Forest Joe: Outlaw or Hero?

Young scholars become familiar with an American legend that is unfamiliar to many. Presented with the legend of Forest Joe, a runaway slave who, much like Robin Hood, stole from the rich to give to the poor, students draw comparisons and...

Eighth graders explain the viewpoints of runaway slaves and the slave owners. They use stick figures to organize the escaped slaves according to their chances of actually remaining at large.

Students analyze how slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, the different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, and slavery both prior and after the Civil War.