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Roads to Freedom Lesson Plan: Getting Free in the South
By Stephanie Kaufman
Overview
Students will experience the Roads to Freedom and use the information as a starting point for further research. Using tools from the National Archives education site, students will learn in more depth about the various roads through the use of primary source documents.
Curriculum Standards
For a list of standards that this unit addresses, click here.
Time Required
From two class periods to one week
Materials
The Lesson
Anticipatory Set
- Before viewing the exhibit, ask students to identify possible methods slaves used to become free prior to the 13th Amendment. Allow the class to discuss their options.
- Guide students to the Roads to Freedom Online Exhibit.
- Give students time to experience the various "Roads to Freedom."
- Then, have students, as a class, compare their previous responses to the "Roads to Freedom" described at the exhibit.
Procedures
- Divide the class into six groups and assign a topic to each group based on the Roads to Freedom Online Exhibit: (Manumission, Emancipation, Self-Purchase, Insurrection, Passing, and Runaway). Tell students they will be acting as historians to find documents verifying the information in the Roads to Freedom Online Exhibit.
- Explain the use of primary source documents to the class and provide the Written Document Analysis Worksheet at http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/analysis_worksheets/document.html, to each student. Explain that they will be working as historians by analyzing the primary sources related to their group topic in order to obtain information related to each "Road to Freedom."
- Provide students with the primary source documents related to their topic (see handout below). Note: If the classroom has access to the Internet, have students follow the links to find the documents. Or, print the documents before class. Depending on the class situation and time, select one or all of the related documents for each group. Also, depending on student ability, choose not to provide them with the brief explanations of each document. This will allow students to think critically and discover the importance and meaning of the documents on their own. The explanations are provided to help you make selections appropriate for the class.
- Instruct student groups to read, discuss, and analyze the primary source documents related to their topic using the Written Document Analysis Worksheet.
- Have each student group prepare a brief oral presentation describing to fellow classmates the documents they have analyzed, highlighting particularly important or interesting information they found.
- Debrief the activity by having a class discussion comparing students' initial thoughts about the possible roads to freedom with the information they found.
- Have students volunteer their thoughts or feelings about particular pieces of information they found, as well as their roles as historians digging through old newspapers, letters, photos, etc. rather than reading a textbook entry on "slavery."
- Direct students to write a response for about eight-ten minutes, filling one side of a page, about what they learned and reflecting on how they learned through their journals.
Assessment
Assess students' work in the following ways:
- Successful completion of group Written Document Analysis Worksheet
- Group presentations to class
- Follow-up class discussions of the "Roads to Freedom"
- Journal writing entries
Extension Activities
Students could do any of the following activities to enhance what they've learned:
This lesson was written by Stephanie Kaufman, a teacher from Sturgis, South Dakota.
Roads to Freedom Lesson: Getting Free in the South
Primary Source Documents and Explanations: Teacher Copy
Topic I. Manumission
Topic II. Emancipation
Topic III. Self-Purchase
Topic IV. Insurrection
Topic V. Passing
Topic VI. Runaway
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