The African experience is unparalleled by any other group who came to America. The African was forcefully removed from his homeland and exiled in a strange and hostile land where he was forbidden to be an African and yet never fully allowed to become an American. The language and culture so familiar to him was completely banned. One has to strain the imagination to the breaking point just to begin to understand the unfathomable conditions created by such conditions for the African slave. The denial of the basic human need to communicate must have made life extremely difficult. In response to this inhumane treatment many aspects of African culture went "underground".
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People who are denied the ability to learn to read or write place greater meaning on symbols. The African became ingenious for their use of symbols. Many modes were used to communicate hidden messages unknown to plantation owners. These included songs and chants, dance and drums, and quilting. Quilts, full of power and laden with hidden significance, enabled slaves to preserve histories and traditions, which though weakened, may have been lost completely.
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Stories have been told about fugitive slaves using quilts as a means to navigate the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad quilt, previously known as Jacob's Ladder was supposedly hung somewhere on the outside of a house or in a window as a signal to fugitive slaves that the home was a safe haven for weary, fearful travelers.
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Other stories suggest that fugitive slaves who traveled to freedom via the Underground Railroad inspired the "North Star" quilt pattern. Other quilts concealed in their patterns and color the route to the next station on the Underground Railroad and provided slaves with information to help calculate the distance form one station stop to the next. In this way, thousands of slaves made their way to freedom.
The Underground Railroad: Background Information
The term Underground Railroad symbolizes a network of people who assisted runaway slaves in their quest for freedom. It had many routes that led slaves by the most direct path possible from slave holding states of southern United States to the closest free county.
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The Underground Railroad began in the early 1800s and lasted for over fifty years. Canadians and Americans alike risked life and property to help fugitive slaves find freedom. The secrets of the routes of the Underground Railroad were so well kept that only a fraction of the whole story is known today.
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The Underground Railroad got its name from a slave owner, Tice David, in 1831. David had been looking for a fugitive slave when he commented that his fugitive slave seemed to have "disappeared on an underground road." The name was later changed to the Underground Railroad because the disappearance of slaves seemed to happen as quickly as the new steam trains that were crisscrossing the countryside.
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Codes and symbols were essential to the activities of the Underground Railroad. They kept the activities concealed under a cloak of mystery and unknown meaning. Fugitive slaves were often referred to as "parcels" and conversations about their arrival could be spoken undetected in the presence of bounty hunters.
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Music was another means by which the slaves communicated an anticipated escape with each other. Songs such as
Steal Away, steal away, steal away to Jesus
and
the Promised Land
alerted other slaves that the attempted get away was coming up.
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Many slaves were unable to read or write but had learned to tell which way was north by following the North Star or the Drinking Gourd and by recognizing that moss grows thicker on the side of the tree facing north. Slaves began their journey north without map or instrument. So armed with nothing more than the clothes on their back slaves brave enough to try began the journey towards freedom.
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Those slaves bold enough to attempt to escape from slavery usually did so at night using the North Star as their guide. Those who ventured this journey had to be strong, with stamina, courage and determination for the road was long and weary.
Lesson Plan #3
Objective
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• To examine a young slave girl's plan to map the route to freedom via the Underground Railroad on a quilt as a guide for herself and other slaves.
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• To develop a symbolic map
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• To increase vocabulary
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• To decode hidden messages
Materials
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• Storybook: Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
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• Construction Paper
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• Scissors
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• Glue
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• Chart Paper
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• Markers and/or crayons
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• Make a KWL chart by divining a large sheet of chart paper into three columns. Label The first column K(what I know), the second column W (what I want to find out) and the third column L (what I learned)
(chart available in print form)
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• Assess the children's prior knowledge about the Underground Railroad and record it in the first column. Accept all responses as valid.
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• Record in the second column, what the children hope to learn by studying this topic.
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• Read and discuss the story, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt with the children.
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• As the children learn new information, add this to the KWL chart under the appropriate column. Post the chart in a visible area for future use.
Lesson Plan #4
Objective
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• To make a coded map
Materials
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• Large sheet of construction paper 18"x 24"
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• Crayons/markers
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• Various art materials: scraps of fabric, paper, etc.
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• Glue
Preparation for the Lesson
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• Send a letter home with the children informing the parents that their child will be making a coded map of their neighborhood
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• Explain that the only acceptable place for words is in the map key. The remainder of the map is to be done in symbols. Those symbols are to be identified in the map key.
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• Have the children complete the following survey prior to beginning the map. Keep this for future use.
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• Have the parent choose a starting point at least three to four blocks from the child's street and help the child complete the following survey listing those items to be used on the map. The items listed should be constants (things that happen on a daily basis).
(chart available in print form)
Give the children the following directions for making their map. Set a time limit for when maps are due.
Making a Coded Map
Directions
You cannot read or write but you've extended an invitation for me to come to your home. Draw a map using various symbols to help me find your home. Choose a starting point at least four to five blocks from your home. Be sure to use directional clues such as an arrow showing a right turn at a mailbox, etc. Show streets, parks, churches, schools, unusual buildings, etc. Decide when would be the best time for me to travel in your neighborhood, morning, noon, or night? How did you depict this on your map? Will I hear any familiar sounds? If so, how did you symbolize these sounds on your map. Are there children who always play on your street? Are there any animals or neighbors that you see regularly as you travel in your neighborhood. Use those items listed on your survey as you make your map. Make your map as colorful as you can. Be creative.