Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad was a council own Badge from the Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council.

Activity sheets will be sent to you as a download when you place your order to help you earn the badge.  

The “Underground Railroad” is not actually a train operating along hidden railroad tracks. The Underground Railroad refers to the efforts of enslaved African Americans to gain their freedom through escape and flight—and the assistance of people who opposed slavery and willingly chose to help them to escape—through the end of the U.S. Civil War. (answer to #1)

Activities-Choose 4 brownies, 8 for Juniors, and 10 for older girls. (see some answers below)

1.*Learn about the Underground Railroad. What is it? When did it begin? Why was it created?

2.  Find a map of the Underground Railroad and learn about the routes taken by the slaves.

3.  Define the following words: Freedom Seeker, Conductor, Fugitive, Stationmaster, Station, Runaways or Escapees, Slave or Enslaved, Slaveholders, and Slave Catchers.

4.   Find out about a minimum of 6 "Faces of Freedom" in addition to Moses.

5.  *Who is Moses? Why was the person named Moses? Why was Moses so important to the slaves? What other things happened to Moses before they became Moses?

6.  Find out how the slaves from the South found their way to freedom in the North since they had never left the plantations before.

7.  Learn about 2 of the songs of the slaves and their hidden meanings.

8.  What other events took place at this same time in history?

9.  What is the Emancipation Proclamation? (see answer below)

10.  Find out about some sites that served as Underground Railroad sites. Are their any in your community? Visit http://henryburke101.tripod.com/mypersonalsite for some listings in Washington Co. Ohio. Are any of these sites listed as National Historic Landmarks?

11  What is the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and what did it mean for the slaves?

12. Learn about the National Underground Railroad Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can plan a visit or you can do a virtual tour at www.undergroundrailroad.org

13. Define Abolitionist and find 3 people who helped with the Underground Railroad.

14. What is the Mason-Dixon Line and what did it mean to the slaves?

15.  What did the slave children do during the day?

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(answer to #9) 1863 Emancipation Proclamation President Lincoln issued a statement that “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and hence forward shall be free.” Enslaved people in states and territories under Union Army control (West Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and the District of Columbia) were not declared free and they remained in slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation did not actually free any slave, but it did change the course of the war. The Union Army and Navy officially accepted blacks into their ranks, and by the end of the war, approximately 209,000 black soldiers and sailors fought for the Union and for freedom. 1865 13th Amendment This amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery throughout the United States and the Civil War ends.