Introduction

There is a worldwide quest for freedom everywhere. People want freedom. Nations want freedom. Some will sacrifice life, fortune, success, for freedom.

This video on "The Quest for Freedom" tells of the quest by one woman--perhaps the greatest heroine of the abolitionist movement in the mid-1800s. Born into slavery in Maryland, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom, but then returned again and again to her slave homeland to help hundreds of other fugitives escape. Her story is a tale of unimaginable bravery and courage. Her story is a beginning for teaching students about their own quest for freedom.

What is this freedom for which so many search?

Freedom is the power to choose--the right not to be a slave or be under another's control.

Freedom is the choice to live where and how we want.

Freedom is the power to pursue happiness. To study and work for the kind of job we want. To choose our friends, and the color of clothes we wear. To worship as we are led.

However, freedom is also responsibility.

This means voting and making changes in our society.

This means being real, and not lying, and not faking it. It's allowing others to have their freedoms. To choose their friends, and to wear the clothes they want. To worship as they are led.

This means embarking on a lifelong quest to make a difference.


Using The Video

How can a teacher or instructor use this video? This dramatization is a springboard to launch a whole study in history of the slavery years before the Civil War. The objective is to interest students in finding more about what it means to be a slave, more about the history of African-Americans, and more about the roots of prejudice.

Preview the video before showing to your class, and then use the teaching ideas and exercises included in this book to supplement your study. At the end of the video, the lead character gives a set of 12 questions for class use, and we provide a note sheet to accompany these questions. Simply remove the note sheet from the center of this handbook, and make as many copies as needed for your class.

We have included a wide variety of follow-up ideas in this manual, including games, puzzles and activities that you may wish to use for making students participants in learning history.