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Overview:
This lesson asks students to analyze John Brown's attitudes and actions against slavery and the differences between his views and those of other people who were active in the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist movement. Students will write journal entries pretending they are Underground Railroad conductors who have adopted John Brown's values and tactics. They will write additional paragraphs explaining whether they think they would have been more in agreement with Brown or with pacifist abolitionists.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, U.S. history
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 17: "How to apply geography to interpret the past"
Time:
Two to three hours
Materials Required:
- Computer with Internet access
- Writing materials
Objectives:
Students will
- discuss nonviolent versus violent protests;
- discuss the roles of nonviolence and violence in the Underground Railroad;
- review general information about John Brown;
- read and answer questions about John Brown's attitudes toward violence and differences between Brown and other abolitionists;
- read the personal accounts of slaves who successfully escaped from the U.S. South;
- write journal entries pretending to be someone helping slaves escape along the Underground Railroad, using John Brown as a role model; and
- write paragraphs explaining whether they think they would have been more like John Brown or pacifist abolitionists.
Geographic Skills:
Organizing Geographic Information
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Ask students to think of some nonviolent protests or revolutions they know about. Then ask them to think of some violent protests or revolutions. Did these movements have similar goals? Why were they fought in such different ways? Who decided how they would be fought? Which tactic—nonviolent or violent—seems to be more successful, or do both tactics tend to result in similar outcomes?
Ask students whether the Underground Railroad was an act of violent or nonviolent protest. Are they aware of violent activities related to the Underground Railroad? Under what circumstances might some conductors on the Underground Railroad have thought violence was appropriate or necessary?
Development:
Have students review general information about the abolitionist movement in general and John Brown in particular. Ask them to describe the key actions Brown is famous for, including the Pottawatomie Massacre and the raid on Harper's Ferry. They can get this background information at PBS: John Brown's Holy War (click on "Timeline"), or at the University of California's Underground Railroad site.
Ask students to investigate John Brown's role in the Underground Railroad, his attitudes toward violence and nonviolence, and the ways he differed from other abolitionists. Have them go to the following Web sites and answer the questions below.
National Geographic: The Underground Railroad
American Friends Service Committee
Fugitive Slave Act
Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850 (click on the posters)
PBS: Africans in America Resource Bank (check out the entries under "Abolitionism: People & Events")
PBS: John Brown's Holy War
(click on "The Film & More" and "Interview Transcripts")
Questions:
- What effect did the Fugitive Slave Act have on the abolitionist movement? How did this law help make violence seem unavoidable in the Underground Railroad?
- What was John Brown's attitude toward violence? How did he justify it? How did this attitude differ from that of the Quakers and other abolitionists?
- How did John Brown view and treat African Americans, and how did this view differ from the attitudes of other whites who spoke out against slavery?
Closing:
Discuss students' answers to the above questions as a class.
Suggested Student Assessment:
Have students research the Internet to find two or three statements made by former slaves who successfully escaped from the South. (They can begin their research with the resources in the Related Links section, below.)
Ask students to imagine that they have recently begun working as conductors on the Underground Railroad and have met with their mentor, John Brown, to learn about his beliefs and strategies. Have them choose one of the former slaves they've read about and pretend that this escaping slave has come into their town.
Ask students to write journal entries describing their encounter with the escaping slave. They should discuss how they treat him or her and explain how much action they are willing to take to protect and defend this person, based on what they have learned from John Brown.
Have students write paragraphs explaining whether they think that, if they had actually been working on the Underground Railroad, they would have agreed with John Brown's tactics or whether they would have been more closely aligned with the Quakers or other pacifist abolitionists.
Extending the Lesson:
Have students read passages from Russell Banks' novel Cloudsplitter, which is a fictionalized but historically detailed account of John Brown's life as told by his son Owen. Find passages that discuss Brown's attitudes toward other abolitionists. According to this fictionalized account, what did Brown think of other abolitionists? How did he justify his positions, which were more radical than most abolitionists' views? How does Banks portray Brown in relation to William Lloyd Garrison and the abolitionists in Boston?
Related Links:
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