>> Well, good morning from the office of my home on the banks of the Barnegat Bay where I live with my wife Arielle, my three dogs -- Bean, Aggie, and Peanut -- and my cat Snickers.

[ Meowing ] In any house with dogs and cats, who is the boss, the dogs or the cats?

>> Yes, the cat.

And my cat, who you probably heard in the background, is the boss of our house.

And I'd like you to meet all of them just in case they wander into the picture during today's lesson.

First up is my cat Snickers.

[ Meowing continues ] Here she is.

And this beautiful young lady came to us.

She was living under our house for a couple of months and we took her in.

And now she is the light of our lives.

Our dogs -- we have three.

We have Bean who's down here who's a Westie, and he is 12 years old.

And he's a very, very, very good boy.

Next, we have his sister, Aggie, who is a Shih Tzu mix.

And obviously you can see that Bean likes to protect his sister.

So these two will probably wander into to screen because they want to be on camera as much as possible.

And last but not least, the newest addition to our house, little Peanut.

And Peanut came to us this Christmas, and we adopted him from Hamilton Township Animal Shelter.

I'm so happy you got to meet Bean, Aggie, Peanut, and Snickers.

I want to give a quick shout out to the animal shelters where we adopted them.

The EASEL Animal Rescue League in Ewing, the Hamilton Township Animal Shelter, and the Burlington County Animal Shelter.

So, anyway, my name is Bill Smith, and I am a Social Studies teacher for the Southern Regional School District in Manahawkin, New Jersey, where I have taught grades 7 through 12.

I was the 2018 Ocean County Teacher of the Year.

and 2019 State Teacher of the Year finalist.

I'm a member of the Teacher Advisory Council for the National Humanity Center, and I'm also on the board of directors for New Jersey Council for the Social Studies.

During my teaching career, I've also been a baseball coach and a wrestling coach.

So, before I begin, from the very bottom of my heart, I just want to send my well wishes to everyone who is watching this.

I hope that you are safe and healthy and that the people you care about are also safe and healthy.

Our country, our state, our towns, and our schools are all very strong, and we are going to get through this.

First off, I'm so happy to be able to teach you guys this morning.

The title of today's lesson is "Bravery Against Slavery: New Jersey and the Underground Railroad."

And my goal, or objective, for you guys is to go on a virtual field trip.

And while you're on that field trip, use some visual and textual evidence to explain New Jersey's role in the Underground Railroad That's New Jersey learning standard 618D4C.

I'm really excited to teach you all about something that is very important and something that I've been learning about for a long time, and that is the experiences of enslaved persons in the underground railroad.

I remember the first time I learned about the Underground Railroad as a fourth grader at Morgan Elementary School in Hamilton, New Jersey.

And now I'm writing my dissertation about it at the University of Edinboro, all the way in Scotland.

Before we begin, I want you to look at some vocabulary and key words that you will be hearing during today's lesson.

So why don't you take a couple of minutes and write down these pre-vocab and key words that we are going to learn about today.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> Are you all done?

Okay, great.

Let's keep going.

"When I found I crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person.

There was such a glory over everything.

The sun came like gold through the trees, over the fields, and I felt like I was in heaven."

Do you guys recognize this famous American?

That's right.

This is Harriet Tubman, the Moses of her people, the most famous of the conductors of the Underground Railroad, and one of the bravest people you will ever learn about.

But did you know that she was born Araminta Ross?

But like many former enslaved persons, she changed her name.

Harriet to honor her mother and her husband John's last name, Tubman.

Though we are not sure the exact date of her birthdate, some historians think it was in the year 1820 making this her 200th birthday.

Tubman escaped her enslavement in Maryland before making her way through Delaware, stepping foot in Pennsylvania, a free state, causing her to feel like she was in heaven.

This is an ad taken out in a Maryland newspaper after Harriet Tubman escaped.

You can see down here on this line, "Minty" -- that was her nickname -- aged about 27 years.

