![]() The travel from this point on was less perilous through a network of safe houses, one of which was a Quaker community, and finally on a boat across Lake Erie. Hiding by day and moving my night, pursued by the master’s dogs, they press on with little sleep or food, sometimes lost on starless nights, until they reached Peg Leg Joe at the Ohio River. One night they hear a quail call (one of the song’s codes), they look up to see the Big Dipper, and take off with an older woman, Hattie and her grandson George. The narrative then focuses on one slave family, Molly, James and Isaiah, about to be broken up through the sale of their father. The drinking gourd referred to the constellation known as the Big Dipper which guided them northward along waterways and mountain passes. “Follow the Drinking Gourd” contained coded instructions on how and when to escape, and directions for traveling to safe havens along the way. Under the guise of an itinerant handyman he would hire himself to plantation owners, then secretly meet with the slaves to teach them a song. The narrative starts with an old sailor called Peg Leg Joe who helped the slaves escape their masters and find their way to freedom in Canada. Summary: This is a story about the Underground Railroad in the pre-civil war days of 1840 when Africans began to break the cruel bondage of slavery. Also useful for an adult faith discussion on Liberation Theology. of Random House)Īudience: 5-9 years as an easy reader. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |