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But the right thing is easier to define with hindsight and a knowledge of history. Students like to discuss the question, Would I have helped the fugitives? We all like to think that in difficult times, we would have the courage to do the right thing. The teachers used this as the culminating activity and the assessment. Independently, they used the thesis statement supported by evidence from the documents to construct a paragraph or essay. Then, they created a thesis statement in response to the essential questions.
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Working together in groups, the students addressed a series of document-based questions (scaffolding).
In a recent workshop, teachers at the National Archives at Boston examined records of fugitive slaves and developed several essential questions upon which to build instruction: To access documents, I direct students and teachers to to simply search on “slavery.” A huge array of diverse documents and good activities will be at your fingertips. These records offer unlimited opportunities for teaching and learning and inspiration. We find court cases of owners trying to get back their “property,” warrants for the arrest of fugitives, bills of sale, and citizens using the law to create new law. These stories, often embedded in legal language, are both heart-breaking and heart-warming. It is still with us.Įvidence of the fight for freedom lives in the National Archives. It is part of the fabric of this nation it was prominent in the debate about Independence and the Constitution.
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The question of slavery and freedom is older than our country. But emancipation came neither suddenly nor easily. The 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the movement towards the 13th Amendment are foremost in our minds these days. And by using it in the classroom, we can help our students better understand the emotions, historic details, and impact of the fight for freedom. Just reading Annie’s letter is enough to feel her longing for freedom. This terrific document in the holdings of the National Archives provides much opportunity for teaching and learning. The rest of the enslaved people would gain freedom within 1865.
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Annie would become free in November 1864, when the re-written Maryland state constitution ended slavery. The slaveholding border states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri were not affected by the Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation affected only those states that were in rebellion as of January 1, 1863.
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Writing from Belair, Maryland, she continued, “Will you please let me know if we are free.”īut she was not. Thus wrote (another – not me!) Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln, 20 months after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. From the Records of the Adjutant General’s Office. Letter from Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln.