Underground Railroad A-Z People, Places, and Perspectives

You are all here to learn about the Underground Railroad You are all here to learn about the Underground Railroad. We will tell you about how it started, what it is all about, about slavery, and who was there.

A Abolitionists An abolitionists thought that slavery was wrong. They went and abandoned it all together because they knew it wasn’t right. The abolitionists were usully from the north.

B Henry “Box” Brown Henry brown was born into slavery in Louisa county, Virginia in 1815. when he was 15 years old he was sold to a plantation owner in Richmond. He worked at a tobacco manufactory owned by old masters son William. He escaped slavery by shipping himself in a box to Philadelphia.

C Civil War Slavery had some to do of the civil war but not all of it but most of it. in the winter of 1861,things became to change in the civil war. the southern army fell under supervision of a general. When the Civil War ended so did slavery.

D Drinking Gourd The dinking gourd is now called the big dipper pointing in the north direction where the slaves followed it to Canada. They wrote songs that were codes that there masters didn’t know. One of them was follow the drinking gourd.

E Emancipation Proclamation Emancipation proclamation was an executive order signed by Abraham Lincoln that proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves living in the South.

G William Garrison Define term and explain why it is important. Add a picture if appropriate.

F Fugitive Slave Acts The fugitive slave laws were laws that the United States made in 1793 and 1850 to make sure that people who didn’t return the slaves would be punished . If you tried to free a slave you could go to jail.

G William Garrison William Garrison was a abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer he wanted to abolish slavery. He did that through writing.

H Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman was an African American abolitionist she helped injured slaves. She went back to find slaves and helped them escape. She helped about 300 slaves. She was also an escaped slave.

I Illiterate Unable to read and write, slaves only knew how to work and talk they could not be taught to read and write because they could out smart there master and they could escape.

J Jeopardy Slaves had to play a little game of jeopardy they had to decide ether escape and be free or stay there , but they could get captured. And the people who helped them played to.

K Kindness Some people were kind to the slaves because they thought slavery was wrong, or they have been through it before and they already escaped and are coming back to help them. They showed kindness.

L Load of Potatoes Load of potatoes was a code word that the people who helped the slaves get away used. Instead of saying “I am taking slaves to this place,” you would say “I am taking a load of potatoes,”.

M Mason-Dixon Line The Mason-Dixon Line became widely known as the symbolic divider between the northern and southern states during the civil war. It divided slaves from the non slave states.

N North Star Black people went to freedom by following the north star which points to Canada which is in the north.

O Ownership The black people were owned by white people and ownership is a nightmare for black people because then their family could be separated and ownership means a life for the person who owns you.

P Punishment When a slave does something wrong even the slightest thing wrong they get punished severely and can be cruel and horrible.

Q Quakers Quakers are people that go against slavery because it is very wrong, but didn’t know if they should help because it was against the law and could get sent to jail if you help slaves.

R Rights Many slaves wanted the rights to have freedom and not be sold like they were everyday items that you can buy. They fought against slavery. The slaves didn’t have any rights, they couldn’t travel, they couldn’t have their own home, or own land, they couldn’t even choose to keep their children or family!

S Slavery Slavery is when the white people buy black people. They own their slave and can make them do anything they want. People who own slaves are usually very harsh to them. Most slaves came from Africa or were born into slavery.

T Thomas Garrett Is a white Quaker man, whose family hid runaway slaves in its Delaware County farmhouse. In 1848, Thomas Garrett and a fellow abolitionist John Hunn were tried and convicted for aiding in the escape of the Hawkins family who had been slaves in Maryland. Both men were given considerable fines which rendered them nearly bankrupt.

U Underground Railroad The underground railroad is a secret network of people and places that helped slave (the black people) to escape. It’s not a real railroad.

V Victorious The North was victorious and won the Civil war. Slavery was abolished.

W William Still William still was the youngest child. His parents were slaves. When he was 23. He left his family farm to seek his fortune. He also went back to get his brother that was sold. He was working with a society to give fugitive slaves aid.

X Xenophobia Fear of foreigners. Foreigners are someone who would bring a slave back to his or her owner. So if you were a slave you would not want to see or meet them. they used xenopobia as a excuse.

Y Yankee A yankee was against the civil war. The yankee’s thought the civil war was wrong. Anyone in the north was called a yankee.

Z Zig Zag The slaves had to take a zig zag path so it was harder to find the slaves. So it makes it harder for the people to catch the slaves.

The End