1. 1. Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray Couldn’t hear nobody pray, Couldn’t hear nobody pray, Way down yonder by myself, Couldn’t hear nobody pray.
Coded (signal) meaning: “An escape attempt has failed. We’re all trying to re-group, emotionally and spiritually.”
2. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Swing low, sweet chariot, Comin’ for to carry me home, Swing low, sweet chariot, Comin’ for to carry me home. . .
Coded (signal) meaning: “’Chariot’ drivers (Underground Railroad ‘conductors’) are arriving soon. Be alert and ready to leave.
3. Steal Away Steal away, steal away, Steal away to Jesus, Steal way, steal away home, I ain’t got long to stay here.
Coded (signal) meaning: “Get ready to attend the secret worship service in the woods tonight.” Or: “The time has finally arrived. We’re getting out of here (escaping from the plantation) tonight!
4. Wade in the Water Wade in the water, Wade in the water, children, Wade in the water, God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Coded (signal) meaning: “When you escape and are attempting to connect to the next relay point on the Underground Railroad, make sure that you go wade through water to thrown the bloodhounds off your scent.”

2. 13. Abolitionists:
a. Abolitionists – reformers who worked to end slavery
1. Constitutional Convention 1787 – compromise = each state decide
b. American Colonization Society – formed in 1816 worked to free slaves by buying them and sending them back to Africa (Liberia – colony then country in 1847 – 12,000+) or to the Caribbean
c. William Lloyd Garrison – 1831 founded The Liberator – antislavery newspaper in Boston
d. Sarah and Angelina Grimke – born in SC to slaveholding family moved to Philly 1832
e. Frederick Douglass – self taught read/write; escaped slavery in Maryland 1838 – joined Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society – traveled speaking about ending slavery
f. Sojourner Truth – “AKA” Isabella Baumfree – escaped in 1826 – gained official freedom in 1827 when NY banned slavery – abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights

3. 14. Underground Railroad: a
14. Underground Railroad: a. UGRR – network of escape routes for runaway slaves from South to North b. Popularity of Railroad – used terms as code – ex. “conductor” = helpers/guides – Harriet Tubman – one of the most famous “conductors” c. Songs/Spirituals – had hidden meanings – “Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd” d. Opposition – many people (N and S) saw antislavery movements as threats to the nation’s economy

4. Secret Messages of the Underground Rail Road

5. Secrets of the Underground Railroad
There is no phrase for the effort to help escaped slaves until the 1830s.
America’s first Rail Roads were big news.
- People who helped organize these escapes began to think of their work in terms of a railroad. - This Rail Road terminology became a secret code for slaves and abolitionists. They could use them in everyday conversation and people would think they were talking about the railroad, not runaway slaves.
- conductors = The people who helped slaves escape. Example: Harriet Tubman was a famous conductor on the Underground Railroad. - stations = The safe places where escaping slaves could hide were called just like the stations on a railroad.
- station master = The person in charge of that hiding place. - passengers / baggage = The escaping slaves who were traveling north.

6. Quilting
1. researchers found had knots that were tied as many as five times. 2. Message to escaping slaves relaying a pattern of travel between safe houses or hiding places. The more knots, the greater the distance, they thought. 3. This method of knotting = Ibo people in Africa. In that culture, people tied five knots in a piece of cloth to ask for protection from the spirits around them. 4. What common shapes, symbols and colors in our society do we use to show a message?
Drunkard’s Path
Bow Ties
Flying Geese
Log Cabin

7. What slaves actually hear !
Spiritual and Song
What slave owners hear !
What slaves actually hear !
In his writing, Frederick Douglass talks about this. He used this song as an example: I thought I heard them say, There were lions on the way. I don't expect to stay Much longer here. Run to Jesus — face the danger— I don’t expect to stay Much longer here.
Douglass knew what other slaves knew: the lions weren’t really lions, but dangers on the road to freedom, and that the singer was probably using the song to alert others that he or she was planning to escape.

8. Follow the Drinking Gourd
Some Clues About the Words: When the sun comes back And the first quail calls
These are signs that winter is ending — when the days start getting longer, yet it is still cold.
Follow the Drinking Gourd. For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom, If you follow the Drinking Gourd
Some people think the old man was Peg Leg Joe, a carpenter who reportedly traveled throughout the deep south.
The river bank makes a mighty good road, The dead trees show you the way. Left foot, peg foot, traveling on Follow the Drinking Gourd
The river bank here is the river bank of the Tombigbee River in Mississippi. “Left foot, peg foot” talks about marks that were placed on dead trees along the river bank. If Peg Leg Joe did create this song, perhaps he left his mark on the trees.
The river ends between 2 hills Follow the Drinking Gourd. There’s another river on the other side Follow the Drinking Gourd.
When the Tombigbee ended, slaves should go north over the hills until they came to another river, the Tennessee River.
When the great big river meets the little river, Follow the Drinking Gourd. For the old man is a-waiting to carry you to freedom If you follow the Drinking Gourd.
The Tennessee River joins the Ohio River. Once slaves crossed the Ohio, they were in free territory. There, people from the Underground Railroad could help them as they escaped to freedom.
Follow the Drinking Gourd
Listen to the Song and see if you can determine the hidden messages.

9. Lyric Activity Directions
1. QUIETLY brainstorm what area in the building you would like to write secret lyrics to guide your peers to.
- Remember the slavery spirituals and how they would create analogies to describe places, things or events.
2. Create your lyrics. WRITE THEM DOWN!
- You may NOT use any specific directions (i.e. North, South, Right, Left, etc).
- Make sure you write into your lyrics at least 4 clues your peers will understand.
- Your lyrics must have 6-7 lines and a
3 line refrain (or chorus). 10 line song at minimum!
Lyric Review
- Listen to lyric samples.
- Find a partner or 2 (no more than 3 in a group)
- If you are listening closely, you must try to guess where the lyrics are
leading you in the school. When you and your partner(s) come to a consensus write down
the location and support your reasoning with two details from the lyrics on your
mini- white board.