THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
What you already know

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WHAT IS THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD?
The name "Underground Railroad" makes it seem as
though this was an actual train, but in fact the
"Underground Railroad" was a series of trails and
paths that slaves could follow toward freedom in
Canada. The word "underground" was used to mean
it was a secret route. The word "railroad" was
used to indicate the various people who assisted
the American slaves on their journey toward
freedom. The Underground Railroad operated from
1831 to 1865. It was most active in the 1850's,
a time when it became illegal to help the slaves
escape slavery. While there are no exact numbers
of how many people it helped to escape, it is
estimated it helped between 20 000 to 100 000
people.
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WHY THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD WAS FORMED
Slavery was not allowed in northern United States
and in Canada. The southern United States,
however, still allowed slavery. Those slaves
living in the southern United States, who were
not yet free, wanted to gain their freedom by
escaping to the British Colonies in the 14 free
northern states, or Canada.
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CODE WORDS OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
The people helping runaway slaves had to
communicate by mail, and letters could always be
opened. So these code words weren't just for fun
- they helped confuse slave hunters. Promised
land or Canaan Canada (in the Bible, Canaan was
the promised land to which Moses led the
Jews out of slavery in Egypt Station safe house
on the route north Freight or cargo runaway
slaves Station masters or agents people who
helped hide runaways and direct them to the next
station Conductors people who acted as guides
and travelled with the runaways Stockholders
people who donated money, food or transportation
to runaways. They also communicated by means of
signals, such as bird calls, special knocks and
coded letters. Modified from Sadlier, R. and
Qijun, W. (2003). The Kids Book of Black
Canadian History. Toronto Kids Can Press Ltd.,
pg. 24.
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Assessment Activity
Create a Mind Map displaying the causes,
antecedent event, consequences and subsequent
events for the Underground Railroad. Be sure to
color code your mind map, using one color for
causes, a second color for antecedent events, a
third color for consequences, and a fourth color
for subsequent events. Use a fifth color for the
connections you make between the causes and
consequences. Be sure to include information
from your handout. As well, you are encouraged
to use other sources to add additional facts to
your Mind Map Example
Idea "B" (Cause)
Evidence to support connections between ideas in
your concept map.
Idea "C" (Consequence)
Idea "A" (Consequence)
Idea "D" Antecedent Event
Evidence to support connections between ideas in
your concept map.
Evidence to support connections between ideas in
your concept map.
Idea "D" Antecedent Event
Evidence to support connections between ideas in
your concept map.
Evidence to support connections between ideas in
your concept map.
Underground Railroad
Idea "B" (Cause)
Evidence to support connections between ideas in
your concept map.
Evidence to support connections between ideas in
your concept map.
Idea "E" (Subsequent Event)
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Example continued (for further examples of mind
maps, google "mind maps images")
http//www.neuralmatters.com/Reference/Buzan/MindM
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History and Presence of Black People in Canada
Take a trip on the Underground Railroad (Choose
the "no" options first to discover what happened
under those circumstances, then return to the
options and choose the "yes" options to follow
the journey).
http//www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/j1.html
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Resources Lunn, J. And Moore, C.(2000).
Following the Drinking Gourd. The Story of
Canada. Toronto Key Porter Books Limited, pg.
164. Sadlier, R. and Qijun, W. (2003). The
Kids Book of Black Canadian History. Toronto
Kids Can Press Ltd., pg. 24, 30-31. Hacher, C.
And Mantha, J. (2002). The Kids Book of Canadian
History. Toronto Kids Can Press Ltd., pg. 39.
http//www.neuralmatters.com/Reference/Buzan/MindM
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