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(Informational Text)

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Tells the story of Gabe. A young boy who joined the Union Army during the Civil War as a bugler. The book is mostly about the boy's experience at the battle of Gettysburg. He meets a bugler around his age from the Confederate Army while he is alone in the woods and the boy tells him about the incoming Confederate forces. He mimics the bugle call of the boy he met to turn the tide of the battle.

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Written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco

Tells the story of Sheldon Russel Curtis also known as Say and Pinkus Aylee also known as Pink. They were two children soldiers in the Civil War. They became friends after Pink finds Say on the battlefield. Say brought him to his mothers slave house where she took care of both of them. The boys needed to leave the house before the marauders discovered that they were there. It was too late and Pinks mother was killed and the boys got caught in a field heading back to the Civil War. Pink was hanged and Say was imprisoned.

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The Civil War (1861-1865) and Slavery

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Slavery, Race, and the confederate army in the Civil War.  

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Slavery, Race, and the confederate army in the Civil War.  

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(informational text about race in the Civil War.)

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(informational text about quilts to freedom)

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Video Overview of the Civil War (grades 3-6) 

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Video Overview of the Civil War (grades 3-6) 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXc-rall80

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Written by, Deborah Hopkinson
Paintings by, James Ransome

Tells the story of Clara, a seamstress and her escape from slavery. Clara lives on a southern plantation and longs for freedom and a reunion with her mother. Clara begins making a map from quilt of the route to Canada.

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The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom (Historical Fiction)

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The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom (Historical Fiction)

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Written by Bettye Stroud and Illustrated by Erin Susanne Bennett

Tells the story of Hannah - a southern plantation slave - who relies on a quilt her mother made to guide her and her father to freedom along the Underground Railroad

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A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman (Informational Text)

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A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman (Informational Text)

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Written by David A. Adler and Illustrated by Samuel Byrd

An illustrated account of Harriet Tubman's life from her time as a slave to her contributions to the Underground Railroad

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The Underground Railroad, a vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to the North and to Canada, was not run by any single organization or person. Rather, it consisted of many individuals -- many whites but predominently black -- who knew only of the local efforts to aid fugitives and not of the overall operation. Still, it effectively moved hundreds of slaves northward each year -- according to one estimate, the South lost 100,000 slaves between 1810 and 1850.

An organized system to assist runaway slaves seems to have begun towards the end of the 18th century. In 1786 George Washington complained about how one of his runaway slaves was helped by a "society of Quakers, formed for such purposes." The system grew, and around 1831 it was dubbed "The Underground Railroad," after the then emerging steam railroads. The system even used terms used in railroading: the homes and businesses where fugitives would rest and eat were called "stations" and "depots" and were run by "stationmasters," those who contributed money or goods were "stockholders," and the "conductor" was responsible for moving fugitives from one station to the next.

For the slave, running away to the North was anything but easy. The first step was to escape from the slaveholder. For many slaves, this meant relying on his or her own resources. Sometimes a "conductor," posing as a slave, would enter a plantation and then guide the runaways northward. The fugitives would move at night. They would generally travel between 10 and 20 miles to the next station, where they would rest and eat, hiding in barns and other out-of-the-way places. While they waited, a message would be sent to the next station to alert its stationmaster.

The fugitives would also travel by train and boat -- conveyances that sometimes had to be paid for. Money was also needed to improve the appearance of the runaways -- a black man, woman, or child in tattered clothes would invariably attract suspicious eyes. This money was donated by individuals and also raised by various groups, including vigilance committees.

Vigilance committees sprang up in the larger towns and cities of the North, most prominently in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. In addition to soliciting money, the organizations provided food, lodging and money, and helped the fugitives settle into a community by helping them find jobs and providing letters of recommendation.

The Underground Railroad had many notable participants, including John Fairfield in Ohio, the son of a slaveholding family, who made many daring rescues, Levi Coffin, a Quaker who assisted more than 3,000 slaves, and Harriet Tubman, who made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom.

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The Underground Railroad, a vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to the North and to Canada, was not run by any single organization or person. Rather, it consisted of many individuals -- many whites but predominently black -- who knew only of the local efforts to aid fugitives and not of the overall operation.