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The Science Behind the Maps of the Underground Railroad
The information in this video was accurate as of the original publication date.
Audience: Educators and StudentsGrades: 5-12
Year: 1999
This video segment explores the different routes that slaves used to find freedom and the ways that they communicated the routes to one another. Viewers learn that the slaves followed four main escape routes. Quilt patterns could communicate the times when the routes were available and where they were located. The patterns used mathematics and geometry.
The Science Behind the Maps of the Underground Railroad
Duration: 3 minutes 54 seconds
> View QuickTime [13MB]
This video clip is part of the Underground Railroad: Connections to Freedom and Science DVD that may be ordered from the Central Operation of Resources for Educators, or CORE →.
Other video learning clips in this series:
Follow the Drinking Gourd: Using the Science of Astronomy in History
The Importance of Waterways in the Success of the Underground Railroad
Slaves and the Use of Horticulture Along the Underground Railroad
Navigating to Freedom With the North Star
Exploring and Preserving the Underground Railroad With Modern Technology
Archeological Research and the Underground Railroad Today