Life under slavery, resistance and the Underground Railroad

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Resistance and risk, 1850 to 1863 (cards A to E). Card A, the Fugitive Slave Act (approved September 18, 1850; Avalon Project): a commissioner "shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certificate to the claimant, his agent or attorney; or a fee of five dollars in cases where the proof shall not, in the opinion of such commissioner, warrant such certificate and delivery". "In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence". A summary in our words: Section 7 punished anyone who rescued a person from custody, helped a person escape, or harbored or concealed a person claimed as a fugitive, with "a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months". Card B, a summary in our words from three National Park Service pages on Harriet Tubman: one says that over about a decade, in about thirteen trips, Tubman "led approximately 70 people to freedom and provided instructions to 50-60 others". Another says that she made about 13 trips into Maryland to rescue family and friends and "gave instructions to about 70 more who found their way to freedom independently." A third says she is believed to have assisted about 70 people and that the names of almost 40 are known. Card C, a summary in our words from the National Park Service: on June 1, 1863, Tubman joined Colonel James Montgomery and the 2nd South Carolina Infantry, a unit of emancipated men, in a raid on plantations along the Combahee River that "rescued more than 700 enslaved people". The Park Service also says: "The decision to self-emancipate was a difficult one with complicated considerations about family ties, children, how to make a living, and how to navigate the unknown." Card D, from the National Park Service page on the Underground Railroad: it describes "ordinary men and women coming together" and says the movement "thrived from the late 18th century through the Civil War". Card E, from the National Park Service page on Tubman and the Underground Railroad: Tubman said in 1896: "I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger." It adds that abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison called her "Moses".

2. 1.

   Card E quotes Tubman in 1896: "I never lost a passenger." What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?

   • What she said while she was making the trips in the 1850s, many years before 1896
   • How she described her work in 1896, which needs checking against records
   • How many people the Combahee River raid freed in the year 1863
   • An exact count showing that no one she guided was ever caught or lost
3. 2.

   The three Park Service pages in card B give about 70 people twice, but differ on the others. How should a reader treat this, Bo asks?

   • They agree on about 13 trips and 70 people but differ on about 70 others
   • They say that she led 140 people to freedom in the 13 trips
   • They disagree on the number of trips she made into Maryland
   • The difference settles that the estimates are completely worthless to any reader
4. 3.

   A student says: "Commissioners were paid only when they returned a person." How strong is that claim, given card A, Kira asks?

   • Strong: card A pays ten dollars whenever a certificate is delivered to the claimant
   • Strong: card A says commissioners got nothing otherwise, when no certificate was given
   • Weak: the claimant paid the fee in either case, so the fee did not matter
   • Weak: card A pays five dollars even when the proof did not warrant a certificate
5. 4.

   Card A says the alleged fugitive's testimony cannot be admitted "in evidence." What does that show about the hearing, Luz asks?

   • No witness of any kind was allowed to testify in any hearing under the act
   • It made each hearing fair to both sides, as the law required of it
   • The person accused could not testify in evidence about his or her own case
   • The person accused alone was allowed to testify in the hearing on the case
6. 5.

   Card E has Garrison calling Tubman "Moses" and Tubman calling herself a conductor. How do they differ in emphasis, Milo asks?

   • Both statements are neutral counts of her work, made by outside observers
   • Both statements described the same Combahee River raid of the year 1863
   • Garrison's "Moses" stresses leading people out of slavery; her words, a safe record
   • Garrison described a safe record, and Tubman used the name Moses for herself in 1896
7. 6.

   Card A punishes anyone who harbored or concealed a person claimed as a fugitive. What does it suggest about the people who helped, Noah asks?

   • The penalty was created after the Civil War had already come to an end
   • Helping could be punished by a fine and prison, so those who helped risked the law
   • The penalty shows that commissioners were paid fees for each case they heard
   • The penalty ended the help given to people who were then trying to escape from slavery
8. 7.

   A student asks how many people Tubman actually led. What new evidence would help most, Pia asks?

   • Just her own 1896 statement about the trips that she had made earlier
   • A longer retelling of the Park Service numbers, in a new book for readers
   • Names, dates and places from records made at the time, such as letters
   • One more statement from an author that the number was about 70 people
9. 8.

   Cards B and C span the 1850s trips to 1863. How did the scale of the rescues change, Tala asks?

   • More than 700 people in the 1850s, and then about 70 people in 1863
   • The 1863 raid caused the 1850s trips, which came about as a direct result of it
   • About 70 people over many trips in the 1850s, then 700 in one raid in 1863
   • Tubman led the raid by herself, with no soldiers or officers to help
10. 9.

    A student says: "The Underground Railroad began with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850." How strong is that claim, given cards A and D, Ren asks?

    • Strong: the Act punished helping, so it must have started the helping
    • Weak: card D says the movement thrived from the late 18th century on
    • Weak: card D says that the movement ended in the year 1850
    • Strong: card A shows that the law was passed in the year 1850
11. 10.

    Card C says deciding to escape involved family ties and the unknown. What new evidence would best show why some people stayed, Zee asks?

    • A modern textbook paragraph that summarizes escapes in a few lines
    • Letters, interviews or records by the people themselves from the time
    • A statement that the people wanted to leave, with no names or dates given
    • The accounts of the people who escaped, with nothing from those who stayed