About this book:

Honor Book for the Society of School Librarians International’s Best Book Award – Social Studies, Grades 7-12

Winner of 2005 Children’s Nautilus Book Awards (Non-fiction)

Prior to abolition in 1865, as many as 40,000 men, women, and children made the perilous trip north to freedom in Canada with the help of the Underground Railroad. It was neither underground nor was it a railroad, and was most remarkable for its lack of formal organization, so cloaked in secrecy that few facts were recorded while it “ran.”

The story of the Underground Railroad is one of suffering and of bravery, and is not only one of escape from slavery but of beginnings: of people who carved out a new life for themselves in perilous, difficult circumstances. In I Came as a Stranger, Bryan Prince, a descendent of slaves, describes the people who made their way to Canada and the life that awaited them.

Some crossed the international border hidden in ships. Others slipped across in disguise or in the dead of night. Behind them were hard journeys fraught with peril and dread. These fugitives were escaped slaves who had fled bondage in the American South. They had followed the North Star with one goal in mind: freedom in Canada!

Some of the freedom-seekers traveled alone and unaided. Men and women of a secret organization called the Underground Railroad assisted many more. These courageous people, both black and white, some of whom were escaped slaves themselves, risked their freedom and their very lives to help some 40,000 men, women, and children reach safety. In defiance of laws that forbade aiding and abetting runaways, they provided food, clothing, shelter, and money, and served as guides.

Today Canadians take pride in the role Canada played in offering sanctuary to people fleeing slavery. But Canada’s record is not untarnished. Slavery existed in Canada’s early colonial period. Even after the institution was abolished in British North America, deeply rooted prejudices remained. The former slaves encountered major social obstacles in addition to the hardships of making a living in a frontier community. Until slavery was abolished in the United States, they lived with the fear that vengeful masters or professional slave catchers would snatch them from their new homes.

From Uncle Tom’s Cabin in Dresden, Ontario to Harriet Tubman’s Canadian base of operations in St. Catharines, the communities founded by former slaves soon produced businessmen, educators, and writers. Yet danger was present in the form of bounty hunters and prejudice.

Review Quotes:

“Prince's book is a major contribution to some of those recently written about the Underground Railroad and the history of backs in Canada, topics which have become more prominent in recent years and are included in many of the school curricula throughout the country. It will certainly be a great supplement for Canadian social studies programs at the junior and senior high levels.” –Resource Links: Connecting Classrooms, Libraries & Canadian Learning Resources

“I Came as a Stranger is a welcome addition to a perennially popular subject for young adult nonfiction. Prince's lively writing brings a fresh perspective by successfully shifting the spotlight from Underground Railroad “conductors” onto the “passengers,” the brave, resourceful and determined men, women and children who dared to flee slavery and make their way north…Prince brings to his subject extensive research and a passionate desire to tell the stories of the forgotten. The result is a fascinating, moving read.” –CM Magazine (Manitoba Library Association)

“This book…is good history…digging deeply into the roots of slavery as well as discussing the important figures in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad system. Numerous photographs, a timeline of critical events, source notes and a bibliography augment the always interesting text.” –The Globe and Mail

“The story of the underground railroad is as action-packed and full of intrigue, heroes and villains as any modern-day work of fiction.”–Today’s Parent

“Highly recommended, Bryan Prince's I Came As A Stranger: The Underground Railroad is a fascinating history and site guide to the American Underground Railroad, a pre-Civil War secret organization of conspirators who risked life and freedom to help fugitive slaves make the perilous journey to the freedom in Canada. Black-and-white illustrations and compelling testimony make I Came As A Stranger an educational and uplifting read for young readers of all ages.”–Midwest Book Review

“The volume is extensively researched, and incorporates a range of archival material, including legal documents, newspaper advertisements, personal letters, and anecdotes. Most pages feature at least one historical photograph, drawing, or map, all well annotated and adding visual interest as well as supplementary information. A thorough index, timeline, source notes, and suggested reading list make the book a useful research resource. [Prince’s] account acknowledges the complex, even contradictory, attitudes toward slavery held officially and popularly in Ontario, where escaping slaves may have found sanctuary but were not always welcomed. The book introduces such important historical figures as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass as well as celebrating those whose stories have not been told and whose names have not been remembered. Prince’s attention to these otherwise silenced subjects makes this text an engaging and important history that fills in many blanks. ”–Quill and Quire

TEACHING IDEAS (Curriculum Connections)

LANGUAGE ARTS- Modern literary critics consider Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, to be flawed as a work of art. Why then, is the book regarded as one of the most important works of fiction in American history?

