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Soft Schools, Underground Railroad facts

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Soft Schools, Underground Railroad facts

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This article teaches us about the railroad and and a brief overview of the whole topic, after this the author lists some fun facts to consider.  The article would be used if you were almost done the topic of the Underground Railroad and wanted to go the extra mile to learn other facts your friends don't know about.

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the Underground Railroad was not a railroad but instead a series of safe houses and people who provided safe passage for slaves wanting to escape the South to go to the North or to go to Canada where slavery did not exist.

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Newsela, Expansion and Reform The Underground Railroad

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Newsela, Expansion and Reform The Underground Railroad

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The author of this article shows us what the underground railroad was, why it was named "The Underground Railroad", how abolitionists were a part of freeing slaves through the railroad, and government, rights, and, laws to do with the Underground railroad. The article is affective if you're researching the topic because it offers background knowledge and facts to show the significance of the Underground Railroad.

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Newsela | Expansion & Reform: The Underground Railroad and the Coming of War

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The role of the Underground Railroad in the Civil War

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Through this text we learn how the underground Railroad functions and what had to be done to free fugitive slaves. The author also teaches us about Conductors, Vigilance groups, and Quakers of all colors that worked for the underground railroad. The article is significant to the Underground Railroad topic because it is an easy article to read after you have done some research and it is a great overview to the topic of freeing slaves

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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.

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Scholastic, Underground Railroad Escape from Slavery

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Scholastic, Underground Railroad Escape from Slavery

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This realistic fiction text shows the process of escaping slavery through the underground railroad. The writer shows us how a fugitive slave named Walter found freedom through the underground railroad. We also learn interesting facts as we follow Walter to freedom. This article is a fun way to learn about the Underground railroad. The author makes a story to teach us The Underground railroads significance.

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To help you use this online activity in your classroom, see the:

Curriculum connections for this online activity include:
American History:
Slavery, Underground Railroad, Abolitionists and Harriet Tubman, Civil War
Language Arts:
Critical reading, Writing historical fiction, Decoding/Word identification,
Geography:
Map skills

For a wealth of student activities and resources about the Underground Railroad, see:

Slideshows
Slideshows of important themes in American history with images and audio.

Activities
Activities, online and offline, that investigate the people, places, and events of the 1800s.

Primary Sources
Primary sources like interviews, photographs, and posters to help understand this historic time.

Try these great Harriet Tubman printables,
for FREE

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The Underground Railroad: Escape From Slavery Student Activity | Scholastic.com

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To help you use this online activity in your classroom, see the: Curriculum connections for this online activity include: American History: Slavery, Underground Railroad, Abolitionists and Harriet Tubman, Civil War Language Arts: Critical reading, Writing historical fiction, Decoding/Word identification, Geography: Map skills For a wealth of student activities and resources about the Underground Railroad, see: Slideshows Slideshows of important themes in American history with images and audio.