Recommended Grades: 3-8
Recommended Length: 40-50 minutes
Presentation Overview: Can She Trust You is a live, interactive, distance learning program through which
students will interact with the residents of the 1860 Ohio Village to help Rowena, a runaway slave who
is searching for assistance along her way to freedom. Students will learn about each village resident, ask
questions, and listen for clues. Their objective is to discover which resident is the Underground Railroad
conductor and who Rowena can trust.
Presentation Outcomes: After participating in this program, students will have a better understanding
of the Underground Railroad, various viewpoints on the issue of slavery, and what life was like in the
mid-1800s.
Standards Connections:
National Standards
NCTE – ELA K-12.4 Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions,
style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
NCTE – ELA K-12.12 Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes
(e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
NCSS - SS.2 Time, Continuity, and Change
NCSS - SS.5 Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
NCSS - SS.6 Power, Authority, and Governance
NCSS - SS.8 Science, Technology, and Society
Ohio Revised Standards – Social Studies
Grade Four
Theme: Ohio in the United States
Topic: Heritage
Content Statement 7: Sectional issues divided the United States after the War of 1812. Ohio played a
key role in these issues, particularly with the anti-slavery movement and the Underground Railroad.
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Topic: Human Systems
Content Statement 13: The population of the United States has changed over time, becoming more
diverse (e.g., racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious). Ohio’s population has become increasingly reflective of
the cultural
Grade Eight
Theme: U.S. Studies from 1492 to 1877L Exploration through Reconstruction
Topic: Civil War and Reconstruction
Content Statement 11: Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments
in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.
Content Statement 12: The Reconstruction period resulted in changes to the US Constitution, an
affirmation of federal authority and lingering social and political differences.
Common Core State Standards
ELA CCSS: SL.4.1, SL. 4.2, SL.4.3
ELA CCSS: SL.5.1, SL.5.2, SL.5.3
ELA CCSS: SL.6.1, SL.6.2, SL.6.3
ELA CCSS: SL.7.1, SL, 7.2, SL.7.3
ELA CCSS: SL.8.1, SL.8.2, SL.8.3
Presentation Tips:
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Before the presentation begins, remind students that they will be speaking with people from the
year 1860. These people will have no knowledge of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s presidency
or anything after the year 1860.
Students should be careful in asking their questions. Slavery is an extremely delicate issue, so
direct questions such as, “Are you a conductor on the Underground Railroad?” or “Would you
help a runaway slave?” should be avoided.
It might not be possible for the presenters to see or hear all of your students clearly. Teachers
should help facilitate the presentation by calling on students and repeating answers (if needed).
Pre-Presentation Activities:
Review – Have students review the material in this packet including vocabulary, web sites, code words,
code phrases, and the information/map on the United States in 1860.
Timeline Activity – Have students create a timeline of key events in the evolution of slavery in the
United States, such as when the first slaves entered the country, major uprisings, emancipation, etc.
During the Program – Provide each student with a student worksheet (attached) to guide them as they
meet Ohio Village residents throughout the program.
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Post-Presentation Activities:
Separation Discussion – Have students discuss how they would feel if they were a slave and were about
to be separated from their family for the rest of their lives.
Role of a Plantation Owner – Have students take on the role of a southern plantation owner after the
Civil War. Discuss the following questions:
1. How will you maintain your plantation?
2. Will any of your slaves choose to remain with you? What will you offer those that do?
3. How will your life change as a result of the freeing of the slaves?
Post-Presentation Quiz – Have students take the Can She Trust You Quiz to evaluate what they learned
throughout the program. (attached)
Museum in a Box – Participate in the Underground Railroad case history through the Museum in a Box
program. The Underground Railroad case history contains physical artifacts that students can touch,
analyze, and explore focusing on the routes of escape, stories of individuals who did escape, and the
people who helped slaves escape.
http://www.ohiohistory.org/education/museum-in-a-box
Vocabulary:
Abolitionist – a person who advocated the end of slavery in the United States.
Apolitical – not involved or not interested in politics.
Auction – the public sale in which property or items of merchandise are sold to the highest bidder.
Bounty hunter – a person or group of individuals who seeks out runaway slaves and tries to capture
them and return them to their masters to receive a financial reward; slave catcher.
Conductor – term given to those who aided freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad; a person
who escorted or guided freedom seekers between safe houses or stations.
Cotton gin – a machine that separates the seeds from the fibers of cotton.
Free States – states that did not allow slavery; often referred to as the North.
Fugitive Slave Law – law enacted to return runaway slaves to the South; stated that any federal marshal
who did not arrest an alleged fugitive slave could be fined $1,000. People suspected of being runaway
slaves could be arrested without warrant and turned over to a claimant on nothing more than the
claimant’s sworn testimony of ownership. A suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial nor testify on
his or her behalf. Slave catchers could cross into free states to capture free blacks and escaped slaves.
Livery – a stable where horses and vehicles are kept overnight or rented out.
