Primary Sources Bring the Past to Life!
The Underground Railroad Primary Sources are just what teachers need to help students learn how to analyze primary sources in order to meet Common Core State Standards!
Students participate in active learning by creating their own interpretations of history using historical documents. Students make observations, generate questions, organize information and ideas, think analytically, write persuasively or informatively, and cite evidence to support their opinions, hypotheses, and conclusions. Students learn how to integrate and evaluate information to deepen their understanding of historical events.
The 20 Underground Railroad Primary Sources are:
- Photograph of abolitionist William Jackson and his family—their home was a station on the Underground Railroad in Newton, Massachusetts – 1846
- Broadside offering a $200 reward for escaped slaves – 1847
- Lithograph titled Effects of the Fugitive-Slave-Law depicts four black men ambushed in a cornfield by a posse of armed white men – 1850
- Lithograph titled The Resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia—Brown was a slave who escaped by being mailed from Virginia to Philadelphia in a wooden crate – 1850
- Poster advising African Americans in Boston to watch out for policemen acting as slave catchers – 1851
- Title page of anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe – 1852
- Portrait of fugitive slave Anthony Burns—his arrest and trial under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 started riots and protests in Boston – 1854
- Photograph of John Brown—abolitionist and conductor on the Underground Railroad – photo 1859
- Lyrics for “Song of the Free”—describes a slave fleeing to Canada—sung to the tune of “Oh! Susanna” – circa 1860
- Map of the United States in 1861, showing the divide between the northern and southern states
- Painting titled A Ride for Liberty – The Fugitive Slaves, by Eastman Johnson – 1862
- Photograph of Harriet Tubman—conductor on the Underground Railroad who helped free more than 70 people from slavery – circa 1870
- Excerpt from book written by free-born African American abolitionist William Still—The Underground Rail Road – 1872
- Excerpt from autobiography of abolitionist Levi Coffin, Reminiscences of Levi Coffin – 1876
- Photograph of abolitionist Frederick Douglass—helped move Underground Railroad passengers from Rochester, New York, to Canada – photo circa 1879
- Painting titled The Underground Railroad by Charles T. Webber – 1893
- Photograph taken inside abolitionist John Rankin’s house in Ohio, important station on the Underground Railroad—shows steps leading down to the shoreline of the Ohio River – photo taken 2005
- Photograph of the Underground Railroad Monument in Windsor, Canada—Canada was the ultimate destination for many runaway slaves – photo taken 2005
- Photograph of Erastus Farnham House near Fremont, Indiana, stop on the Underground Railroad—its cupola served as a lookout point – photo taken 2006
- Photograph of Indiana home of abolitionist Levi Coffin—house often called the “Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad” – photo taken 2012
Your students will:
- Think critically and analytically, interpret events, and question various perspectives of history.
- Participate in active learning by creating their own interpretations instead of memorizing facts and a writer’s interpretations.
- Integrate and evaluate information provided in diverse media formats to deepen their understanding of historical events.
- Create a more relevant and meaningful learning experience.
Download the Gallopade Free Online Teacher's Guide for Primary Sources PDF located in "Additional Info."
All levels. 8 x 11 inches each. Cardstock.