She had escaped with her brothers.

When she got to Pennsylvania, she met New Jerseyan Underground Railroad conductor, William Still.

As you probably know, the Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad, but rather the railroad was a metaphor for some secret routes and local networks of safe houses that went through New Jersey, aiding upwards of 30,000 enslaved persons to freedom.

This is a map of some of the underground railroads in the United States.

These are some illustrations that come from William Still's book.

And William Still is that famous abolitionist in New Jersey, an Underground Railroad conductor.

Let's pause and turn to a map from the DBQ Project's "Mini-Q's in American History."

This map shows Harriet Tubman's route during her initial escape from slavery in Bucktown, Maryland, and the routes she would take during her numerous journeys back along the Underground Railroad to the south, where she would rescue friends, family, and other enslaved persons.

See if you can find Bucktown, Maryland, on the map.

Now see if you can find Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Harriet Tubman met William Still.

Awesome job.

There they are.

Bucktown, Maryland.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Now, I want you to complete this task.

Using these maps, I want you to describe a route that Harriet Tubman was likely to have followed from her home in Bucktown, Maryland, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she escaped her enslavement.

Be sure to include place names as well as directions.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Great job, guys.

What direction was your route?

What were some of the stops?

Let me show you a different map now focusing on New Jersey in the Underground Railroad.

It's actually a map of a virtual field trip that we are going to take today as we visit some of the stops on the Underground Railroad that assisted thousands of enslaved persons on their way to freedom and safety across New Jersey.

Our field trip will start in Delaware, where we will cross the Delaware Bay into Cape May.

before making our way north to Greenwich, Woolwich, Lawnside, and Mount Laurel.

We will continue northeast to Burlington City and then Hamilton before making our way to the Raritan River.

We will then go to Perth Amboy, Newark, and Jersey City, the last Underground Railroad stop in New Jersey.

We will conclude our trip in New York City.

I am going to invite two tour guides along for our trip, Mr.

Dan Wasniewski.

But you can call him "Waz," Mr.

Dan Dreher.

They are going to meet us at some of the stops along the Underground Railroad to tell us about those individual places.

They're both excellent teachers, and I hope you learned a lot from them.

So let's get on the bus and begin our trip.

We are on a bus ride.

Let's take a brain break and play a game called "Would you rather...?"

Sound good?

Okay, let's play.

Okay.

time to take our Brain Break.

Let's play a game of "Would you rather...?"

First question.

Would you rather be really good at sports or really good at math?

♪♪ ♪♪ Here's what we said.

Okay, next question.

Would you rather put a stop to war or end world hunger?

♪♪ ♪♪ >> Here's what we said.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ All right, next question.

Would you rather be fluent in all languages or a master of all instruments?

♪♪ Here's what we said.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Last but not least -- Would you rather hear the good news first, or the bad news first?

♪♪ ♪♪ Here's what we said.

♪♪ ♪♪ Okay.

Let's continue on our trip.

Let's begin our field trip.

We're actually going to begin our trip on the beaches of Northern Delaware.

Off in the distance, you can see the Cape May Lighthouse.

Built in 1859, the lighthouse must have served as a beacon of light in the darkness, a manmade North Star for many enslaved persons who made their way north from Virginia, North Carolina, or Maryland, up through Delaware, and the Cape May Lighthouse was there guiding them to free soil.

New Jersey was considered the southern most free state, having enacted its gradual emancipation law in 1804.

New Jersey's southern neighbor, Delaware, was a slave state and many enslaved persons making their escape along the Underground Railroad entered New Jersey by crossing the Delaware Bay.

They crossed by boats that used secret signals to communicate when it was safe to cross.

After crossing the Delaware Bay, the runaway slaves may have landed here on the beaches of Cape May, New Jersey.

It very well may have been the first time they stepped foot in a free state.

And thus began their journey through New Jersey's Underground Railroad.

After her escape from enslavement 1849, Harriet Tubman likely came to Cape May, where she worked summers as a cook at a Cape May hotel called The Banneker House.

