1. Escape to Freedom
An Enslaved Person’s Choice For Self-Emancipation

2. Escape to Freedom Table of Contents
• Introduction • Teacher Pages
• Tasks & Processes – Massachusetts Content
– Learning about Slavery Standards
– Learning about mid 19th – Objectives
Century Boston – Bibliography
– Learning about Self-
Emancipation and the
Underground Railroad
• Conclusion

3. Introduction
• In this webquest, you will
read or hear several
enslaved persons’ stories
about their daily life.
• Additionally, you will
learn about why many
self-emancipated people
chose to go to Boston.
• Finally, you will learn
about the journey to
freedom via the
Underground Railroad.
• Note: As you progress through the activities, picture yourself as a
participant. Perhaps these are the stories of your family or friends;
this might be your journey to freedom. Do your best to empathize
with the situations.

4. Task 1: Learning about Slavery
• You will be reading
about what slavery
was like on slides 5 –
10, and using that
information to write
a found poem that
conveys what it may
have been like to be
enslaved in the mid-
1800’s.

5. Perspectives on Slavery
• “They say slaves are happy,
because they laugh, and are
merry. I myself and three or four
others, have received two
hundred lashes in the day, and
had our feet in fetters; yet, at
night, we would sing and dance,
and make others laugh at the
rattling of our chains. Happy
men we must have been! We did
it to keep down trouble, and to
keep our hearts from being
completely broken; that is as
true as the gospel! Just look at it,
- must not we have been very
happy? Yet I have done it myself
– I have cut capers in chains.”
(Zinn 172)

6. A Day in the Life of Slavery
• Skim these short – Josiah Henson (continued)
glimpses of slavery to – Lunsford Lane
find more words for – Frederick Douglas
your found poem. – Moses Roper
– Coming to America – Lewis Clarke
– Elizabeth Keckley – Peter Randolf
– Francis Henderson – Richard Toler
– Jacob Stroyer – Walter Calloway
– Tempe Herndon Durham – Charity Anderson
– Mary Reynolds – Maria Jackson
– Collection of stories – Henry Bibb

7. Lashings
• "Pa say they strop 'em
down at the carriage
house and give 'em five
hundred lashes. He say
they have salt and
black pepper mixed up
in er old bucket and
put it all on flesh cut up
with a rag tied on a
stick (mop).”

8. Slave Codes
• “Slavery in the United States was governed by
an extensive body of law developed from the
1640s to the 1860s. Every slave state had its
own slave code and body of court decisions.
– All slave codes made slavery a permanent
condition, inherited through the mother, and
defined slaves as property, usually in the same
terms as those applied to real estate.
– Slaves, being property, could not own property
or be a party to a contract. Since marriage is a
form of contract, no slave marriage had any legal
standing.
– All codes also had sections regulating free blacks,
who were still subject to controls on their Read the linked
movements and employment and were often
required to leave the state after emancipation.” slave codes

9. King Cotton
• What was picking cotton like?
– Work started before dawn. No matter the weather, those enslaved are
in the fields picking cotton. In July the heat is sweltering; in December,
temperatures drop and it can become frigid.
– One’s back aches incessantly from the long days stooped over the
short, thorny plants picking their blooms.
– Pickers must work quickly but carefully. If one pricks their dry,
cracked, calloused fingers and gets blood on the cotton, lashings will
ensue. Other risks include being sold off and losing the connections
loved ones.
– After the cotton is picked, the seeds, small and sesame-like, must be
removed by hand – yet another tedious chore.
– After sundown one may take care of their own needs – hunting,
fishing or gathering food; preparing meals; spending time with friends
and family; etc.

10. Frederick Douglas’
Independence Day Speech
• Even Frederick Douglas, the
abolitionist who was formerly
enslaved, speaks vehemently
about freedom in America. His
Independence Day Speech was a
powerful statement regarding the
disparity between America’s
belief in Liberty and her actions
towards African Americans. His
personal testimony also gives one
hope for freedom – and the joys
of work allowing one to earn an
honest wage for oneself.
Note: Make sure to click on link & read the “Independence Day Speech.” If you would
like more information, you can hear an audio commentary here. Also read the personal
testimony.

11. Task 2: Mid 19th Century Boston
• Where would you go if you were enslaved and choose
to self-emancipate?
• In this task, you will explore what Boston was like
during the mid 1800’s.
• At the conclusion, you will work in pairs to create a 4
page newsletter in Microsoft Publisher or a similar
program. The audience will be enslaved and free
blacks of the time period and the newsletter will
provide them information on why Boston is a great
place to live and what is happening in the Boston Black
community network.

12. Undecided
States
Read about the
U.S. as a diverse
but segregated
nation.
Click on map to
go to a version
with zoom. Slave
States

13. Boston

14. The Possibility of Boston
Education &
Religion
Boston Employment
Timeline & Housing
The
Boston
Note: “ctrl F” and
search “Boston” Network
Then go to:
1. Sheridan Ford:
Secreted in the
Woods (#2) Activism &
2. Arrival from Liberty
the
According to
Richmond: Underground
the Law
Jeremiah & Railroad
Julia Smith
Click on links in each circle to learn about that aspect of life in the Boston area.

15. Education & Religion
Education
• Abiel Smith School
• Segregated Schools upheld
1849
Religion
• African Meeting House

16. Task 3: The Underground Railroad
Another Man’s Journey
• Walter is an enslaved man in Virginia. Go to
his story and travel through all four of the
sections – on the plantation, escape, reaching
safety, and reaching freedom.
• As you progress through the journey, pretend
as if you are Walter.
– What emotions do you feel?
– Would you make the same choices?

17. The Underground Railroad & Canada
• Explore Owen Sound’s Black History site.
Make sure to visit these pages plus any others
of your choice:
– http://www.osblackhistory.com/history.php
– http://www.osblackhistory.com/underground.php
– http://www.osblackhistory.com/songs.php
– http://www.osblackhistory.com/quilts.php

18. Plan Your Route
• If you were from South Carolina, how would
you get to Boston? Canada?
• Plan your route for the Underground Road.

19. Teacher Pages
• Note: Due to broken links, several pages need
to be redeveloped. This is a work in progress.

20. MA Curriculum Framework Standards

21. Objectives

22. Image Sources
• Slide 1 • Slide 8
– Mr Addley’s Web Page – America’s Library
– The Ashcombe School
– Fine Art America
• Slide 2
– Travel Pod
• Slide 3
– Wikipedia
• Slide 4
– Wikipedia
• Slide 5
– 1st Art Gallery

23. References
• A People’s History of the United States by
Howard Zinn
• The Floating Classroom