Fugitive Slave Act

I want my slaves back!!

G.Nichols

Donovan M.S.

Introduction:

In the early 1800’s, Americans began to voice their opinions about slavery. Some people were against it and felt the practice of slavery should be abolished. Others felt the practice of slavery was vital to the nation’s economy. The south depended on their slaves to produce cotton and the north depended on the cotton to create textiles in their factories. Some people made their living by buying and selling slaves. As debates went on, more and more slaves were escaping slavery and finding refuge in free states.

Task:

As you work through this webquest, you will gather information about how some people disagreed with slavery and how others agreed with slavery.

The first task is to complete the steps of the Public Policy Analyst using the worksheets provided at each step.

The second task will be to write two newspaper articles, one from each point of view in response to the Fugitive Slave Act.

Process and Resources:

Define the Problem by completing worksheet # 1

Gather the Evidence by completing worksheet #2

To help you with this process use the following resources :

Underground Railroad Interactive and Underground Railroad Reading

Identify Causes by completing worksheet #3

To help you with this process use the following resources:

Levi Coffin Abolitionists in the North Speaking Out Against Slavery

Evaluate the Policy by completing worksheet #4

The Fugitive Slave Act Lincoln’s House Divided Speech

Now that you have completed the steps of the Public Policy Analyst, you are ready to compose your newspaper articles. To do this you need to return to the TASK and click on the words newspaper article to get to the website you will be using. When you are finished writing, have your work checked by your teacher before you print your product.

Evaluation:

The following rubric will be used for your newspaper articles:

Newspaper Article : Newspaper

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Headline	Article has a headline that captures the reader's attention and accurately describes the content.	Article has a headline that accurately describes the content.	Article has a headline that does not describe the content.	Article is missing headline.
Supporting Details	The details in the article are clear and supportive of the topic.	The details in the article are clear but need to be developed more. Some details may not fit in with the topic.	Most details in the article are clear. Article does not focus on the topic well.	The details article are neither clear nor related to the topic.
Who, What, When, Where & How	Article adequately addresses the 5 W's (who, what, when, where and how).	The article is missing one of the 5 W's.	The article is missing 2 of the 5 W's.	The article is missing 3 or more of the 5 W's.
Lead Sentence	Lead sentence grabs the reader's attention and focuses the reader on the topic.	Lead sentence tells most important details.	Lead sentence is not clearly connected to the article.	There is no clear lead sentence in the article.
Spelling and Grammar	No spelling or grammar errors.	No more than a couple of spelling or grammar errors.	No more than 3 spelling or grammar errors.	Several spelling or grammar errors.

Standards Addressed

NY SS #1: use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

NY SS #5: use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

SS CC for Reading: determine central ideas and provide accurate summary.

SS CC for Writing: Production and Distribution; clear/coherent writing appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience, with support, and use technology to produce writing.

Date Created: March 2013