Here, she earned money that she would use to fund her expeditions along the Underground Railroad to rescue family members and other enslaved persons and bring them north.

Let's move to our next stop, The Stephen Smith House.

Here we are at The Stephen Smith House.

Stephen Smith was born into slavery but purchased his freedom in 1818 and through his ingenuity and business acumen, he became one of the wealthiest African-Americans in the United States.

And he always used his wealth to help others in need and became a major abolitionist and guided enslaved persons along the Underground Railroad.

He built this coastal retreat in Cape May and also opened up a hotel where African-Americans could stay.

Stephen Smith exemplifies the major contributions that free African-Americans made to the Underground Railroad.

Historians agree that it was free African-Americans who provided most of the support to the Underground Railroad, both in terms of finances and assistance.

We will now continue our field trip to the towns of Greenwich, formerly Springtown, Woolwich, and Lawnside.

During the times the Underground Railroad, these towns were predominantly African-American communities and they provided immense support to the Underground Railroad.

We will leave Cape May and go to the town of Greenwich.

Greenwich used to be called Springtown.

It was an African-American community in rural New Jersey on the coast of the Delaware Bay.

This was one of the starting points where many fugitive slaves made their way north along New Jersey's Underground Railroad.

It's here where we're going to meet up with our friend Waz who's going to give us a tour of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

We are then going to move north to the town of Woolwich where we're going to meet our other tour guide, Mr.

Dreher, who's going to show us the Mt.

Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery.

This is an incredible sight where he's going to show you inside the church, many of the places where runaway slaves were hidden away that are still visible today.

We're going to follow Mr.

Dreher up to the Peter Mott House.

This is in Lawnside, which was another all African-American community.

He's going to show us around that house, as well.

We'll then continue north to the town of Mount Laurel, where we'll meet up with Waz, who will show us inside Jacob's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

We'll continue north to Burlington City where Waz will give us a tour of some of the most important sites on this historic stop along the Underground Railroad.

For the next few stops, I'm going to be listening and learning with you guys.

I'll see you guys in Greenwich.

>> Hey, Mr.

Smith.

Thank you.

Happy I could join you on this.

So, as you would reference, I'm standing here at our second stop along this tour.

What you see behind me here is the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Greenwich Township, formerly referred to as Springtown, New Jersey.

So, as early as 1786, the Quakers actually occupied this area predominantly.

And as they began to move west into the Pennsylvania region, they actually sold off small tracts of land here and there to freed African-Americans living in New Jersey.

And, believe it or not, through the early 1800s communal worship was actually common between black and white residents of southern New Jersey, especially amongst the Methodist faith.

As the Methodist religion began to expand and grow and encompass more people in South Jersey, unfortunately, that brought along certain baggage, meaning more slave-owning people and slave-minded individuals would join the church.

Therefore, around the time of 1830, a certain group of black Methodist worshipers from Greenwich area had a kind of separated and formed their own church.

This one you see pictured behind me here was completed in 1841, some 25 years before The Civil War would actually start.

Now, as slaves would come across to the Delaware River into southern New Jersey, one of the more common landing spots was right here in Greenwich, and what stands out about this church was that it's nestled along the riverside of the Cohansey River.

And the swampy conditions actually really help for that.

Whenever people would come looking for runaway slaves or whether there was a condition where someone had to be hidden, the swampy areas were actually very successful in helping hide people and help them seek that freedom.

This area itself was actually so conducive to the Underground Railroad that it is said that Harriet Tubman worked along here for some three years between 1849 and 1852.

In addition to the famous people we always hear about helping with the Underground Railroad, something that I find interesting about this area is that actually the Lenape Indians had really lended a huge hand in helping runaway slaves seek freedom here because of their extensive knowledge of the bays, the estuaries, tidal patterns, things of that nature, of course, their access to boats, canoes, et cetera, they were an instrumental part in helping some of these runaway slaves achieve freedom to move further north along the Underground Railroad.

