those who sympathized with them. After listening quietly to these counselors, I told them that I felt no condemnation for anything that I had ever done for the fugitive slaves. If by doing my duty and endeavoring to fulfill the injunctions of the Bible, I injured my business, then let my business go. As to my safety, my life was in the hands of my Divine Master, and I felt that I had his approval. I had no fear of the danger that seemed to threaten my life or my business. If I was faithful to duty, and honest and industrious, I felt that I would be preserved, and that I could make enough to support my family. At one time there came to see me a good old Friend, who was apparently very deeply concerned for my welfare. He said he was as much opposed to slavery as I was, but thought it very wrong to harbor fugitive slaves. No one there knew of what crimes they were guilty; they might have killed their masters, or committed some other atrocious deed, then those who sheltered them, and aided them in their escape from justice would indirectly be accomplices. He mentioned other objections which he wished me to consider, and then talked for some time, trying to convince me of the errors of my ways. I heard him patiently until he had relieved his mind of the burden upon it, and then asked if he thought the Good Samaritan stopped to inquire whether the man who fell among thieves was guilty of any crime before he attempted to help him? I asked him if he were to see a stranger who had fallen into the ditch would he not help him out until satisfied that he had committed no atrocious deed? These, and many other questions which I put to him, he did not seem able to answer satisfactorily. He was so perplexed and confused that I really pitied the good old man, and advised him to go home and read his Bible thoroughly, and pray over it, and I thought his concern about my aiding fugitive slaves would be removed from his mind, and that he would feel like helping me in the work. We parted in good feeling, and he always manifested warm friendship toward me until the end of his days. Many of my pro-slavery customers left me for a time, my sales were diminished, and for a while my business prospects were discouraging, yet my faith was not shaken, nor my efforts for the slaves lessened. New customers soon came in to fill the places of those who had left me. New settlements were rapidly forming to the north of us, and our own was filling up with emigrants from North Carolina, and other States. My trade increased, and I enlarged my business. I was blessed in all my efforts and succeeded beyond my expectations. The Underground Railroad business increased as time advanced, and it was attended with heavy expenses, which I could not have borne had not my affairs been prosperous. I found it necessary to keep a team and a wagon always at command, to convey the fugitive slaves on their journey. Sometimes, when we had large companies, one or two other teams and wagons were required. These journeys had to be made at night, often through deep mud and bad roads, and along by-ways that were seldom traveled. Every precaution to evade pursuit had to be used, as the hunters were often on the track, and sometimes ahead of the slaves. We had different routes for sending the fugitives to depots, ten, fifteen, or twenty miles distant, and when we heard of slave-hunters having passed on one road, we forwarded our passengers by another.
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I soon became extensively known to the friends of the slaves, at different points on the Ohio River, where fugitives generally crossed, and to those northward of us on the various routes leading to Canada. Depots were established on the different lines of the Underground Railroad, south and north of Newport, and a perfect understanding was maintained between those who kept them. Three principal lines from the South converged at my house; one from Cincinnati, one from Madison, and one from Jeffersonville, Indiana. The roads were always in running order, the connections were good, the conductors active and zealous, and there was no lack of passengers. Seldom a week passed without our receiving passengers by this mysterious road. We found it necessary to be always prepared to receive such company and properly care for them. We knew not what night or what hour of the night we would be roused from slumber by a gentle rap at the door. That was the signal announcing the arrival of a train of the Underground Railroad, for the locomotive did not whistle, nor make any unnecessary noise. I have often been awakened by this signal, and sprang out of bed in the dark and opened the door. Outside in the cold or rain, there would be a two-horse wagon loaded with fugitives, perhaps the greater part of them women and children. I would invite them, in a low tone, to come in, and they would follow me into the darkened house without a word, for we knew not who might be watching and listening. When they were all safely inside and the door fastened, I would cover the windows, strike a light and build a good fire. By this time my wife would be up and preparing victuals for them, and in a short time the cold and hungry fugitives would be made comfortable. I would accompany the conductor of the train to the stable, and care for the horses, that had, perhaps, been driven twenty-five or thirty miles that night, through the cold and rain. The fugitives would rest on pallets before the fire the rest of the night. Frequently, wagon-loads of passengers from the different lines have met at our house, having no previous knowledge of each other. The companies varied in number, from two or three fugitives to seventeen. The care of so many necessitated much work and anxiety on our part, but we assumed the burden of our own will and bore it cheerfully. It was never too cold or stormy, or the hour of night too late for my wife to rise from sleep, and provide food and comfortable lodging for the fugitives. Her sympathy for those in distress never tired, and her efforts in their behalf never abated. This work was kept up during the time we lived at Newport, a period of more than twenty years. The number of fugitives varied considerably in different years, but the annual average was more than one hundred. They generally came to us destitute of clothing, and were often barefooted. Clothing must be collected and kept on hand, if possible, and money must be raised to buy shoes, and purchase goods to make garments for women and children. The young ladies in the neighborhood organized a sewing society, and met at our house frequently, to make clothes for the fugitives. Sometimes when the fugitives came to us destitute, we kept them several days, until they could be provided with comfortable clothes. This depended on the circumstances of danger. If they had come a long distance and had been out several weeks or monthsas was sometimes the caseand it was not probable that hunters were on their track, we thought it safe for them to remain with us until fitted for traveling through the thinly settled country to the North. Sometimes fugitives have come to our house in rags, foot-sore and toil-worn, and almost wild, having been out for several
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months traveling at night, hiding in canebrakes or thickets during the day, often being lost and making little headway at night, particularly in cloudy weather, when the north star could not be seen, sometimes almost perishing for want of food, and afraid of every white person they saw, even after they came into a free State, knowing that slaves were often captured and taken back after crossing the Ohio River. Such as these we have kept until they were recruited in strength, provided with clothes, and able to travel. When they first came to us they were generally unwilling to tell their stories, or let us know what part of the South they came from. They would not give their names, or the names of their masters, correctly, fearing that they would be betrayed. In several instances fugitives came to our house sick from exhaustion and exposure, and lay several weeks. Source: Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, the Reputed President of the Underground Railroad; Being a Brief History of the Labors of a Lifetime in Behalf of the Slave, with the Stories of Numerous Fugitives, Who Gained Their Freedom Through His Instrumentality, and Many Other Incidents, Cincinnati: Robert Clark & Co., 1880. Full text available at http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/coffin/menu.html
