Underground+Railway

//**__ Underground Railway __**//

The underground railway was a secret network of people, safe houses and routes that helped slaves escape from the United States (where slavery was legal) to Canada (where slavery had been illegal since 1833). The slaves risked their lives and were often separated from their loved ones as they made the long and treacherous journey. They travelled mostly on foot, through dense forests and at night time so they would not be caught and returned to their masters. They found their way North by following the stars - secret codes were passed on through songs, such as "Follow the Drinking Gourd". The drinking gourd is a constellation of stars (you might know it as the Big Dipper). Secret symbols sewed into quilts that people would hang on fences or clothes lines also helped slaves find their way.

Go to the link below to watch a video of a slave being reunited with his wife in Canada. He arrives on a horse and buggy in a wooden box, hidden as cargo. What emotions do you think the man and his wife experience in this clip? Answer this question after viewing the video.

http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10166

__ The Story of Mr. John Little __

This is the story of Mr. John Little. He was born in North Carolina, into slavery in the 1800s. He attempted to escape from his master many times. Each time he was caught, he was whipped hundreds of times and shackled with metal chains and cuffs on his wrists and ankles. He finally escaped from jail – he jumped from the roof, still in his metal cuffs and crawled on his knees into a creek. During the night, he crawled and shuffled until finding an empty blacksmith’s shop where he filed off his metal cuffs. He then helped his wife to escape her master. Together they walked through the woods for 3 months towards the North – seeking freedom in Canada.  John was never allowed to go to school. He learned to read and write as an adult. He writes about his first few years in Canada – in the Queen’s Bush (an area of forest, which is now Cambridge, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph – very close to Brantford). Listen to John’s story (you can read along using the word document too, if you would like) and imagine what life was like as an early settler in Canada-West.

 Answer the question after each section. 1. What tools did John buy in Hamilton? 2. What food did John buy? 3. List 3 hazards that John and his wife faced in the wilderness of the Queen’s Bush. 4. What do you think John meant when he wrote; “I felt that it was not the white man I should dislike, but the mean spirit which is in some men, whether white or black.”? 5. Why were John and his wife not afraid of the wolves and bears that lived in the Queen’s Bush? 6. What did the slaveholders say would happen to slaves if they were free? 7. Where did John’s grandparents come from? 8. Why does John think Canada is such a good country? 9. What are some of the things that happened to John that made him want to seek revenge and kill the slaveholders? 10. Do you think John was justified in feeling this way? Explain your answer.



media type="file" key="John Little.mp3" width="240" height="20" [|John Little.mp3]

Below is a music clip of the slave song, "Follow the Drinking Gourd". Listen to the clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBOP8t2hlFQ&feature=related