For those who did decide to stay behind, Springtown actually became one of the biggest areas of abolition sentiments and of freed black men and women who had escaped from slavery into freedom, kind of finding southern New Jersey as a final standing point.

>> All right.

Thank you so much, Waz, for showing us the second stop in the journey of the Underground Railroad in New Jersey.

Now, behind me is the third stop, which is the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was a simple one-story frame church that was built in 1799 and was considered one of the most important Underground Railroad stations located in small Gloucester, which is now called Woolwich Township.

And it served its purpose from the very beginning of the construction of the church all the way to the beginning of the U.S.

Civil War.

Now, as Waz mentioned earlier, many Quakers and abolitionists moved down to south New Jersey after the American Revolutionary War, bought a bunch of land, then they were either able to give it away or sell at a very low cost to many fugitive slaves who tried to build an African-American community in southern New Jersey.

Now, the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church served as a depot and rehabilitation center for many of the weary slaves coming from the south and making their journey to safety to the north.

And while they were at this church, they were able to receive the necessary food, clothing, directions, and protection when until they were ready to continue their journey.

Now, many of the members of the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church were actually at one time in their lives fugitive slaves.

So when more people came to this church seeking shelter, the congregation was more than willing to help.

Now they were two famous conductors that were at this church that really kind of were leading the charge, and they were Pompey Lewis and Jubilee Sharper, and they really made their legacy known while they were here.

So looking behind me -- Looks like no one's here.

So let's give it a look, and I'll show you how they were able to conceive the slaves until they were ready to continue their journey.

So let's go and check it out.

Okay.

We're now inside the church, and located right below me is a secret 3x4 foot trap door that was located in the church's vestibule, which provided access to the church's crawlspace, which only limited people knew about.

So the fugitive slaves that made it to this Underground Railroad station would go down the trapdoor, remain in the crawl space until was safe to move on to the next stop on their journey to freedom.

Now, while they're waiting in the crawl space, that is where they got the necessary food, clothing, directions, and obviously the protection.

So this is the Mt.

Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, all right?

And this is the third stop.

So now what we're going to do -- We're now going to go about 40 miles north from here to Lawnside, New Jersey, where we'll talk about the next stop in the Underground Railroad in New Jersey.

So let's check it out.

Hello.

This is the fourth spot in our journey of the Underground Railroad in New Jersey, which is located in Lawnside.

Now, Lawnside actually has a very rich history prior to the U.S.

Civil War.

And what I mean by that is that Lawnside was originally developed and incorporated as the first independent, self-governing black municipalities north of the Mason-Dixon Line in 1840.

And the town actually went by two different names before settling on Lawnside in 1907.

Now, the first town name was Free Haven.

The second town name was Snow Hill.

Now, the reason why the town was renamed to Snow Hill was that there was a large group of freed slaves from Maryland that moved to Free Haven, which created a whole new identity for the town, which warranted the new name for the town.

Now, behind me is a house owned by a freed slave and farmer from Delaware who went by the name of Peter Mott.

Now, Peter Mott's day job was a pastor for the Mount Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Now, both Peter Mott and his wife, Elizabeth Ann Mott, were conductors of the Underground Railroad and were responsible for rescuing many fugitive slaves starting in 1844.

And they were using their house as a stop for the Underground Railroad in order for these passengers to continue their journey farther north.

Now, the house had a basement chamber that laid below a secret room in the house that was concealed by double doors for the protection of these fugitive slaves.

Now, before the passengers departed for either Mount Holly or Mount Laurel, which was the logical next stop in the journey, the Mott family always provided both food and clothing, which was a very nice gesture.

Now, oral stories passed down through generations of Lawnside families indicated that Peter Mott also harbored runaway slaves on his farm, which was located on the same property.

And then when it was time to move to the next location, he would use his personal horse-drawn wagon to go to the next stop.

