THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD



Emily Washburn, Bridgette Stark, Chelsea Consolmagno, Ellen Shea

SSE 6115

Internet & Apps Search

Internet site: eduplace

Website address:

This internet site allows students to explore an interactive map that show the routes of the Underground Railroad. Students can click on the map to view where Free states were located compared to where slave states were located in 1860. This interactive map also allows students to explore several different routes that were utilized on the Underground Railroad. The map includes routes of escape to northern cities, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, and through territories. Students may explore these routes individually or at the same time. The website includes three activities that prompt students to interact with the map in order to answer questions using evidence from the map.

Internet site: American-historama

Website address:

This internet site provides students with information about the Underground Railroad and President Andrew Jackson. This site includes important facts about the Underground Railroad, answers to common questions, and a short video about President Andrew Jackson. The following questions are addressed: Why was it called the Underground Railroad? Why did the Underground Railroad start? What was the purpose of the Underground Railroad? Who started the Underground Railroad? How did the Underground Railroad work? Why did the Underground Railroad end?

Internet site: Pathways to Freedom: Maryland & The Underground Railroad

Website address:

This internet site can be used by students to learn the basics about the Underground Railroad. The site includes sections about influential people during this time, the history, secret signs and symbols that were used, and timelines. This site also includes several different interactive activities that students can engage in actively. Student can interact through a simulation of the Underground Railroad. Along their journey, students will view several different artifacts and learn about influential people during this time. This interactive simulation is a great resource to use with students in order for them to gain a better understanding of the physical and emotional obstacles fugitive slaves faced throughout their journey on the Underground Railroad. There is also an interactive timeline and map that students can utilize during their exploration of this time period.

App: Augmented Reality Freedom Stories

Address: Apple

The Augmented Reality Freedom Stories app was created by the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African People and the Augmented Reality Lab York University. Teachers may provide students with the printed flash cards and the students may use the app to see the intricate augmented reality stories spring to life. The stories brought to life through this app highlight the seldom told histories from the era of the Underground Railroad, including Harriet Tubman’s efforts to bring American slaves to freedom in Canada. Primary and Secondary documents have been crafted into a unique experience

App: The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass

Address: Apple

This app can be used by teachers about the life of Frederick Douglass before introducing their class to this man who was influential during this time. This app includes an analysis of Douglass’s important quotes and poems, a historical overview on slavery, and a description of his many achievements. This app also includes a quiz, so that teachers may test their knowledge on the life of Frederick Douglass before instructing a lesson on the Underground Railroad.

Internet Sites (3) 

 

The Underground Railroad Route 

Where did slaves go?  What challenges did they face?  Students will identify slave states and free states during the time of the Underground Railroad, explore the challenges of escaping and choose the route they would have taken.   

 

 

How Slaves Found Their Way North 

What clues did slaves follow to make sure they were traveling north?  Students will learn about natural and human-made clues that helped slaves find their way north through the Underground Railroad.  As an activity associated with this website they could create a quilt with clues about routes to freedom. 

 

 

Digital Story: Secrets and Codes of the Underground Railroad 

Although this is titled “secrets and codes” it’s actually a very good overview supported with pictures of primary source documents of the Underground Railroad.  This would be a great introduction to the Underground Railroad because the information in the video would be supported throughout the unit. 

 

 

Frederick Douglass and Underground Railroad No. 1 of 6 

Frederick Douglass Landing: As a slave on the run traveling under false papers as a free black sailor, Frederick Douglass arrived at West end of Chambers Street. This is the 1st location of this New-York Historical Society tour.  This is a series of videos and would be helpful for students who may want to follow the path of one slave or to write a detailed report on a person who made a significant contribution to history during this time period. 

 

 

The Underground Railroad – Escape from Slavery 

A great site for teachers to use for information about the Underground Railroad as well as lesson plans, activities and resources (including an abundance of primary resources).  It also has curriculum connections so you can tie in the Underground Railroad across all subject areas.   

 

 

Apps (2) Both Apple Apps 

 

Underground Railroad Locator – A modern GPS to show the significance of the past.  This app can be used to locate Underground Railroad sites and related places near where you live or where you are traveling.  It can display more than 500 places on the app’s map at one time and as you scroll the map, the places update automatically.  Just knowing the amazing number of places highlighted on this map related to the Underground Railroad shows how significant this time period was to changing history.  This map can be used in the classroom as part of a webquest or to show students via a map the routes slaves took on their paths to freedom. 

