Rochester Museum & Science Center

Thematic Topic: Slavery, Abolition & the Underground Railroad

Essential questions:

1. What were strategies employed by abolitionists to try to end enslavement of African Americans?

2. In what ways was enslavement in the American South different from enslavement in the American North?

3. How did the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 test the American legal and social systems?

4. What was the essential difference between enslavement and indentured servitude?

Lesson ideas:

1. Read Freedom Crossing in class and complete sheet with guided reading questions

2. Use template for 5th grade lesson on Underground Railroad from

3. Use RMSC Underground Railroad Exhibit to identify ways in which enslavement differed from indentured servitude – and ways they were similar

4. Have students explore possible reasons why the slave trade took hold in parts of North and Latin America (US and Mexico) and not in others (Canada).

5. Have students explore how slavery and resistance to it impacted people in New York State in different ways.

African American Research Resources

National

Federal Resourceshttp://www.free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=116

American Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights Timeline (predates American history)http://www.ushistory.org/more/timeline.htm

*Library of Congress – listing of African American collectionshttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?category=African%20American%20History

Library of Congress African American Mosaic (migration, ex-slave narratives, colonization, abolition)http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam015.html

LOC - Murray Collection (African American history, pamphlets)http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/aaphome.html

*Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture – African-American Migrationshttp://www.inmotionaame.org/home.cfm

PBS (NY Slave Revolts of 1712, 1741)http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p285.html

*PBS site: Slavery and the Making of America (lesson plans)http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/teachers/lessons.html

*PBS African American Timelinehttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline.html

**Documenting the American South: Loguen’s and Steward’s narrativesThe Rev. J. W. Loguen, as a Slave and as a Freeman. A Narrative of Real Life (1859)http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/loguen/loguen.htmlTwenty Two Years a Slave and Forty Years a Freeman….http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/steward/menu.html

*US Census Data Browserhttp://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/about_exhibit.htm

African American Odyssey (Library of Congress online exhibit)http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aointro.html

*African Americans, Women, and the Underground Railroad (National Park Service)http://www.nps.gov/wori/historyculture/african-american-participation-in-the-underground-railroad.htm

*University of Detroit Mercy – Black Abolitionist Archiveshttp://research.udmercy.edu/find/special_collections/digital/baa/

*Digital Archives on American Slaveryhttp://library.uncg.edu/slavery/index.aspx?s=3ess.html

War of 1812 sites documenting African Americanshttp://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/20-2/20-2-12.pdf

*National Archives – records relating to slaveryhttp://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/

Blackpast.orghttp://www.blackpast.org/?q=perspectives/list

Biography website (featuring Frederick Douglas)http://www.biography.com/classroom/index.jsp

Report (and Testimony) of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States (The “Klan” Hearings) 1972http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mediatype%3Atexts%20AND%20collection%3AUSGovernmentDocuments%20A ND%20subject%3A%22Ku-Klux%20Klan%20(1866-1869)%22

Freedmen’s Bureauhttp://freedmensbureau.com/

Organizing Black America http://www.bookrags.com/browse/tf0203801199/

Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007http://baic.house.gov/education/

*Mossell family biographies with linkshttp://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/aframer/gallery.htmlSadie Tanner Mossell Alexanderhttp://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/alexander_stma.html

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander – Truman’s Committee on Human Rights, 1946- 1947 (use “Search” box for STMA or the Committee)http://www.trumanlibrary.org/index.phpSadie Tanner Mossell Alexander – Kennedy’s Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, 1963 (Use “Search” box)http://www.jfklibrary.org/

Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights website - historyhttp://www.lawyerscommittee.org/about?id=0003

African American Resources on Digital Librarianhttp://www.digital-librarian.com/africanamerican.html

NY State

**New York Heritage site – NY slave-related documentshttp://www.newyorkheritage.org/

*“I Will Be Heard” online exhibit, Cornell University Collections on Slavery and Abolitionhttp://rmc.library.cornell.edu/abolitionism/introduction.htm

*NYPL Digital Gallery – Abolition and slavery images and documents

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?word=Abolition%20documents&s=3&notword=&f=2

Exploring a Common Past: Researching & Interpreting the Underground Railroad (NPS)http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ugrr/exugrr4.htm

**Slavery in New York – NY Historical Societyhttp://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/

Mapping the African American Past (MAAP)http://maap.columbia.edu/place/34.html

*Oswego County, NY Underground Railroad Page (Wellman’s Research Guide)http://www.oswego.edu/ugrr/contents.html

Uncovering the Freedom Trail in Syracuse and Onondaga Countyhttp://www.pacny.net/freedom_trail/

*NY History – People of the Underground Railroadhttp://www.nyhistory.com/ugrr/people.htm

Origins of the Michigan Street Baptist Church in Buffalo, NYhttp://www.nyhistory.com/mspa/