Now, there are also stories about slave-catching bounty hunters that were roaming around Lawnside and searching of these runaway slaves, but they were constantly frustrated and thwarted by local residents in the all-black community.

Now, another advantage that Peter Mott and his wife had -- it may not really seem it behind me, but their property at the time was very vast.

Not only was it vast, it was also very dense with trees, which they were able to use as cover to safely transport the runaway slaves to the next stop in the Underground Railroad.

So, at this time -- So, once again, this is the fourth stop, which is Peter Mott's house, and now Waz going to take us about 11 miles northeast from here to talk to the next stop in Mount Laurel.

>> Thanks, Mr.

Dreher.

I appreciate you telling us about the Peter Mott House.

Isn't Mr.

Dreher awesome?

So, let's move a little bit north, then.

I'm going to talk to you about a particular location that's in present-day Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

Now, this property was really the two buildings you see behind me, but we can talk about it as one.

This critical spot in the Underground Railroad was known as Jacob's Chapel in present-day Mount Laurel.

This is one of the last kind of remaining resources we have to look into the emergence, the growth, and ultimately the decline of a place called Colemantown, New Jersey.

It was really an antebellum or a inter-war African-American community that was established in 1828, and it actually flourished into the turn of the 20th century.

So this present sanctuary right here, Jacob's Chapel, was located right next to the Colemantown meeting house.

The name Colemantown was derived out of respect and honor for John Coleman, an African-American Underground Railroad operator who really did most of his work in this Burlington County area.

Now, what is also remarkable about this site behind me is that it is one of the oldest all-black schoolhouses to still exist, or still be standing in New Jersey, which is really remarkable considering it's over 200 years ago.

So doubling back to Mr.

John Coleman, he often served as both a minister in addition to his service as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.

When people would come his way, he would do his due diligence and his preaching, but he knew that part of his mission was also to help these runaways try to seek freedom in the north, even if that meant as far north as Canada going beyond just New Jersey.

Usually his most common next stop that he would pass people along to is actually in Burlington City, just a little bit north here, something that I'll be excited to tell you about in just a minute here.

Thanks, Mr.

Smith.

So, here I am, I'm standing in front of Wheatley's Pharmacy, formerly known as the Burlington Pharmacy.

Now, I'm here representing Burlington City.

Really, it's Burlington County as we know it today, but specifically starting with the Burlington Pharmacy, it first opens its doors and has remained open since in 1731.

Now, think about that.

That's almost 300 years that this place has been in business.

Now, it goes without saying, if you're going to be in business for that long, you must have been doing something right along the way.

The original owners of Burlington Pharmacy were actually Quaker people.

A fellow by the name of William Allison -- He was an outspoken abolitionist.

Now, I've got a quick story about Mr.

Allison that will help explain why places like this can exist for so long.

There was formerly a Freedman who lived in Burlington.

He was an African-American man, and he had lived his life free in Burlington without issues.

He was a farmer.

He was a citizen, just like anyone else who lived there.

And one day, a colonel had rode up into Burlington and claimed that that individual, Severn Martin, was actually a runaway from his plantation in Virginia some 16 years ago.

This man, Mr.

Martin, he was brought before the mayor, and the mayor council had actually ruled in favor of the colonel.

Therefore, they were going to take Severn Martin, a free man living amongst free people, and were going to extradite him back into slavery or, really, into slavery.

Now, what did the owner of Wheatley's Pharmacy, or Burlington Pharmacy, do at that time?

Well, he dug into his pockets.

He came up with the $800, and he actually bought Mr.

Severn's freedom.

Now, hearing that story kind of tells you the picture about what this area of Burlington was like.

It didn't matter the color of your skin.

What mattered to them was doing the right thing, no matter what the cost was.

Now, that can help explain why someone like this individual picture right here, Mr.

Oliver Cromwell, would have picked Burlington to be his area of residence.

Now, I'm not talking about the Oliver Cromwell from the English Civil War who went again King Charles I and all that.

No.