 

Freedom’s Fury: Harriet Tubman – This app uses graphic novel illustrated type characters to tell the story of the life of Harriet Tubman from the time she was born as a slave in Maryland through the end of the Civil War.  It shows all she accomplished in spite of the overwhelming challenges she faced.  This app is historically accurate although done in cartoons, which makes it very appealing and engaging to students.  The author graduated from Harvard with a degree in history and literature and is a professional cartoonist. He is a passionate advocate for the use of the graphic novel format to enliven nonfiction material for young readers.  His website is amazing:    Chester Comics – Comic Books that Bring History to Life.  His interactive comic books can be downloaded to iPads as well.

1) Freedom: Harriet Tubman: Underground Railroad Byway (Apple App) 

 

“Harriet Tubman was the best known conductor in the Underground Railroad, a secret network of people who helped escaping slaves reach freedom. It was dangerous and illegal work for everyone involved. This dramatic audio tour leads you along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It takes you through landscapes that Tubman knew as a slave and from which she fled as a young woman. Thousands of slaves escaped bondage in years leading up to the Civil War. What made Tubman remarkable was her repeated returns as a fugitive to rescue family and friends. This moving soundtrack will inspire you to visit the land of Tubman’s birth and experience it for yourself.” 

 

2) Western Underground Railroad (Apple App) 

 

Take a guided tour of the sites where Underground Railroad Conductors and Stationmasters established a series of terminals and stations. This tour takes the users from Missouri to Canada. Added bonus are clips from the documentary Freedom Seekers: Stories From the Western Underground Railroad. 

 

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The History Channel website includes a summary about the Underground Railroad (including how it received its name) and Harriet Tubman’s involvement as a conductor who helped to free hundreds of slaves. The website also includes a video about Harriet Tubman and her life as a slave and how she came to become a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. 

 

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Scholastic provides a multitude of resources about the Underground Railroad for both teachers and students. Teachers have access to a teacher’s guide, myths regarding the Underground Railroad, reader’s theater activities, Underground Railroad book videos, and “must have” books to read. Student activities and resources include slideshows of important themes in American History with images and audio, activities that investigate the people, places, and events of the 1800s, and primary sources (i.e., interviews, photographs, and posters from that time).  

 

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The History Channel website includes a summary about Frederick Douglass’ experiences as a slave and how those experiences led him to escape and become an abolitionist leader. The website also includes a video 

Apps (2) 

1.  The Night Sky (Android) – Constellations in the night sky were very important for the slaves escaping on The Underground Railroad; they used these stars to guide their way at night.  The Night Sky is an educational app that contains beautiful elements of the stars and planets visible in our night sky.  Students can just simply point their device to the sky to identify stars, planets, constellations, and even satellites!  With this app, students could explore the different stars in the night sky and identify the particular constellations that slaves used to tell direction when escaping on The Underground Railroad.  This app could help students better understand how the slaves used those constellations, and why those constellations were so important to aid slaves in their escape to freedom. 

2.  Harriet Tubman’s Road to Freedom (Android) – This app contains a quality children’s story about Harriet Tubman’s life and accomplishments, perfect for children to read and enjoy.  By reading this story and interacting with it, students would learn more about Harriet Tubman’s life and hard work helping slaves escape to freedom.  They would gain more insight into her as a person, as well as her contributions to helping slaves escape and ending slavery once and for all.  In addition, this app would help improve students’ reading skills at the same time as deepening their understanding of The Underground Railroad. 

Internet sites (3) 

1.   – This website is full of fun and educational activities and facts for children.  By clicking on all the different links and exploring all the valuable information, children can learn so much more about The Underground Railroad, such as the routes that the slaves took, the hardships faced by the slaves during the journey, and the important “conductors” who helped the slaves escape.  This website would be very beneficial for students and it would give them even deeper insight into what it was like to escape on The Underground Railroad. 

2.   – This website contains many educational videos about The Underground Railroad.  Students could explore this website and watch several of the videos in order to gain a deeper understanding of The Underground Railroad and how it functioned, as well as the dangers and hardships that escaping slaves had to face.  Several of the videos also contain short biographies about important conductors such as Harriet Tubman, so after watching these videos, students would be able to learn more about those important figures and what contributions they made toward helping slaves escape to freedom. 

3.  – This website contains several engaging and educational resources for students to explore.  By clicking on the different links, students can learn more about The Underground Railroad and engage in interactive activities to learn more about the subject.  Some of the fun activities include a webquest about Harriet Tubman, exploring the differences and similarities between the North and the South, or even creating a coded letter using the secret language of The Underground Railroad.  Through these engaging activities, students will learn more valuable information about The Underground Railroad, and have an even deeper understanding of what it was to live as a slave escaping to freedom. 

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