*Slavery in New Yorkhttp://www.slavenorth.com/newyork.htm

Researching Slavery and the Underground Railroad, New-York Historical Society Libraryhttps://www.nyhistory.org/web/PDF/Slavery%20and%20Underground%20Railroad%20Resources%20Available%20at%20the%20New-York%20Historical%20Society%20Library.pdf

*Records relating to African Americans at the New York State Archiveshttp://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_pgc_afri_amer.shtml

HBCU Digital Collection (John Henry and Roseta Hill)http://contentdm.auctr.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/VSUD

Fugitive Slaves and the URR in Pennsylvania: primary documents (John Henry Hill)http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=854

Tioga County website (African American History in Tioga County)http://www.nvhistory.org/tiogapast.shtml#top

Local

**RMSC Underground Railroad Educator’s Guidehttp://www.rmsc.org/Data/Documents/teacher/ugrr/URR%20Curriculum%20Guide_v3.pdf

*RMSC Libraries-Archives-Objects Online Catalog http://www.rmsc.org/ForTeachers/Information/CollectionsLibrary/

*University of Rochester, Frederick Douglass Projecthttp://www.iupui.edu/~douglass/resources.html

*University at Buffalo Archives: background on the URRhttp://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/archives/exhibits/old/urr/

*The Fugitive Slave Act and the Underground Railroad in WNYhttp://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/UndergroundRailRoad.html

*Slavery within the Holland Land Purchasehttp://www.co.genesee.ny.us/dpt/historian/slavery.html#top

*Rochester Public Library – “Many Roads to Freedom” http://www.libraryweb.org/rochimag/roads/home.htm

*African American Activists in Buffalo, NY (19th century)http://www.monroefordham.org/docs/Antebellum%20Biographies.pdf

African Americans in Buffalo: An Overview (with images)http://www.buffaloah.com/h/af/index.html#ClickEssays about Joseph “Black Joe” Hodge(s)http://www.buffaloah.com/h/hodge/hodgeJ.htmlhttp://www.buffalonian.com/history/articles/%3C1800/blackjoe.htm

Bibliography for African American history in WNY*http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-references.html

*Buffalo History Index – History of African Americans in Buffalo, NYhttp://www.buffaloah.com/h/af/index.html

Rev. J.E. Nash, Sr. bio (including “Uncrowned Kings” site)*http://www.themichiganstreetbaptistchurch.org/jessenash.htmlhttp://wings.buffalo.edu/uncrownedqueens/K/index.html

History of the Urban League of Buffalohttp://www.buffalourbanleague.org/History.html#history

Canadian Resources

*Buxton Museum (Elgin Settlement)http://www.buxtonmuseum.com/index.html

Under a Northern Star (African-American Experiences in Canada)

http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/northern-star/index-e.html

Niagara Fallshttp://www.niagarafallsmuseum.ca/blackhistory.html

Miscellaneous

*Niagara Movement – Declaration of Principleshttp://www.africanamericanstudies.buffalo.edu/ANNOUNCE/niagaramovement/n

m_principles1.html http://www.yale.edu/glc/archive/1152.htm

African American Registry (biographical data from various fields)http://www.aaregistry.com/categories.php

Bibliography of books on race and gender (including titles on abolition)http://americanabolitionist.liberalarts.iupui.edu/racegen.htm

African Americans.com (on colonization)http://www.africanamericans.com/ConstitutionofAmericanSociety.htm

Stories of the Underground Railroad by Ana Curtishttp://www.shockfamily.net/underground/title.html

The Anti-slavery Literature Projecthttp://antislavery.eserver.org/

Howard Universityhttp://www.huarchivesnet.howard.edu/9908huarnet/journal.htm

Benjamin Banneker and the Ellicott Brothershttp://library.thinkquest.org/3337/banneker.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2p84.htmlhttp://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/banneker-benjamin.html

New York State Historical Association – library pathfinder titleshttp://pathfinder.nysha.org/search~S2/d?SEARCH=african+americans

Lesson Plans

*Criminal or Hero? (from PBS “Slavery and the Making of America series)http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/teachers/lessons.html

Best of History websites (composite)http://besthistorysites.net/USHistory_AfricanAmerican.shtml

Gilda Lehrman Institute for American History – Slavery modulehttp://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module.php?module_id=196

Lesson plans on African American history (great links to timelines)http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4607

Library of Congress lesson plan using Slave Narratives collection (story pyramid format)http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=364

Lesson plans on 20th c. African American migration from American South to Northhttp://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/tpl-sweethomechicago/http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/tpl-anyplacebuthere/

Teaching a City About Its Civil Rights History” article,http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2007/0704/0704tea1.cfm

and related lesson planshttp://depts.washington.edu/civilr/teachers.htm

Lesson plan on Civil Rights – stories of individual’s struggleshttp://urbandreams.ousd.k12.ca.us/lessonplans/mlk/index.htm

Underground Railroadhttp://www.42explore2.com/undergrd.htm

Lesson plan for Colonization & Emigration (Schomburg)http://www.inmotionaame.org/education/detail.cfm?migration=4&topic=9&type=educationmaterials