This individual was one of the 5,000 African-American soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War to help gain American independence.

So what's interesting about Mr.

Cromwell is that he, just a few miles away from this area in Burlington, actually fought side by side with former President and General George Washington.

He fought through the duration of the war alongside Washington in what turned out to be such a valiant contribution that Washington himself had signed his discharge papers, and Cromwell chose Burlington to be the final resting place where he'd like to end out his years.

So if you think about a town that's this forward-thinking, what comes to mind is, it's obvious that this is going to be critical for the Underground Railroad in New Jersey.

And that's what brings us to the individual pictured right here.

Now, this was part of a family operation, but the Grubb operation, or the Grubb family, they were owners of an estate.

They were some of the first tavern owners.

They also did brickwork and milling.

This individual right here, Edward Grubb, he had fought in the American Civil War.

The Grubb family, because of their financial influence in this town, they were known to actually have access ways to true underground tunnels, and they would use these to help store and help move people about along ways of the Underground Railroad.

Now, I know when we say Underground Railroad, we all know by now that there wasn't actually an Underground Railroad, but, at times, it was necessary to have these passageways and these hideouts, and the Grubb family in Burlington was a critical point of helping protect people, but also help them move on further into the north and further as they sought freedom.

>> Welcome to Hamilton.

This is the place where I grew up.

My parents moved to Hamilton when I was 8 eight years old and I grew up about 5 miles from the place we're standing right here.

The place we're standing is the Enoch Middleton House.

Enoch Middleton was a Quaker merchant who was Underground Railroad station master and conductor.

Quakers were some of the earliest and most active abolitionists against slavery in the United States.

Almost 150 years before Middleton lived here, Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, signed the Germantown Petition Against Slavery, in which Pennsylvanian Quakers voiced their protest against the institution.

One of my distant relatives, Elizabeth Geisel, lived in Germantown, Pennsylvania, when this petition signed.

The Middleton House here in Hamilton was a stop along the Underground Railroad, where Middleton assisted runaways, even having as many as 30 enslaved persons at his house at a single time.

One famous story comes in the 1840s when Middleton help an slave person named "Little Sittles."

Sittles had escaped years earlier and found a paying job right near the Middleton House.

But Sittles' former owner got word that Sittles was settled and working in New Jersey.

So he came up from the south, got a local sheriff, and tried to arrest Sittles.

Sittles fled back to the place where he had safely hidden before, the Enoch Middleton House, And Enoch, once again, hid and protected Little Sittles.

The former owner and the local sheriff threatened violence against Middleton, but Middleton refused to give Sittles up.

Middleton took Sittles along the same secret route where he took many enslaved persons to freedom in New Brunswick, which is actually our next stop.

So let's head north.

So, here we are on the banks of the Raritan River near New Brunswick, which is actually one of the most dangerous spots on the New Jersey Underground Railroad.

There was only one bridge, and slave catchers were known to wait on the shores of the river to ambush and catch runaways.

Slaves catchers often use dogs called Cuban bloodhounds to track runaways.

The urgency of escaping slave catchers became more pronounced in the north after the passage of the Compromise of 1850 and The Fugitive Slave Act.

The Fugitive Slave Act strengthened the 1793 Fugitive Slave Law and made it a legal requirement that runaway slaves must be returned to their owners, even if they had made it to a free state like New Jersey.

The Fugitive Slave Act was one of the most defining moments on the road to The Civil War.

Many northerners joined the abolitionist anti-slavery ranks after the passage of this law, and the act inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe to write her famous book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Here along the banks of the Raritan River, a spy for the Underground Railroad named Cornelius Cornell would tell runaways when it was safe to cross the river and move onto their next stop.

If runaways were unable to cross here because of slave catchers, they could take an alternate route on the railroad to Perth Amboy, and that is where we're going to go next.

Here we are in Perth Amboy, where we are looking at historical drawing of the Phalanx of Eagleswood.

This was a multiracial boarding school run in Perth Amboy.

