"One day I was out milking the cows. Mr. Dave come down to the field and he had a paper in his hand. "Listen to me, Tom," he said. "Listen to what I read you." And he read from a paper all about how I was free. You can't tell how I felt. "You're joking me," I says. "Naw, I ain't," says he. "You're free." "Naw," says I, "it's a joke." "Naw," says he, "it's a law that I got to read this paper to you. Now listen while I read it again." Was I happy? You can take anything. No matter how good you treat it, it wants to be free. You can treat it good and feed it and give it everything it seems to want, but if you open the cage, it's happy. My name is Tom Robinson."
Opposing Slavery
Thomas Jefferson wrote, all men are created equal.
Still, many Americans, including Jefferson did not believe that this statement applied to enslaved African Americans
The Movement
With an increase in slavery came the roots of the antislavery movement Religious beliefs 50,000 slaves in the North in 1800, one million in the South
The Abolitionists
Free African Americans books, public speeches lawsuits, petitions, newspapers,
Frederick Douglass learned how to read and escaped slavery, very compelling speaker, started the North Star newspaper William Lloyd Garrison a white abolitionist
I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice I am in earnest I will not excuse I will not retreat a single inch and I WILL BE HEARD.
Opposition to Abolition
What do you think was the North s reaction? Mill owner s, bankers, and merchants depended on cotton Northern workers worried slaves would take their jobs for lower wages There were many attacks at abolition meetings and on abolitionist homes
Opposition to Abolition
What do you think was the South s reaction? Accused abolitionists of preaching violence, for incidences like Nat Turner s slave revolt They defended that some slaves were treated better than factory workers It was essential to their economy and ending it would change their way of life
Slave Rebellions
Laptop Research
ASSIGNMENT
You are a conductor on the Underground Railroad, you have a cousin in New Jersey whose home you want to use as a station. Write a letter describing what your cousin will need to do. You can also write from the point of view of the conductor or the slave making the escape. Include a map showing the route you will be taking. Should be a minimum of 10 sentences Type your work, double spaced