WebQuest

WebQuest: Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Fugitive Slave Law

The Task

Now that you have all completed the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I want you to really think about the content and how the laws and social beliefs contributed to

the plot. You have the following tasks ahead of you:
• Summarize the Fugitive Slave Law
• Write a “portrait” of a slave auction. Tell me what sights, sounds, and smells you would encounter. Make me feel as though I am there.
• Pretend you are a senator and a slave asks you for shelter. You know it is illegal, but you are not certain if you agree with the law. Write a journal entry describing the complexity of your feelings.
• Pretend you are a Quaker. You have been sheltering slaves illegally, and you know that the slave hunters would love to turn you in for your disobedience. Write a journal entry explaining your reasons for breaking the law.
• Design a map illustrating the trip to the North made by Eliza and her family, and the trip to the South made by Uncle Tom.

The Background

You students have the background illustrated for you in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Although the characters are fictional, the scenarios are real for the most part. Use the websites I have listed in the Resources section in order to gain more knowledge to write about the Fugitive Slave Law and different perspectives.

The Process

1. Use the websites listed below to learn about the Fugitive Slave Law.
2. Write me a 250-word explanation about the law.
3. Use the descriptions in Uncle Tom’s Cabin along with the descriptions in the websites listed below to illustrate (through words) the scene at a slave auction. Use very precise language. This description should be roughly 500 words in length.
4. Look at the encounter in Uncle Tom’s Cabin where Eliza asks for shelter from a senator and his wife. Consider the consequences for being caught sheltering a slave that you have found in your research. Write a journal entry telling me about the decision you would make in that situation about illegally protecting a slave. Explain to me the complexities of the decision. This should also be roughly 500 words in length.
5. Look at the situation in Uncle Tom’s Cabin where Eliza and her family were being sheltered by the Quakers. Also use the information on Quakers from the links given below. Put yourself in the shoes of a Quaker, and describe your feelings about the law and why you disobey even knowing the consequences of being caught.
6. Use Google Earth to draw a possible route taken by both Eliza and Uncle Tom.
7. Compile all of your responses and works into one Word Document, and e-mail the document to me as an attachment.

The Resources

Use the following websites for your research:

• http://www.nationalcenter.org/FugitiveSlaveAct.html (Fugitive Slave Law)
• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/index.html (Underground Railroad)
• http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/history/hs_es_overview.htm (Slavery/Fugitive Slave Law)
• http://www.religioustolerance.org/quaker2.htm (Quaker Religious Beliefs)
• http://www.google.com/earth/index.html (Map site for drawing the route)


The Conclusion

I hope that this exercise has encouraged you to think critically about Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the United States in the 1850s. Have you learned anything through this exercise? Have your opinions about the slaves, owners, or abolitionists changed at all as a result?