1. From whose point of view is this passage written? ______________________________ 2. Why is he qualified to write this? ____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. What caused Coffin to get involved with the Underground Railroad? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. How did the Quaker community in Newport regard Coffins Underground Railroad activity? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 5. What kept other Quakers (Friends) from doing from what Coffin did? __________________________________________________________________________ 6. What religious beliefs and teachings did Coffin use to justify this work? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
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7. When an antislavery Friend said it was wrong to harbor fugitive slaves, what reasoning did Coffin use to respond to him? Do you think that was an effective argument? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 8. How did his work in the Underground Railroad affect Coffins business and home and family life? __________________________________________________________________________ 9. Coffin explained in detail how the Underground Railroad operated. What methods were used to help transport the runaways and keep them safe? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 10.What personal sacrifices did the Coffins make to carry on this work? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 11.What do we learn about fugitive slaves from this passage? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 12.What attitudes did Coffin have toward the fugitives? How did he treat them? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ EXTENSIONS How accurate or truthful do you think Coffins writing is? Do you see any examples of biased language or descriptions in the passage? Any exaggerations? Select a scene described by Coffin and write a dialogue that might have happened between Coffin and the other person(s). Make a list of eight or more words to describe Coffin based on what you have learned about him. Would you be willing to put yourself at risk to work for a cause you believe in? Why or why not? Today we think of Coffin as a hero. How did others regard him at the time? If he were alive today and doing similar underground work, would he be regarded as a hero or criminal?
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PRIMARY SOURCE: PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
The category of personal accounts, as in memoirs and reminiscences, provide an intimate and often uninhibited look at daily life. Readers learn about the past through the eyes of participants as written in their own words. Excerpt from John P. Parkers autobiography, His Promised Land The series of incidents which I have related and am about to relate extended over a period of years, during which time I assisted 440 fugitives on their way to Canada. For years I kept an accurate list of the names, dates, and original homes of the fugitives. When the Fugitive Slave law agitation was at its highest, and active prosecutions began its enforcement, everyone engaged in the work destroyed all existing evidence of his connection with it. My little memorandum book I dropped quietly in the cupola of my own iron foundry, so no one knew its existence, especially its damaging contents. But the work went on just the same, in fact, more aggressively than ever, which speaks well for the conscience and courage of the Ripley group. As a result of my running off the Strofe slaves, the authorities of Mason County, Kentucky, offered a reward for me dead or alive. I had heard of this offer but placed little credence in the statement, until I read it myself, nailed securely to the bark of a tree. I had been up to Charleston Bottom arranging to aid a group of slaves who were ready to start for Canada. It was dark night. I had no fear of the road patrols, whose activities generally ceased long before midnight. So that as I went along the high road I saw a proclamation of some sort from time to time, never dreaming it related to me. They became so numerous my curiosity was aroused. Striking a match, I read in large letters:REWARD $1,000 FOR JOHN PARKER, DEAD OR ALIVE. Not conducive to quiet ones nerves nor guarantee ones safety, particularly when I happened to be where anyone so minded could have had me, if they could catch or kill me. I did not go off whistling after I had read that sinister offer for my head, because I knew how deadly in earnest the men were who authorized billeting me from every fence corner as being worth $1,000 to any rascal who saw me A more serious aspect of this reward offered for me turned up in Cincinnati. As I suspected, the cupidity of some of the low whites was aroused by the offer of a fortune to them for me. I soon discovered that I was being watched and my every movement spied upon. They watched me, they watched my home, and kept tabs on all who called upon me. At a conference it was decided that until the matter of the reward quieted down, it would be safer for me to stay at home. Word was sent out that no fugitives were to be brought to my home. Furthermore I was not to pilot anyone along the road to freedom. So for a time I enjoyed seclusion and rest. This espionage kept up until I tired of it.
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Once, just to test the mettle of my pursuers, I slipped out the back way, took a long aimless walk around town, [and] had the enjoyment of giving my spying friends a hope, which finally ended back home, having given myself and my watchful friends quite a bit of exercise. But matters came to a head in an unexpected matter. It seems that Tom Collins had two parties of fugitives come to him the same night. The first party he took away as usual; the second party coming while he was away, someone in town, who did not know I was confined to my house, sent the second crowd to me. When they came to my door my wife answered the call out of the upstairs window. While I could not see them, I felt they were genuine, and badly in need of friendly assistance. I was soon ready for the road and prepared for anyone who attempted to interfere with me. The watchman was on my trail. I was determined to get rid of him one way or another, without kicking up too much of a disturbance. Taking my time going up an alleyway that ran along the foundry, I hit upon my plan. Turning onto Second Street, I hung back in a shadow [and] waited for my man. He almost stumbled over me in his haste. Grabbing him by the arm, I pushed him out into the moonlight so he could clearly see the knife which I held at his breast. I knew he was no coward, so I took no chances with him. Pressing my knife close to his chest, I told him I knew his Kentucky friends were paying to watch me, that I had enough of him and them, [and] unless he went on about his business, I would kill them at any other time I found him following me. It was his life or mine, this he knew, as I was in deadly earnest and meant exactly what I said. This was the end of the night watch. Source: His Promised Land: The Autobiography of John P. Parker, Former Slave and Conductor on the Underground Railroad, John P. Parker and Stuart Seely Sprague, editor, 1998. Pages 127131. ISBN 0393317188
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1. What dangers did Parker face as an Underground Railroad operative? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. How did the Fugitive Slave Laws affect his Underground Railroad work? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. What strategies did Parker use to avoid capture? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. What does this passage from Parkers book reveal about the Underground Railroad? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 5. How would you describe Parkers character and personality? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
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PRIMARY SOURCE: COURT RECORD

