Kidz Bill of Rights - Learning Civics Through Technology Essential Questions Harriet Tubman broke the law to defend her right to freedom—when is it appropriate to stand up for YOUR rights, even if it means breaking the law?
Curriculum Connections Math: NM-NUM.3-5.1-5.3; NM-NUM.6-8.1-8.3; NM-NUM.9-12.1-12.3; NM-ALG.3-5.1-5.4; NM-ALG.6-8.1-8.4; NM-ALG.9-12.1-12.4; NM-MEA.3-5.1-5.2; NM-MEA.6-8.1-8.2; NMMEA.9-12.1-2; NM-DATA.3-5.1-5.4; NM-DATA.6-8.1-8.4; NM-DATA.9-12.1-12.4; NM-PROB. PK-12.1-12.4; NM-COMM.PK-12.1-12.4; NM-CONN.PK-12.1-12.3; NM-REP.PK-12.1-12.3 English: NL-ENG.K-12.1; NL-ENG.K-12.2; NL-ENG.K-12.3; NL-ENG.K-12.4; NL-ENG.K-12.5; NL-ENG.K-12.6; NL-ENG.K-12.7; NL-ENG.K-12.8; NL-ENG.K-12.9; NL-ENG.K-12.11; NLENG.K-12.12 Civics: NSS-C.K-4.4; NSS-C.5-8.2; NSS-C.9-12.2; NSS-C.9-12.5 History: NSS-USH.K-4.1; NSS-USH.K-4.2; NSS-USH.K-4.3; NSS-USH.5-12.2; NSS-USH.5-12.4; NSS-USH.5-12.5 Geography: NSS-G.K-12.1; NSS-G.K-12.2; NSS-G.K-12.4; NSS-G.K-12.6 Technology: NT.K-12.1-12.6
Activity • Discuss the Essential Question. • Have students read the article about Harriet Tubman below. • To put Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad experience into perspective, have students read the more detailed account about Tubman’s escape to freedom and pick out the places she traveled through on her way to freedom: From Wikipedia: The Underground Railroad…was composed of free and enslaved blacks, white abolitionists, and other activists. Most prominent among the latter in Maryland at the time were members of the Religious Society of Friends, often called Quakers. The Preston area near Poplar Neck in Caroline County, Maryland contained a significant Quaker community, and was probably an important first stop during Tubman’s escape, if not the starting point. From there, she probably took a common route for fleeing slaves: northeast along the Choptank River, through Delaware and then north into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
She would travel northeast (from Poplar Neck) to Sandtown and Willow Grove, Delaware, and onto the Camden area where free black agents William and Nat Brinkley, and Abraham Gibbs guided her north past Dover, Smyrna, and Blackbird, where other agents would take her across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to New Castle and Wilmington. In Wilmington, Quaker Thomas Garrett would secure transportation to William Still’s office or the homes of other Underground Railroad operators in the greater Philadelphia area.
• As a class, plot Tubman’s trail on a map, and have students estimate how long it would take to fly there (use Travelocity for flight times and be sure to take into account time changes), drive there (use Google Maps to estimate travel time by car) and to walk there, like Tubman and her “passengers” had to do (find an average speed of walking, and use mileage from Google Maps. Remember, they only traveled at night, and had to hide in the daytime). Multiply the final amount by two (roundtrip for Tubman!). • Bonus Exploration: Multiply the roundtrip amount by how many times she undertook this journey to free slaves (13 round trips, not including her own escape) for the total miles Harriet Tubman walked in extremely dangerous conditions for freedom. • Have students write stories or mock diary entries about what it would be like to be a slave escaping on the Underground Railroad. What would they eat? How many times would they almost be discovered? What would it be like to go from being a slave to being free? How would they feel about being free if the rest of their family and friends were not? • Send stories, calculation descriptions and mock diaries to KidzEra for possible publication! Include a submission form with each entry.
Resources
Later, when secrecy was no longer an issue, Tubman revealed a more specific route:
• For information about teaching controversial subjects, see: http://www.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=2016 http://www.tolerance.org/handbook/beyond-golden-rule/chapter-4teaching-controversy
Harriet Tubman: Standing Up for the Right to Be Free
decided to turn back and they were returned to slavery. Harriet later escaped to Pennsylvania. Years later, she helped free most of her family from slavery.
Article submitted by: Marin S., Age 10, Panther Run Elementary School, Lake Worth, Florida
Harriet Tubman was a black woman who helped other people escape from slavery in the mid-1800’s. Born Araminta Ross in 1820, she was one of nine children born to slave parents in Dorchester County, Maryland. She later changed her name to Harriet Tubman when she got married. When she was a child, Harriet was sent to a supply store in town for her owner. While at the store, she was asked to stop an escaped slave. She refused to do so. The slave’s owner threw a two-pound weight at the slave, but missed and hit Harriet in the head. From that point on, Harriet had seizures, dreams and visions that made her think that God was speaking to her. When Harriet was 24, she married a free black man named John Tubman. At this time, about half the black population in Maryland was free. Many people think she changed her name from Araminta to Harriet because she was planning her first escape. A few years after getting married, Harriet and her two brothers escaped from their owners. Before they reached freedom, her brothers
To help other abolitionists, or people who wanted to abolish or get rid of slavery, she became a part of a group of people willing to help or shelter escaping slaves. This group made up the safe shelters in the Underground Railroad. Runaway slaves traveled the Underground Railroad for over 90 miles by foot, taking over three weeks to reach Pennsylvania. Harriet was also known as Moses, named after the biblical character that helped Hebrews to freedom. When the Civil War started in 1861, Harriet was asked by General David Hunter to lead a group of free black men against the Confederate army. She was also a nurse during the war. Later in life, Harriet helped a woman named Susan B. Anthony fight for women’s right to vote. Harriet Tubman died in 1913 in Auburn, New York. When she died, she was buried with military honors at Fort Hill cemetery, even though she was born a slave. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman