Integrating the Documents into Your
Curriculum and Activity Ideas

Activity Ideas

Below are some suggested activities using documents from this website. These activities can stand alone, or be part of a bigger unit.

1. The Liberator Explained: Students are asked to respond to a southern friend asking about The Liberator. Using documents from the website, students research the newspaper, and write a letter to their friend explaining what they know and think.

Student instructions:  Imagine you live in Massachusetts in 1855. A cousin from South Carolina writes to you to ask about The Liberator, about which she has heard many rumors. Write a letter to her in which you tell her what you know about The Liberator and what you have read in the paper. Include your opinions on The Liberator and its abolitionist tactics. (See Documents 7, 24a, 27, 28, 32, 34, 38)

2. The Role of Clergymen in the Antislavery Movement: Students are challenged to think about the role of clergy in the antislavery movement and explore why some supported antislavery, while others did not.

Student instructions:  Why might members of the clergy become active in the antislavery movement? What might have held some back from participating? Write a short article for a church bulletin (perhaps for one of the Lowell churches) in which you answer these questions. (See Documents, 26, 27, 35, 39)

3. Political Cartoons: If your class is studying the role of political cartoons in the antebellum era, have students convert the “Manstealers in Lowell!” article (See Document 22a) into a political cartoon that conveys the same message as the article.’”

Student instructions:  Convert the “Manstealers in Lowell!” article (See Document 22a) into a political cartoon that conveys the same message as the article. Include images of the manstealers, Nathaniel Booth, and of those citizens of Lowell “who believe in the ‘higher law.’”

4. Tell Me A Story: Students explore the website, pulling together their own collection of documents to explain the complexities and contradictions of Lowell, and use those documents to create a story.

Student instructions:  Explore the website and put together your own collection of documents to create a story about the complexities and contradictions of Lowell. The story could be in the form of a children's book, a website, podcast, textbook page, etc. 

5.  Evolution of an Antislavery Activist: Students explore the apparent shift in Linus Child’s actions regarding the Fugitive Slave Act (Documents 35, 22c). 

Student instructions:  In the November 15, 1850, Lowell Tri-Weekly American article, Rev. Charles Adams expressed his disappointment with mill agent Linus Child’s remarks about the Fugitive Slave Act. We don’t know what Child said, but we do know that less than a year later, Linus Child worked to raise money to purchase the freedom of Nathaniel Booth. Write a diary entry from Child’s perspective that contemplates Adams’ criticism and weighs the idea of leading the fundraising for Booth’s freedom.

6. Use the 4 Questions Method (4QM) to investigate any of the documents in this collection. 4QM helps students learn “how to tell true, significant stories about the past, how to make coherent, reasonable arguments about those stories, and ultimately how to develop personal understandings of themselves and their place in history.” Visit the 4QM website for more information and resources.

7. Historical Markers: Students work with a local museum or historical society to propose and write a historical marker for a significant place in their community that has a history of slavery, abolition, segregation, or civil rights. Here’s a lesson idea from the New Bedford Historical Society.