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Complaint filed in Circuit Court, Southern District of Ohio, 1858 Source: Cincinnati Museum Center Cincinnati Historical Society Library
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1. Who is Edward R. Newhall? Where does he work? ______________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. Who is he addressing this court document to? __________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. Who filed the complaint? __________________________________________________ 4. Who is John Martin? Where does he live? ______________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 5. Who is George? What has he done? ____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 6. Where is George believed to be now? ________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 7. What does this complaint say should happen to George? ________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 8. Who is told to take action against George? ____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSIONS What insights into the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act does this document offer? Rewrite this court document using todays language and word style.
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PRIMARY SOURCE: COURT RECORD

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Sam Barnett manumission paper, 1859 Full text available at http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/page.cfm?ID=2978 Source: Ohio Historical Society
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1. What court issued this document? Where did this court sit? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. What is the date on the document? __________________________________________ 3. Who was George Hilton? ______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. What did this court document do (result in)? __________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 5. Who were Robert Barnett and Sam Barnett? What was their relationship? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 6. Describe Sam Barnett. ______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 7. What does the phrase all issue which shall be born of his body mean? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
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8. What connection does Kentucky have to this document? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 9. Did any money change hands?________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 10. What was Sam Barnetts status in Kentucky? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 11. Why did he come to Ohio? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSIONS What does the word manumission mean? Find out more about the manumission of slaves from other sources. Why do you think Robert Barnett freed his slave Sam? What laws governed slavery and fugitive slaves at the time of this manumission?
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PRIMARY SOURCE: LEAFLET