The school's many wings and rooms made it the perfect place for abolitionists to hide runaways.

The school was run by three very famous abolitionist, Theodore Dwight Weld, his wife Angelina Grimké, and his sister-in-law Sarah Grimké.

Well and the Grimké sisters were part of the American Anti-Slavery Society and they wrote several anti-slavery books.

The most famous among these books was called "Slavery As It Is," which used over 20,000 clippings from authentic Southern newspapers to show people in the North just how horrible slavery truly was.

They published his famous book all the way back in 1838, and the three of them continued to help the movement end slavery while assisting individual runaway slaves along this stop on the Underground Railroad.

We will now continue on to Newark.

Here we are at the First Presbyterian Church in Newark.

This was a popular stop along the Underground Railroad, and this is one of the stops that Harriet Tubman frequented on her trips along the route to New Jersey.

Let's go inside the church, and I will show you many of the places where runaways hid to avoid detection and capture.

These pews are some of the original seats where members of the church would have listened to services on Sundays while runaways lay hidden in cellars and the tunnels right under their feet.

This is the original tunnel, exactly as it was at the time when Harriet Tubman and other runaways hid here while on their way to freedom.

And this chimney, recently discovered, was very likely used by runaways at the same time.

Church officials say that a tunnel was built here to aid the transportation of runaways from Newark to Jersey City, which is our next stop.

Harriet Tubman very likely followed these tunnels as she guided runaways to freedom.

Before we travel to Jersey City, let's pause and look at some Harriet Tubman's famous expeditions back down into the slave holding cell where she rescued enslaved persons and led them to the north.

As you look at her expeditions, remember that the Fugitive Slave Act was passed in 1850.

So let's now look at the records of Harriet Tubman's rescue missions.

These records are often very incomplete.

Trip estimates range from 8 to 19.

She made most of her trips in and around December when the nights were long and fewer people were out.

Typically, Harriet did not venture onto plantations, but met fugitives at a prearranged place.

When possible, abductions began on Saturday nights since slaves generally had a rest day Sundays and would not be missed until Monday morning.

So now that you see this document which has Harriet Tubman's rescue missions including the date, pick up point, end point, and the people who she rescued, have a look at the questions that I want you to answer.

Number one asks... If Harriet Tubman was born in 1820, how old was she when she made her first and last rescue?

Number two.

In what county and state did Harriet save most of her fugitive slaves?

Number three.

According to this log, what is the total number of slaves Harriet escorted to freedom?

And number four.

According to the Document Note, what measures did Harriet take to avoid capture?

Take about five minutes and try to answer these questions using the document that is on the left side of this page.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ You guys doing okay?

For number one, remember, if Harriet Tubman was born 1820... this is the date of her first rescue mission.

This is the date of her second rescue mission.

For number two, you're looking at the pick-up points trying to find what county Harriet saved most of her fugitive slaves.

So you should look right here.

For number three, you're trying to find the total number of slaves Harriet escort to freedom, and you'll look right over here for that one.

And last but not least, number four, you're going to look in the Document Note to find the measures that Harriet took to avoid capture.

Okay.

I hope you guys did okay.

Let's have a look at the answers.

So, for number one... If Harriet was born in 1820, how old was she when she made her first rescue?

That's right.

She would have been 30 years old.

How old would she have been when she made her last rescue?

Exactly.

She would have been 40 years old, having made it in December of 1860.

Number two... In what county and state did Harriet save most of her fugitive slaves?

Did you say Dorchester County, Maryland?

Then you are correct.

She went to Dorchester County, Maryland, four times.

Number three, according to this log, what does the total number of slaves Harriet escorted to freedom?

Did you say 38?

That's what I got, but... For the fourth trip, you'll see that the numbers are unknown, so it's very likely that it would have been more than 38.

Last but not least, number four.

According to the Document Note, what measures did Harriet take to avoid capture?

Excellent job.

She made most of her trips in and around December when the nights were long and fewer people were out.

