Free Resources for Learning About the Underground Railroad

Published:
February 8, 2021

Contributor:
Jeannette Tuionetoa

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

When asking my children what they knew about the Underground Railroad, I knew I had done them a severe injustice. Teach your children a historic and crucial part of American history with these free resources for learning about the Underground Railroad.

Free Resources for Learning About the Underground Railroad text with an image of a train track up close

I can’t think about the Underground Railroad without visions of the struggles rushing through my mind. One thing is for sure, it is a significant part of our country’s history.

Of course, my kids thought the Underground Railroad was a secret train(s) that rescued slaves from one part of America to the other where they could be free.

Sadly, I failed as a parent. I had to explain to my kids that the Underground Railroad was neither a railroad nor was it underground. SHOCKER!

I really wanted to teach all about these struggles and horribleness in our country’s history. I let my daughter see the movie Hidden Figures, and it prompted many questions about segregation. Then after I taught her about segregation, we had to go all the way back to the origins of how segregation even came to be.

My children learned so much. I saw the compassion and dismay in their eyes as they learned and watched videos about the Underground Railroad.

I have to admit that even I learned so much and needed to dive into the lessons as well. The truth is that in the 1800s a slave was just that. It hurts my soul to think about it.

Slaves were sold, had a life of hard labor (many times excruciatingly hard), sustained brutal inhumane punishments, and many times were torn from their families.

If attempting to escape, the slaves were brutally punished or hunted down, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine for a moment how difficult, dangerous, and scary it would be to try to escape.

Yet, many slaves still knew that risking their lives in the process was worth it. However, they didn’t just try to make it to the northern states. They had to make it to Canada.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 (with harsher laws added in 1850) allowed for a monetary reward of returned slaves and gave slave owners to right to bring their slaves back with them to the south. 

So, slaves had no choice but to try to make it Canada – from the southern states to C A N A D A. Let that sink in.

Although the idea of the Underground Railroad may seem like a knight in shining armor of dark tunnels underground led by a conductor who swiftly led them across America with no problems, this is farthest from the truth.

What was the Underground Railroad, Really?

The truth is that because the Underground Railroad was so secretive, the exact origins are just too hard to trace.

It hadn’t actually begun (or had a name put to it) until the 1820s. The beginnings just started with random strangers being kind and allowing the runaway people to hide in their homes or land.

The system was said to have started with someone making the initial arrangement for a slave’s escape. That person would lead the runaway to a “conductor” for the first part of the journey.

While the runaways were in each station of the Underground Railroad, they would be hidden and given food and shelter.

Mostly, the slaves traveled by night, following the North Star and then hiding during the daytime.

Since the stations were unknown to most, many have been lost over the years. However, the National Park Service and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, are trying to identify more of the secret locations.

There is just so much to learn about the Underground Railroad that I have to stop here. Your kids will be incredibly intrigued about this part of American history and will better understand the world we live in today.

Free Resources for Learning about the Underground Railroad:

Underground Railroad Book Ideas

Some books go into more detail than others, so please be sure to review books for age and content appropriateness before sharing with your children.

Underground Railroad Activities and Games:

Underground Railroad Video Options:

Underground Railroad Virtual Tours

Free resources to Learn about Harriet Tubman:

We can’t really study the Underground Railroad without also studying Harriet Tubman.

Engage your kids about the truth of the Underground Railroad. Teach them the route, what they went through, who helped them, the secret codes used to communicate, about the key players, but above all — just teach it. Our American history isn’t complete without it.

Will leave you with some quotes from the most famous Underground Railroad conductor of them all, Harriet Tubman. There is much to glean from her faith and encourage:

“I said to the Lord, I’m going to hold steady on to you, and I know you will see me through,” – Harriet Tubman, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman By Sarah Hopkins Bradford

“..and I prayed to God to make me strong and able to fight, and that’s what I’ve always prayed for ever since.” – Tubman to Ednah Dow Cheney, SC, 1865

“God’s time is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens;  *He gave me the strength in my limbs;  He meant I should be free.” – Harriet Tubman to Ednah Dow Cheney, New York City, circa 1859

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Free Resources for Learning About the Underground Railroad text with an image of a train track up close

Jeannette Tuionetoa

Jeannette is a wife, mother and homeschooling mom. She has been mightily, saved by grace and is grateful for God’s sovereignty throughout her life’s journey. She has a Bachelor in English Education and her MBA. Jeannette is bi-lingual and currently lives in the Tongan Islands of the South Pacific. She posts daily freebies for homeschoolers!

read Jeannette’s posts on HSG

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