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Boston Vigilance Committee benevolence request, 1854 Full text available at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ rbpe:@field(DOCID+@lit(rbpe06103200))#06103200001 Source: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/rbpehtml/pehome.html
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1. What are the concerns of the people writing this letter? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. Who do they represent? ____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. Who do they want to help? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. Why do these people need help? ____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 5. How do the writers propose to help them? ____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 6. What has recently happened in the city to cause even more concern? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 7. Who is being asked to help? ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 8. What acts of charity have they organized previously? ____________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
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EXTENSIONS How does religion affect the writers actions? Do you think the letter is an effective request for charity? Would you respond to this request? Why or why not? Research the ways that Boston and Massachusetts fought against slavery. Research Vigilance Committees in Northern cities. Why did they form? Who did they help? How? Design a broadside in todays style that makes the same request.
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PRIMARY SOURCE: BROADSIDE

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Warning to Colored People of Boston, 1851 Source: Courtesy of the Library of Congress
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1. Who is being warned? ______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. What are they being warned about? __________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. Who should they avoid? Why? ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. What advice is given? ______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSIONS Who might have printed this broadside? What might have motivated them to print it? Where might it have been posted in the city? Why was such an announcement necessary?
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PRIMARY SOURCE: BROADSIDES AND NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS
Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________
Runaway Slave Ads Ad #1
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Ad #2
Ad #3
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Ad #4
Ad #5
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Use this chart to record information from the runaway slave ads.
Ad #1
Ad #2
Ad #3
Ad #4
Ad #5
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Other information given
Physical description
Clothing description
Name of runaway
Item
Gender
Age
Item
Ad #1
Ad #2
Ad #3
Ad #4
Ad #5
Date of escape
Place escaped from
Date of ad
Where ad was placed
Name of subscriber
Amount of reward
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1. Why did some runaways have only first names? ________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. Think about the time of year of each escape. How would that have affected each runaways journey? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
3. To whom does the term subscriber refer? Why was that term used? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. Compare the amounts of the rewards. What might account for the differences? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 5. Based on the ads, how do you think these runaways were treated as slaves? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 6. How would you imagine the personality or character of the subscriber? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
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EXTENSIONS If you were a newspaper editor, would you have printed runaway slave ads in your paper? Why or why not? Look at a United States map and estimate how far each runaway had to travel to reach freedom. Refer to a map showing Underground Railroad paths. What path might each runaway have taken? Turn the tables and create a wanted poster for a slave owner, modeled after runaway slave ads. How would you describe him? What crimes would he be wanted for? Where would you look for him? What would the reward be? What might a runaway slave who encounters his former owner (subscriber) years later say to him? Create a dialogue.
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Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

OHIO ACADEMIC CONTENT STANDARDS

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

NOTES FOR THE TEACHER

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC TIME CAPSULE

_____ TOTAL POINTS

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

PRIMARY SOURCE: GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

PRIMARY SOURCE: GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

PRIMARY SOURCE: GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

PRIMARY SOURCE: GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

PRIMARY SOURCE: GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

PRIMARY SOURCE: PROCLAMATION

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

PRIMARY SOURCE: PERSONAL ACCOUNT

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

PRIMARY SOURCE: PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

PRIMARY SOURCE: COURT RECORD

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

PRIMARY SOURCE: COURT RECORD

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

PRIMARY SOURCE: LEAFLET

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

PRIMARY SOURCE: BROADSIDE

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad LESSON 1

PRIMARY SOURCE: BROADSIDES AND NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS

Name __________________________________________________ Date ____________________

Runaway Slave Ads Ad #1

LESSON 1 Primary Sources Provide Context for the Underground Railroad

Name ______________________________ Date