FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF 1850 UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: A FREEDOM MOVEMENT Standards: 8.1.

.3 Develop an understanding of historical sources; Understand fundamentals of historical interpretation; Understand historical research; Identify and describe primary documents, material artifacts and historic sites important in Pennsylvania history. CC.1.5.4.B Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Objectives: SWBAT analyze the effect the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 had on key players involved in the Underground Railroad. SWBAT summarize important information and make inferences from a legal document. SWBAT work cooperatively with peers to display their findings collaboratively. Materials: Promethean Board with PPT Presentation Copies of Fugitive Act of 1850 Dictionaries Question Prompts For each group Butcher paper for each group Markers for each student Sticky notes for gallery walk Pencils and writers notebooks Classroom timer (for pacing reasons) Hook (5 minutes) Teacher will ask students if they ever had to compromise on something they wanted. Was it a fair compromise? What is the difference between a fair and unfair compromise? Teacher will make a t-chart on the Promethean Board. Class will help generate ideas Introduction to New Material (5 minutes) To tap into background knowledge, teacher will ask students why so many runaway slaves fled all the way to Canada instead of staying in the North. (Anticipated answers: Because they could still get captured and brought back south.) Teacher will ask students, if slavery was illegal in the North, why were southerners allowed to come up re-capture escaped slaves? (Anticipated answers: The Fugitive Slave Acts which made it illegal to harbor escaping slaves and actually mandatory to turn them in/bring them back.) Teacher will present information on President Millard Fillmore, who signed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850.

Introduction to Group Expectations (5 minutes) Each student will take on an important role in his or her collaborative group. The roles will be scaffolded according to personality/ability level prior to the beginning of the lesson. There are eight groups containing four students each. There are four essential roles, one for each member of a group. If a member of the group is gone, another member of that group will take on two roles. As each of the roles are presented on the Promethean Board, the member of the group who has that number will stand up and read their role out loud, in unison, so that they may internalize their role. The four roles are as follows: 1A: Reporter will read the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 out loud to group 2: Researcher will look up the meanings of any words the reporter does not know 3: Recorder will summarize key events from the reading 4: Resource and Task manager will retrieve materials and make sure everyone is doing their job, and offer/ask for help as needed Students will come up with suggestions for how they can maintain accountability and on-task behavior during the lesson. Two groups will have an opportunity to share their suggestions with the class. Group Reading (10 minutes) Each group will be given the steps they need to follow to complete their assignment. The group recorder will read the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 out loud to his/her group. The group researcher will be charged with helping define any unfamiliar words as the researcher is reading. The recorder will take down important notes in their writers notebook. The resource manager will be attentive to the needs and actions of her/his group mates. Practice (1o minutes) Students will be given guidelines for answering the following questions: Was this act a fair compromise between the North and South? Why or why not? How did the Law affect each of the following groups of people: o Passengers o Conductors o Abolitionists o Stationmasters o Plantation Owners After students have shared their opinions with one another in their groups, resource managers will retrieve markers, and butcher paper for to write down their ideas formally. Each student/group will be responsible for contributing their ideas to the butcher paper. Gallery Walk (10 minutes) Students will read, reflect, and comment using sticky notes on what their peers wrote on the butcher paper through a station rotation activity. Students will not make it to all eight stations, but they will have an opportunity to view each others work when it is displayed.

Teacher will ask lingering question, Why would the national government pass such a law if it was allegedly opposed to slavery? Students will engage in a Think/Pair/Share Closing (5 minutes) Class will reunite back in their seats. Students will fill out their sticky notes for the ongoing KWL chart. During this time, teacher will use the 3-2-1 approach where three students comment on something they learned, two students ask questions they may still have or got as a result of the lesson, and one student will be given the opportunity to answer the question what should happen next. Assessment Effective collaboration and group participation, effectiveness of presentation/communication in broader groups; comments from on-going KWL chart. Written answers to the question prompt: How did the North actually help the South keep/maintain slavery through this act? Modifications/Differentiation Written and verbal instruction; independent reflection, if needed rather than larger group participation.