FreePrimarySources

Source Sets / U.S. History

Source set · 6 sources ✓ Lesson ready

Who freed the enslaved people?

Students compare the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment with photographs and records of enslaved people freeing themselves.

Timeline of key events →Gallery Walk: cartoon stations →

Teach it

✓ Lesson ready

A ready-to-run lesson for this set: Socratic Seminar: Who Freed the Enslaved?. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.

Make a copy (Lesson Slides)Make a copy (Lesson Plan + materials)

1. Hook: look closely 3-5 min

Show: Contrabands escaping (1864) (Edwin Forbes, 1864, Library of Congress)

Ask: This 1864 drawing by artist Edwin Forbes is titled “Contrabands escaping.” Who is moving, and toward what? What risks did they take?

2. Main activity: Socratic Seminar: Who Freed the Enslaved?

Grouping: Fishbowl: inner circle of 8 to 10 speakers, outer circle of observers; switch halfway

Setup: Opening question: “Who deserves the most credit for ending slavery in the United States: Lincoln, Congress, the Union Army, or enslaved people themselves?” There is no single right answer. Strong answers quote the sources.

Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • Evidence cards for all 6 sources (printable pages in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • Seminar prep sheet with the opening question (in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • Observer tally sheet
  1. Prepare 8 min
    Students read the six evidence cards and fill in the prep sheet. Each student marks one quote to use.
  2. Round 1 seminar 12 min
    Inner circle discusses the opening question. Rules: speak to each other, not the teacher; cite a source each time; invite quiet voices in. Outer circle tallies who cites evidence.
  3. Switch 2 min
    Outer circle moves in.
  4. Round 2 seminar 12 min
    Follow-up question: The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to areas in rebellion. Why did it still matter?
  5. Debrief 6 min
    Observers share one strong comment they heard and one point no one raised.
  6. Exit ticket 5 min
    Students answer on a slip before leaving.

Take a stand: Who deserves the most credit for ending slavery?

  • A. President Lincoln (Emancipation Proclamation)
  • B. Congress and the states (13th Amendment)
  • C. Black soldiers and the Union Army (“Men of color to arms!” poster, Hannah Johnson’s letter)
  • D. Enslaved people who freed themselves (“Contrabands” photograph and drawing)

3. Pacing options

15-minute bell-ringer

  • 3 min Hook: “Contrabands escaping” drawing
  • 9 min Read the Proclamation and the 13th Amendment quotes; quick whole-class discussion: what did each actually do?
  • 3 min Exit ticket question 1

Full 50-minute lesson

  • 4 min Hook: Forbes drawing
  • 8 min Seminar preparation
  • 12 min Round 1
  • 12 min Round 2
  • 6 min Debrief and vote
  • 5 min Exit ticket
  • 3 min Buffer

4. Exit ticket

  1. Pick the source that best supports your corner. Explain in two sentences.
  2. What was one limit of the Emancipation Proclamation, and how did the 13th Amendment address it?

5. Differentiation

Support

  • Adapted Docs (easier reading) in this set: Emancipation Proclamation; 13th Amendment
  • Give students a sentence starter: “I give the most credit to ___ because the source ___ shows ___.”
  • Let students prepare one comment in writing before the seminar.

Extension

  • Read the full Hannah Johnson letter. What did she ask Lincoln to do, and what did the Union do about the treatment of Black prisoners of war?
  • Research how many Black soldiers served in the Union Army and decide whether this changes your answer.

Suggested sequence

  1. Emancipation Proclamation
    Document · National Archives · Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
    Lincoln's 1863 proclamation, with transcript.
    Ask: Why did the Proclamation free only some enslaved people?
    Open with this source to frame the question.
    Original ↗Copy DocCopy AdaptedSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP▶ Watch
  2. A group of "contrabands" (1862)
    Photograph · Library of Congress · Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress photograph: A group of "contrabands" (1862). 1 photographic print on stereo card : albumen ; 10 x 18 cm. | Stereograph showing a group of slaves including men, women and children gathered outside a building at the Foller Plantation in Cumberland Landing, Pamunkey R…
    Ask: How did enslaved people free themselves during the Civil War?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesSee-Think-WonderOPTIC
  3. Contrabands escaping (1864)
    Photograph · Library of Congress · Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress photograph: Contrabands escaping (1864).
    Ask: How did enslaved people escape to Union lines during the Civil War?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesSee-Think-WonderOPTIC
  4. Men of color to arms! Now or never! (1863)
    Poster · Library of Congress · Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877) · Grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress print: Men of color to arms! Now or never! (1863).
    Ask: Why did Black leaders urge men of color to enlist in the Union Army in 1863?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesPolitical Cartoon AnalysisSee-Think-Wonder
  5. 13th Amendment
    Document · National Archives · Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Abolition of slavery, 1865.
    Ask: Did the 13th Amendment end all forced labor?
    Original ↗Copy DocCopy AdaptedSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP▶ Watch
  6. Freedmen and Southern Society Project
    Document collection · University of Maryland · Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 20 min
    Selected documents on the transition from slavery to freedom.
    Ask: What did freedom mean to those emancipated?
    Close with this source before writing.
    Original ↗Sourcing, Contextualization, CorroborationHIPP / HAPP

Watch

Free videos to pair with this set. Preview before showing in class.

Teach with (more from Hillsdale): Unit 4: The American Civil War (1848-1877) (free K-12 curriculum unit)

Culminating writing prompt

Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “Who freed the enslaved people?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.

Printable writing sheet (make a copy)

Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.