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Underground Railroad Game
There has been much debate about the recent topic of quilts used as
signaling devices in the Underground Railroad. Most scholarship
concludes that quilts played no special role in the Underground
Railroad. While no one can prove a negative, it seems unlikely that
quilts contained secret messages and a directional code for escaping
slaves. However, historical fiction or folklore can often bring a
period of history to life. This game combines facts about the
hardship slaves faced during the time of the Underground Railroad
with the folklore of quilt square messages. Students should
understand that this game combines fact and fiction to simulate the
Underground Railroad experience.
Directions: Each of eight tables is set up as a station along the
Underground Railroad. On each table teachers can put the quilt
pattern representing that station, instruction cards for students,
and table props that could go along with each station. Suggestions
for quilt patterns, instruction cards, and table props listed below
with each table.
1. All the students move to Table One. Students choose a card and
read aloud. All the cards at Table One allow the students to move
to Table Two.
2. Turn the lights off – have students move to the next station and
turn the lights back on. (This symbolizes that slaves usually
traveled at night to avoid capture).
3. Students choose a card at Table Two and read aloud. If the card
states that the student can go no further, when it is time to move,
those students stay put. The rest of the students will move to the
next table.
4. Turn the lights off – have eligible students move to the next
table, choose a card and follow the directions.
5. The game continues like this until the very few students who are
eligible reach the North Star destination (Table Eight).
I.
Table
One - Flying Geese Quilt Pattern
Teacher
reads: Geese fly north in the spring. Because of warmer weather,
this was also the best time for slaves to escape.
Table
Props: picture of geese flying in formation, a stuffed animal
goose, etc.
Card: A loud
honking flock of Geese flew over head – you start following their
direction north.
Card: Like
geese you will need to stop at waterways to rest on your way to
freedom.
Card: You hear
geese starting to gather to fly north. Like them you start on your
journey.
Card: It is
spring time when geese will be heading north. Now is a good time
for you to begin your escape to freedom.
Card: Follow the honking geese on your way
north.
II.
Table
Two - Basket Block Pattern
Starting here,
some cards prevent the students from progressing through the game.
Teacher
Reads: Slaves escaping to the North needed to pack food needed for
the trip
Table Props: A basket, fake
food
Card: Because it will be hard to buy
food on your journey, you gather food that you can carry on the way.
Card: An abolitionist gives you a
basket of food for your journey.
Card: Along the way you stopped by a
safe house where they gave you food for your journey.
Card: You saved scraps of food
before you left and have packed enough to feed you on your journey.
Card: You found a house that had
helped escaping slaves before you. They give you wrapped in a
bandana for your journey.
Card: You did not prepare for your journey
by gathering food. You don’t
have the strength to move on.
III.
Table
Three - Monkey Wrench Block Pattern
Teacher
Reads: Slaves escaping to the North needed to pack tools essential
for the trip.
Table Props: compass, flint, nails, hammer, etc.
Card: You
collect flint to help you make a fire to keep warm on your journey.
Card: You
collect tools to help you construct a simple shelter along the way.
Card: You find
a compass to take with you on you journey.
Card: You
collect tools to defend yourself along the way.
Card: You
failed to gather any tools. You are unprepared to go any further.
IV.
Table
Four - Bear’s Paw Block Pattern
Teacher
Reads: To avoid being captured, many slaves would seek shelter in
the woods and mountains – some even followed the trails of bears to
make their way over the mountains.
Table
Props: a picture of a bear track or a bear, plants, etc.
Card: You
found shelter from slave hunters and dogs by slipping into the
woods.
Card: You follow animal
tracks to a source of water.
Card: You enter the woods and find a
safe place to build a temporary shelter with the tools you brought
along.
Card: By following the animal trails in
the woods, you find the best path through the mountains.
Card: You enter the woods but have lost
your compass. You are disoriented. You are lost. You can go no
further.
Card:
Slave hunters and their dogs trail you through the woods and
eventually catch you.
Card: The
woods are dangerous. A mother bear protecting her cubs attacks
you. You can go no further.
V.
Table
Five - Crossroads Block
Pattern
Teacher
Reads: Once escaping slaves made it through the mountains, they
were to travel to a city where they would find protection and
refuge. Two of these crossroad cities were Cleveland, Ohio and
Detroit, Michigan.
Table
Props: A map showing Cleveland and Detroit.
Card: You have made it to a Cleveland,
Ohio. You make plans to cross Lake Erie into Canada.
Card: You have made it to Detroit,
Michigan. You make plans to go further north into Canada.
Card: You have made it to a
crossroad city but slave hunters are waiting on you. You can go no
further.
Card: You have made it to the crossroads
but have run out of food and supplies. When found, you are sent back
to the South.
VI.
Table
Six – Bow Tie Pattern
Teacher Reads: Slaves needed to dress like
freedmen to go undetected in cities they would pass through on their
journey North.
Card: You meet a freed slave at a church
who gives you new clothes to wear.
Card: An abolitionist meets you along the
way and gives you a vest and tie to wear.
Card: You brought along a change of
clothes to help you blend in with feed slaves in the big cities.
Card: Your clothes have ragged on the
trip. Someone notices your clothes and turns you in as an escaping
slave and you are sent back south.
Card: You are still wearing clothes that
slaves wear. Bounty hunters notice and catch you.
Card: While trying to obtain new clothes,
you are jailed after captors recognize you as an escaping slave and
put in jail.
VII.
Table Seven – Log Cabin Block Pattern
Teacher Reads: In northern cities, slaves
could find refuge in “safe houses”. Some escape slaves, once they
reached some northern cities, could establish their own home in
relative safety.
Table Props: picture of a log cabin or a
house
Card: You find a “safe house” in which to
stay awhile in safety – to rest and get food.
Card: An abolitionist befriends you and
shows you a place where other escaping slaves are staying in
safety.
Card: You find that this city is
relatively safe. You build a small home on the outskirts of town to
stay in for the winter.
Card: You come across a home with a light
shining in the window indicating a safe place for slaves to stay
awhile on their journey.
Card: You mistakenly go to a house which
is not safe. You are captured and jailed.
Card: While staying a safe house, slave
hunters find you and send you back south.
Card: Word gets out that a particular
“safe house” residence is helping slaves. Slave hunters surround
the home and arrest you and the other escaping slaves.
Card: While trying to locate a “safe
house” you run out of food. You can go no further.
VIII.
Table Eight – North Star Block Pattern
Teacher Reads: The destination of many
escaping slaves was Canada – referred to as the Northern Star.
Table Prop: A map showing Canada.
Card: Congratulations you made it to
Freedom. You new life begins now!
Card: The journey was tough but you are
tougher! Congratulations!
Card: You made the journey to safety – you
decide to go back and help other escaping slaves! You will be a
hero!