She also did not go on to plantations but met fugitives at pre-arranged places.

And, when possible, she would rescue the slaves on Saturday nights so they would not be missed until Monday.

Awesome job, guys.

So, here we are in Jersey City, the last stop on New Jersey's Underground Railroad.

We are standing in front of the Hilton Holden House, which is the only building left standing Jersey City that once housed runaway slaves.

It's a monument of sorts, serving as a tribute to the thousands of runaways across the state of New Jersey that ended up here in Jersey City before crossing the Hudson to New York.

The Hilton Holden House was built by David Le Cain Holden, who had opened up this house to shelter runaways before they were driven in hidden wagons to Jersey City's waterfront.

True to the cause of abolitionism and anti-slavery, Holden would go on to serve as a colonel during The Civil War.

Let's head to Jersey City's waterfront.

So here we are on the Jersey City waterfront along the coast of the Hudson River.

This was the last stop in New Jersey for runaways who would be taken by call boats or ferry boats across the river to New York City.

Today, you can see the aptly named Freedom Tower off in the distance.

Let's cross the Hudson River and go to New York City, our final destination on today's trip.

And here we are in New York City.

Standing were the docks on Chambers Street used to be.

One of the most famous Americans in our nation's history and one of the greatest writers in history, Frederick Douglass remembered the first time he set foot in New York City as a fugitive slave.

In his 1855 narrative, Douglass wrote the following.

"The flight was a bold and perilous one.

Here I am in the great city of New York, safe and sound without loss of blood or bone.

In less than a week after leaving Baltimore, I was walking amid the hurrying throng and gazing upon the dazzling wonders of Broadway.

A free state around me, and a free earth under my feet.

What a moment this was to me.

It was a moment of joyous excitement, which no words can describe.

For 10 or 15 years, I have been dragging heavy chain with a huge block attached to it, cumbering my every motion.

I had felt myself doomed to drag this chain and this block through life.

But the contest was now ended.

The chain was severed.

God and right stood vindicated.

I was a FREEMAN, and the voice of peace and joy thrilled my heart."

Frederick Douglass escaped slavery in 1838.

His arrival here in New York City meant freedom.

But by the time Harriet Tubman brought enslaved persons through New Jersey and New York City, the Fugitive Slave Act had been passed, and these were just a handful of stops along the Underground Railroad that traveled all the way up to Canada.

As you learned from our assignment that we completed in Newark, around the year 1850, Harriet Tubman's journeys began taking her as far north as Canada, where slavery had been abolished since 1834.

The Underground Railroad is an incredible, inspirational story of bravery, cooperation, and heroism.

But as we draw this lesson to a close, it is important to remember that most enslaved persons did not escape on the Underground Railroad.

It would take a bloody Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment to officially end slavery in the United States.

But it should be noted that runaway slaves continue to have an impact on the Civil War and Emancipation.

Many enslaved persons escaped bondage to union lines, which helped prompt Abraham Lincoln to pass the Emancipation Proclamation.

Like Harriet Tubman, who led a military raid in South Carolina during the Civil War, many escaping enslaved persons were eager to go back down south, but this time as free men and free women, armed with guns and wearing the Union blues.

Moving forward, we will be learning about how many of the issues discussed here today such as the Underground Railroad, Fugitive Slave Act, and the debates over the slavery will eventually erupt into The Civil War.

I hope you learned a lot during your virtual field trip today, and I hope that you are able to explain to others how important New Jersey was to the Underground Railroad upon which thousands of enslaved persons' freedom depended.

I want to thank you all for tuning in and learning with me today.

I also want to thank my friends, Mr.

Dreher and Mr.

Waz for giving us incredible tours of some of the stops along the Underground Railroad.

I would like to thank Andy, Grace, Julie, Elyssa, Tanner, and Yeater for helping me with the research for today's lesson.

Thank you.

It was very nice to meet all of you.

I you enjoy the rest of your day.