American History Webquest

Mrs. Mazloom

Grade 5

Christopher Columbus School

Utica City School District

mmazloom@uticaschools.org

The Fugitive Slave Laws

Introduction:

The Fugitive Slave act of 1850 was a desperate attempt to keep the United States from Civil War. It was part of the compromise of 1850, and made it illegal not to return and slave found in the North to their owner in the south.

Imagine you are an African American living in the south during the year 1850. You lack basic freedoms people enjoy today. Or imagine you are an abolitionist living in the north. You believe slavery is wrong, but now the Fugitve Slave Act of 1850 states that you must return any known slave, or face a fine or jail.


Harriet Tubman	Gerrit Smith

Task

You will use the AHPPA steps to evaluate the Fugitive Slave Act from the either the view of an African American living in the South, or an Abolitionist from the North. Your group will create a scrapbook that will illustrate the life of an actual African American or an Abolitionist living during Pre Civil War America. Your scrapbook will include at least four illustrations of scenes from the your identified person’s life, with a short description of each scene. Additionally, your scrapbook must include a News story written about either the person or an event your historical figure was involved in, or a letter your historical figure may have written describing a typical day in their life.

You will be part of a group of four students. You will be assigned to be either an abolitionist or an African American living in the south. Together the group will work to complete the worksheets on each step of the AHPPA model.

Step 1: Identify the Problem

Step 2: Gather the Evidence:

Step 3: Determine the Causes

Step 4: Evaluate the Policy

Process

Once you are assigned a group, you will work with your group members to research your assigned person.
Use the APPA model Step 1 to identify the social problem facing your person.
Complete APPA Worksheet #1
Use APPA model Step 2 to further research the existence of your problem.
Complete APPA Worksheet #2
Use APPA model Step 3 to determine the causes of your social problem.
Complete APPA Worksheet #3
Use APPA model Step 4 evaluate whether the Fugitive slave act of 1850 was successful in addressing your problem.
Complete APPA Worksheet #4
Each member of your group should create an illustration that depicts an event in your person’s life. For instance, if your person was a slave, illustrations may include scenes working on the plantation, traveling on the Underground Railroad, and free life in North. Abolitionist illustrations may include them lecturing on the evils of slavery, their hiding places for runaway slaves, pictures of them with their family or helping slaves on the Underground Railroad. Each illustration should have a short description of what the illustration depicts.
Your group must work together to write either a letter or news story. The letter would be written from the perspective of your person and would describe a typical day in their life. The news story would describe an event your person was involved in, or directly affected your person.

Resources

The Underground Railroad Escape from Slavery

National Geographic The Underground Railroad

Born in Slavery

Slave Resistance

Abolitionism

Abolitionism in America

FreedomCenter

Evaluation

Christopher Columbus School

Fugitive Slave Law Webquest

Name: ________________________

Teacher: Mrs. Mazloom

Date : ___________________

Title of Work: ___________________

Criteria

Points

	1	2	3	4
Group uses the American History Public Policy Analyst	Group doesn't follow the steps of APPA	Group follows some of the steps of the APPA, worksheets partially complete	Group follows all of the APPA steps, but worksheets are not completed fully or are done incorrectly.	All APPA steps are complete and worksheets done correctly.	____
Group presented 4 illustrations depicting either the life of a slave or abolitionist	Illustrations either incomplete or not done.	Illustrations complete but are done poorly or are incorrectly.	All illustrations are complete, most are done neatly and depict the lives of either a slave and abolitionist.	4 illustrations are complete, neat and creative.	____
Captions to illustrations indicate what is occuring in the illustration	Illustrations do not have captions.	Some illustrations do not have captions. Many Grammar and spelling errors.	All illustrations have captions. Captions are well written with few spelling or grammar errors.	Captions are well written, clearly indicating what is occuring in the illustration. No grammar or spelling errors.	____
Letter or News Story.	Group did not product letter or news story.	Group produced a letter or news story, but it was poorly done or incomplete.	Group produced a letter or news story that either examined a news event or day in the life of thier person. May include some spelling or grammar errors.	Group produced a letter or news story that either examined a news event or day in the life of thier person. Few or no grammar and spelling errors.	____
					____
				Total---->	____

Teacher Comments:

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have finished the Fugitive Slave Law Webquest! You have worked together with your classmates, used the American History Public Policy Analyst, gained a greater understanding of life of either a Slave or an Abolitionist, and learned how the Fugitive Slave Laws affected these two groups. Wow!

Standards

Standard 1, Key Idea 1

Key Idea 1: The study of New York State and United States history requires an analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions.

Performance Indicators--Students will:

Elementary

know the roots of American culture, its development from many different traditions, and the ways many people from a variety of groups and backgrounds played a role in creating it
understand the basic ideals of American democracy as explained in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and other important documents
explain those values, practices, and traditions that unite all Americans

Standard 1, Key Idea 2

Key Idea 2: Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from New York State and United States history illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives.

Performance Indicators--Students will:

Elementary

gather and organize information about the traditions transmitted by various groups living in their neighborhood and community
recognize how traditions and practices were passed from one generation to the next
distinguish between near and distant past and interpret simple timelines

Standard 1, Key Idea 3

Key Idea 3: Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.

Performance Indicators--Students will:

Elementary

gather and organize information about the important accomplishments of individuals and groups, including Native American Indians, living in their neighborhoods and communities
classify information by type of activity: social, political, economic, technological, scientific, cultural, or religious
identify individuals who have helped to strengthen democracy in the United States and throughout the world