Lesson 2: Abolitionists
Goals and Objectives
Students will learn how the abolitionists campaigned against
slavery, why many people opposed ending slavery, and how the Underground
Railroad enabled some African Americans to escape slavery.
Students will be able to describe the various attempts to abolish
slavery by participating in a carousel activity in a group of 4
people.
Students will be able to empathize with abolitionists and slaves
by completing a journal write explaining the troubles that a slave or
abolitionist faced in the early 1800s.
Students will be able to list four tactics used by abolitionists
by filling out a concept web.
slavery, why many people opposed ending slavery, and how the Underground
Railroad enabled some African Americans to escape slavery.
Students will be able to describe the various attempts to abolish
slavery by participating in a carousel activity in a group of 4
people.
Students will be able to empathize with abolitionists and slaves
by completing a journal write explaining the troubles that a slave or
abolitionist faced in the early 1800s.
Students will be able to list four tactics used by abolitionists
by filling out a concept web.
California State Content Standards
8.9 Students analyze the
early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the
Declaration of Independence.
8.9.1 Describe the leaders
of the movement (e.g. John Quincy Adams and his proposed Constitutional
Amendment; John Brown and the armed resistance; Harriet Tubman and the
Underground Railroad, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison,
Frederick Douglass).
early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the
Declaration of Independence.
8.9.1 Describe the leaders
of the movement (e.g. John Quincy Adams and his proposed Constitutional
Amendment; John Brown and the armed resistance; Harriet Tubman and the
Underground Railroad, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison,
Frederick Douglass).
Lesson Introduction
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/4/5/13459028/2363237.jpg?0)
Students will participate in an image analysis of a political cartoon originally published a London magazine in 1856. It clearly shows how Americans were beginning to realize that the business of slavery was tearing the nation apart.
Students will be asked to verbally answer these questions about the political cartoon:
What is the first thing you notice about this picture? What do you see?
What is happening in the cartoon?
What do you think was happening when this cartoon was made?
Who do you think the audience was for this cartoon?
Do you have any questions about this political cartoon?
The teacher will answer any questions and point out any details that the students may have missed.
Students will be asked to verbally answer these questions about the political cartoon:
What is the first thing you notice about this picture? What do you see?
What is happening in the cartoon?
What do you think was happening when this cartoon was made?
Who do you think the audience was for this cartoon?
Do you have any questions about this political cartoon?
The teacher will answer any questions and point out any details that the students may have missed.
Vocabulary
Students will create a foldable for new vocabulary words for the entire unit. The foldable will include
the vocabulary word, the definition from the book, and a drawing of the word.
This lesson’s vocabulary words are:
Abolitionist
Underground Railroad
Notion
Publication
the vocabulary word, the definition from the book, and a drawing of the word.
This lesson’s vocabulary words are:
Abolitionist
Underground Railroad
Notion
Publication
Content Delivery
Deliver a lecture on early attempts to abolish slavery, the New Abolitionists, and the Underground
Railroad. The lecture will discuss how by the end of the early 1800s, a growing number of Americans began to demand and immediate end to slavery in the South,how in the 1830s, the slavery became the most pressing social issue for the reformers, and how abolitionists established a network of routes and risked their lives to help African Americans escape slavery.
Railroad. The lecture will discuss how by the end of the early 1800s, a growing number of Americans began to demand and immediate end to slavery in the South,how in the 1830s, the slavery became the most pressing social issue for the reformers, and how abolitionists established a network of routes and risked their lives to help African Americans escape slavery.
Student Engagement and Critical Thinking
Students will participate in a carousel activity. In this activity, the teacher will break the class into ten groups of four. Each group will be given a large sheet of paper with a term written on it. They will be given 30 seconds to write down as many terms/people/dates/events that they can think of that
relate to the given term. After 30 seconds the groups will switch papers and they will do the same thing for the new term. After all groups have written on all 10 papers, the groups will find their original paper. Once they have the original paper, they will read all of the brainstorms and circle the three words that they think are the most important to the term. Each of the groups will share with the rest of the class which 3 words they circled.
The ten terms for the Carousel activity are:
Abolitionists, American Colonization Society, William Lloyd Garrison, the Grimke Sisters, David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Underground Railroad, the Fugitive Slave Act, and Harriet Tubman
relate to the given term. After 30 seconds the groups will switch papers and they will do the same thing for the new term. After all groups have written on all 10 papers, the groups will find their original paper. Once they have the original paper, they will read all of the brainstorms and circle the three words that they think are the most important to the term. Each of the groups will share with the rest of the class which 3 words they circled.
The ten terms for the Carousel activity are:
Abolitionists, American Colonization Society, William Lloyd Garrison, the Grimke Sisters, David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Underground Railroad, the Fugitive Slave Act, and Harriet Tubman
Demonstrated Learning
Formative Assessments:
Discussion of Abolition while examining the political cartoon.
Questions Embedded in the Lecture
Progress Monitoring during the Carousel Activity
Concept Web
Discussion of Abolition while examining the political cartoon.
Questions Embedded in the Lecture
Progress Monitoring during the Carousel Activity
Concept Web
Lesson Closure
Students will complete a concept web by filling in four tactics the abolitionists used to try to end slavery.
Accommodations
Accommodations include the use of realia
in the lecture, targeted vocabulary, small group activity, and the use of
questions to help lead students.
What Came Before...
Students learned about the importance of Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion. Different topics in the previous unit include Independence for Texas, War with Mexico, and new settlements in Utah and California.
What Came After...
Students will learn about the ongoing debate over slavery in the U.S. with attention focused on the Missouri Compromise, the Kentucky Resolution, and the Compromise of 1850. Students will begin to further understand the conflicts over slavery, and the differences between the North and South’s economy and social structure.