Appleseeds articles from March 2004

Appleseeds archives from March 2004

Slavery in America.
March 1, 2004... In 1619, 20 Africans were brought to the Virginia colony on a ship. They were the first Africans who came to the English colonies in what is now the United States. Historians are not sure whether these men and women were brought as indentured...

Harriet Tubman: the Moses of her people.
March 1, 2004... Harriet Tubman's mother named her Araminta, but people called her Minty. When she grew up, she took the name Harriet. Harriet was born around 1820 on Brodas Plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. She hated being a slave. She worked in the...

The Underground Railroad: a path to freedom.
March 1, 2004... The Underground Railroad was not a railroad, and it wasn't underground. It was a journey taken by slaves escaping to freedom. One story says that the name came from a slave owner who chased his escaping slave down the Ohio River, only to find...

"When I reach the promised land ...".
March 1, 2004... "I'll meet you in the morning, I reach the promised land; other side of Jordan, bound for the promised land. On a summer night in 1849, Harriet Tubman turned north and left slavery behind her. When she stole away from Brodas Plantation on...

Escaping with Miss Harriet: this is a story about a slave who found freedom with the help of Harriet Tubman. Although the details are imagined, many slaves could have told similar stories.
March 1, 2004... The day I arrived in Niagara Falls, Canada, was the best day of my life. It was the day I became a free black woman. I had spent my whole life until then as a slave. I owe my freedom to an amazing lady named Harriet Tubman. You'll...

Painting Harriet Tubman.(The Artist's Eye)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Growing up in New York City in the 1930s, African American artist Jacob Lawrence heard many stories about the leaders of the struggle against slavery--Toussaint Louverture, John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman. His interest in...

Secrets, codes, and signals.
March 1, 2004... Harriet Tubman never lost a slave whom she was helping to escape. Secrecy, codes, and signals helped her avoid danger. With one group of escaping slaves, Harriet Tubman had to cross a bridge that was heavily guarded. Harriet and the others...

Singing their way to freedom.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Most slaves dreamed of finding a way north to freedom. Escape meant long weeks traveling by moonlight and the threat of capture at every bend in the road. But the deep hope of being free outweighed the dangers. One of the people who helped...

Freedom undercover.(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... A note from the editors... The many historians who study the Underground Railroad do not agree on the role played by quilts in helping slaves gain their freedom. Some say quilts were used as actual maps, with hidden messages that guided...

Let's make a quilt square!(Fun Stuff)
March 1, 2004... In the days of slavery, people on the Underground Railroad may have used quilts to send signals or messages. Quilts are called "patchwork" because they are made by patching small pieces of fabric together. The smallest pieces of fabric are...

The spirit of Harriet Tubman.
March 1, 2004... Imagine seeing Harriet Tubman as a little girl or hearing in her own words how it felt to lead a midnight journey to freedom. People who watch Leslie McCurdy perform her one-woman show, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman, can easily imagine. ...

Remembering "Moses".(From the Source)
March 1, 2004... Wilmington shoemaker Thomas Garrett was an important abolitionist who helped Harriet Tubman. In an 1868 letter, he remembered "Moses" and her bravery and faith: "No slave who placed himself under her care, was ever arrested that I have...

A visit to the Freedom Center.
March 1, 2004... The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, scheduled to open in the summer of 2004, will be the largest museum of its kind in the United States. It is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is the place where thousands of slaves crossed the...

Beyond the railroad.
March 1, 2004... Harriet Tubman's days as a conductor on the Underground Railroad ended in 1860, but her work for freedom did not stop. In 1861, she left the safety of her own freedom in Canada and returned to the United States. The American Civil War had...

Branching out.
March 1, 2004... In Minty, A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, by Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney (Dial Books) read about how Harriet's father taught her to find the North Star and a route to freedom. Find out more about Harriet's life in A Picture Book of...