To Do:
Answer these questions:
1. What is a fugitive slave?
2. What was the purpose of the Fugitive Slave Act?
3. How did this Act change life for runaway slaves? And for free blacks?
4. How did this Act change life for those who helped slaves run away?
5. Who wanted this Act to become law and why?
6. Who was against it and why?
7. What was the Compromise of 1850 and which Senator proposed it?
To Do:
Find your Character.
Read about them.
Then answer these questions:
1. What is your character’s name?
2. Was he/she for or against slavery (Slaveholder or Abolitionist)?
3. How old do you think he/she was in 1850?
4. What kind of home do you imagine your character had? Do you know if they had a family, or do you imagine they did? If so, describe it.
5. Did your character have a job? If not, how did they spend their time?
6. How would you describe him/her—what were some of his/her most important character traits (bravery, boastfulness, loyalty, strength)?
7. What was most interesting to you about him/her?
8. How would your character have felt when he/she learned that the Fugitive Slave Act had become law?
Scene-by-Scene
Start at the beginning of the play,
Read one scene at a time.
Then re-read that scene, and list:
- What happens?
- Who it happens to?
- Why it happens?
