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Summary and Objective
By examining primary source documents and engaging in an online activity, students will understand that slavery was a reality in the north in the years before the Civil War.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Students will examine copies of a census created in 1790. The headings labeled "free" lead to a discussion of what it means to be free, and help students to understand that there were people in Massachusetts who were not.
Step 2.
Students will be read a letter written to Aaron Willard regarding his slave Jube, dated July 10th, 1788. Some discussion around the vocabulary will be necessary. A guiding question for comprehension of the letter's intent might be: "Why is Gilbert worried that Jube will leave?"
Step 3.
Please see the link to the map of Old Deerfield below. This activity allows the user to click on locations on a map of the streets of Old Deerfield and read about the lives of the slaves at that exact site. It is recommended that the teacher lead the class through this activity, stopping to answer student questions. He or she might also generate guiding questions such as: "What part of the house do you think the slave lived in?" (The back) "Do you think everyone in the household would have shared the same food?" (Most likely)
Step 4.
If available, students will hear read-aloud excerpts from The Underground Railroad, By Ellen Levine, published by Scholastic Books in 1988.
Step 5.
Students will review the basic parts of a letter.
Step 6.
Students will write letters to the publisher suggesting texts include more information that slavery existed in northern states, which made escape to the north even more treacherous for runaway slaves or even free blacks.
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