Quaker – a member of the Religious Society of Friends who are a group of Christians who use no
scripture and believe in great simplicity in daily life and in worship; their services consist mainly of silent
meditation and they were against slavery.
Slave – a person who is deprived of his or her liberty for life and becomes the property of another; the
children of slaves follow the conditions of their mothers and are themselves slaves.
Slave states – states that allowed slavery; often referred to as the South.
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Underground Railroad – a loose, secret network of people working from their homes, churches, and
businesses to help runaway slaves reach freedom in the free states of the United States or Canada; this
network included sympathetic whites, free blacks, and in some cases other slaves.
Recommended Web Sites:
Africans In America
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
http://freedomcenter.org/
National Geographic Underground Railroad
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/multimedia/interactive/the-undergroundrailroad/?ar_a=1
National Park Service Underground Railroad
http://www.nps.gov/subjects/ugrr/index.htm
Underground Railroad Code Words:
Baggage – escaping slaves
Bundles of wood – fugitives to be expected
Canaan – Canada
Drinking Gourd – Big Dipper and the North Star
Forwarding – taking fugitive slaves from station to station
Freedom Train – the Underground Railroad
Gospel Train – the Underground Railroad
Heaven – Canada
Load of Potatoes – escaping slaves hidden under the farm produce in a wagon
Moses – Harriet Tubman
Parcel – fugitives to be expected
Promised Land – Canada
Preachers – leaders and speakers on the Underground Railroad
River Jordan – the Mississippi River
Shepherds – people escorting slaves
Station – place of safety and temporary refuge; safe house
Station Master – keeper of a safe-house
Stockholder – donor of money, clothing, or food to the Underground Railroad
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Underground Railroad Code Phrases:
The wind blows from the South today – a warning to Underground Railroad workers that fugitive slaves
were in the area
When the sun comes back and the first quail calls – a time of year good for escaping (early spring)
The river bank makes a mighty good road – a reminder that the tracking dogs can’t follow the scent
through the water
The dead trees will show you the way – a reminder that moss grows on the north side of dead trees
Left foot, peg foot – a visual clue for escapees left by an Underground Railroad worker famous because
of his wooden leg
The river ends between two hills – a clue for the direction to the Ohio River
A friend with friends – a password that signaled the arrival of fugitives with a conductor
The friend of a friend sent me – a password used by fugitives traveling alone to indicate they were sent
by the Underground Railroad network
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus (words to a song) – used to alert other slaves that an
escape attempt was coming
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INFORMATION ON THE UNITED STATES IN 1860
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CAN SHE TRUST YOU QUIZ
1.
What book did Mrs. Burton say she had been reading that was changing her ideas on slavery?
a. Little Women
b. Life of a Slave Girl
c. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
2.
What was the name of the nearby settlement that consisted mainly of a black population?
a. Columbus
b. Ripley
c. Little Africa
3.
Who was Frederick Douglas?
a. An escaped slave
b. An author
c. An escaped slave and author
4.
What was against the law for slaves in the South?
a. To learn to read and write
b. To go to church
c. To visit one another
5.
Why did Mr. Johnson say that slavery was necessary in the South?
a. The plantation owners could not afford to operate their plantations
b. The price of cotton would become very high
c. Both of the above
6.
What did the Democrats believe should happen to slavery?
a. It should be done away with immediately
b. It should be done away with slowly over a period of time
c. It should be left alone so that nothing would change
7.
What author did Mrs. Rhodes say helped her learn about treating people well?
a. Lewis Carroll
b. Harriet Beecher Stowe
c. Lydia Maria Child
8.
What was the name of the law passed by Congress that provided for the return of runaway slaves who
escaped from one state into another?
a. Emancipation Proclamation
b. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
c. Civil Rights Act of 1964
9.
What did Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, also own?
a. Hunting dogs
b. Slaves
c. A large number of cattle
10. What did the phrase “All men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence mean at the time it was
written?
a. Everyone is equal and allowed to vote
b. Only wealthy men vote
c. Only white males who owned land vote
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CAN SHE TRUST YOU QUIZ – ANSWER KEY
1. What book did Mrs. Burton say she had been reading that was changing her ideas on
slavery?
c. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
2. What was the name of the nearby settlement that consisted mainly of a black population?
c. Little Africa
3. Who was Frederick Douglas?
c. An escaped slave and author
4. What was against the law for slaves in the South?
a. To learn to read and write
5. Why did Mr. Johnson say that slavery was necessary in the South?
c. Both of the above
6. What did the Democrats believe should happen to slavery?
a. It should be done away with immediately
7. What author did Mrs. Rhodes say helped her learn about treating people well?
c. Lydia Maria Child
8. What was the name of the law passed by Congress that provided for the return of runaway
slaves who escaped from one state into another?
b. Fugitive Slave Law of 1850
9. What did Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, also own?
b. Slaves
10. What did the phrase “All men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence mean
at the time it was written?
c. Only white males who owned land vote
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