Life under slavery, resistance and the Underground Railroad
Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
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Learning to read, and who tells the story (cards A to D). Card A, from Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Written by Himself (Boston: published at the Anti-Slavery Office, 1845), as printed on Documenting the American South: Douglass describes the day he overheard Hugh Auld tell his wife not to teach him to read. Auld said: "It would forever unfit him to be a slave." and "It would make him discontented and unhappy." Douglass wrote: "From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom." and "Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read." He says he was "probably between seven and eight years old" when he went to live with the Aulds in Baltimore, and that he lived in Hugh Auld's household for about seven years. He estimated that he was now "between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age" when he wrote. Card B, from later in the same Narrative: "I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing." and "The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers." Card C, from the Narrative's preface, dated May 1, 1845, by the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison: "I am confident that it is essentially true in all its statements; that nothing has been set down in malice, nothing exaggerated, nothing drawn from the imagination; that it comes short of the reality, rather than overstates a single fact in regard to SLAVERY AS IT IS." Card D, a summary in our words from Norman R. Yetman of the University of Kansas, in the Library of Congress Information Bulletin (April 2001), about the Federal Writers' Project interviews of former slaves: they were recorded in 17 states during 1936 to 1938 and number "more than 2,300". Those interviewed "ranged in age from 1 to 50 at the time of emancipation in 1865, which meant that more than two-thirds were over 80 when they were interviewed." The collection is "not a representative sample of the slave population," but "a remarkably diverse and inclusive cross section of former slaves". The interviewers, after the national office took charge, were "almost exclusively white", and Yetman writes that "it is probable that in many instances caste etiquette led ex-slaves to tell white interviewers" "what they wanted to hear." The project director John Lomax told interviewers: "It should be remembered that the Federal Writers' Project is not interested in taking sides on any question. The worker should not censor any materials collected regardless of its [sic] nature." An earlier evaluation of Georgia narratives said that Black interviewers appeared "able to gain better insight" and that their interviews were "less tinged with glamour." Yetman calls the narratives "an illuminating and invaluable source".
Card C is a preface by the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?
- Nothing, because a friend of the author wrote it for him in 1845
- Independent proof that each detail in the Narrative is true as written
- A later historian's careful check of the facts that the Narrative reports
- That supporters vouched for the book, though an endorsement is not proof
In card A, Auld and Douglass react to the same idea, teaching an enslaved child to read. How do their views connect, Esme asks?
- They disagreed about whether reading mattered to slavery
- Both saw reading as a threat to slavery; Auld feared it, Douglass welcomed it
- Auld and Douglass wanted the same result
- Auld thought reading would help Douglass; Douglass thought it would harm him
A student says: "Learning to read made life easier for Douglass." How strong is that claim, given cards A and B, Jun asks?
- Strong: he published a book about his life in 1845, so reading helped him
- Weak: card B says he sometimes felt reading was "a curse rather than a blessing"
- Strong: card A shows gladness alone, so reading brought him no pain whatever
- Strong: card A calls reading the pathway from slavery to freedom, so it made life easier
Cards A and B both describe what reading did for Douglass. What do they support together, Kira asks?
- Reading changed how he saw slavery, as hope in card A and as pain in card B
- Card A says reading brought pain alone, and card B says hope alone
- Both passages say that reading ended his enslavement once he had learned to read
- They contradict each other, so one of the two passages must be false
Card D: emancipation was 1865 and interviews were in 1936 to 1938. About how old in 1937 was someone who was 5 in 1865, Milo asks?
- About 77, so their memories of that time are exact and complete
- About 72, found by subtracting 1865 from 1937 and stopping there
- About 5, which is the age of the child at emancipation in 1865
- About 77, so their memories of slavery were a child's memories
A student says: "The interviews show what a typical enslaved person thought." How strong is that claim, given card D, Noah asks?
- Strong: card D calls the narratives invaluable, so they show what is typical
- Weak: card D says each informant was over 80 when interviewed
- Strong: there are more than 2,300 interviews, which is a very large group
- Weak: card D says the group is "not a representative sample"
Using card A, which chain best explains how Douglass began to teach himself, Pia asks?
- Garrison's preface in 1845 inspired Douglass to begin learning to read
- The Anti-Slavery Office ordered Douglass to learn to read for its readers
- Auld said reading would unfit a slave; Douglass heard it and set out to learn
- Douglass set out to learn, and then Auld explained to him why reading was dangerous
Card A reports Auld's words. Who is reporting them, and what is the limit, Ren asks?
- Auld himself, speaking in a written record that he kept at the time of the scene
- A historian summarizing what Auld had said to his wife long ago
- A court clerk who wrote down the words at the time of the event
- Douglass, writing in 1845 about his boyhood, reporting words he remembered
Lomax told interviewers not to "censor any materials." Why does that not settle how good the evidence is, Tala asks?
- It shows that each informant told the whole truth to each interviewer
- It shows that the interviews were held in 17 states across the South
- It shows that Lomax censored the narratives before they were printed
- It shows the project's aim, but informants may have said what interviewers wanted
A student wants to test whether informants told white interviewers "what they wanted to hear." Using card D, what is the best test, Zee asks?
- Read a modern textbook summary of the narratives for the same area
- Count the number of narratives that were collected in each of the states
- Read just the narratives that were taken by white interviewers in that area
- Compare accounts from one area taken by Black and by white interviewers