GEOGRAPHY- On a map of the United States, locate the Slave States: Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. From which of these states would a fugitive slave have a better chance of reaching Canada?

HISTORY- Sophia Pooley was a slave in the household of the famous Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant. She stated, “I used to talk Indian better than I could English. I have forgotten some of it — there are none to talk it with now.” In what way does this suggest that both Blacks and Natives were victims of white oppression? On a map you can see that Southern Ontario is a peninsula with few crossing places from the United States. Why was this an advantage for the slave catchers?

CIVICS- Americans who assisted fugitive slaves violated the law. Do citizens have a moral right to disobey an unjust law? How can they have that law changed?

SOCIOLOGY- Black leaders in Canada were divided on the subject of integration. Some believed that the former slaves should live in their own separate communities. Others felt that the people should be integrated into white society. What might be some advantages and disadvantages of each option? Consider both short-term and long-term possibilities.

DISCUSSION AND WRITING

1. The most common image that we have of the Underground Railroad is that of sympathetic white people assisting fugitive slaves. However, Bryan Prince reveals that more often it was a case of black people helping each other. Why would the author consider this an important point?
2. Slavery in Canada was abolished step-by-step. Slavery in the United States was abolished only after a long and bloody war. What effects might these different circumstances have had on racial attitudes in the two countries?
3. Thomas Johnson thought that Queen Victoria was black. Robert Nelson did not trust white abolitionists. Why did these men think the way they did?
4. Bryan Prince states that even some abolitionists did not believe in equality of the races. How did the experiences of some black people in Canada reflect this?
5. After the Civil War, with slavery abolished in the United States, many of the black people who had fled to Canada returned home. Would you have stayed in Canada or returned to the South. What would have been the advantages and disadvantages for each?
6. At the end of the book, Bryan Prince lists several historic sites in Ontario that have connections with the Underground Railroad. Why is it important that these sites are maintained and that people visit them?

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

1. Ask students if they were to make the journey from a slave state to Canada, would they try to do it alone, or would they join a group escorted by a “conductor” like Harriet Tubman. Have them give reasons for their choices.
2. Sometimes it is difficult to be non-objective when discussing people of another time and place. Ask students what their attitudes toward slavery might be if they had been born and raised on a southern plantation (a) as a white child, (b) as a black child. Ask them to explain their answers, keeping in mind what they would learn from the people around them.
3. Most of the former slaves quoted in Bryan Prince’s book spoke of masters who treated them with great cruelty, but a few said they’d had masters who were kind to them. The Irish writer Oscar Wilde once commented that in his opinion, “kind” slave owners were the worst of the lot. Ask students what they think Wilde meant by that. (Wilde quite likely believed that the “kindness” of some slave owners masked the true brutality of slavery.)
4. Escaping slavery was no game, but the fugitives and their Underground Railroad conductors had to be very clever to avoid capture. Alfred Jones used a forged pass to get past patrols. We know that Harriet Tubman usually picked up her “passengers” on a Saturday night because Sunday was the slaves’ only day off. That meant the absence of a runaway might not be noticed until Monday. Ask students what they would do to prepare for a flight to Canada. What would they need to know before leaving? What would they take with them?
5. When fugitive slaves reached Canada, they found themselves in a world that was very different from the one they had left. Ask students how runaways would have had to adjust to climate, law, and social attitudes.
6. John Brown believed that slavery could be abolished through armed insurrection. Throughout history there were others who led slave revolts. Have students research and write a brief report on one of the following: Spartacus (ancient Rome), Toussant L’Ouverture (Haiti), Nat Turner (United States).

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*Bryan Prince wrote I Came As A Stranger on behalf of eleven member sites of the African Canadian Heritage Network and the Central Ontario Network for Black History. The book was intended to provide teachers with a tool to use in their classrooms and an affordable overview of the subject for visitors of all ages to the historic sites. A portion of the royalties from the sale of each book goes into a fund to be used to promote African Canadian history. Special thanks to Kathy Lowinger (Tundra Publisher) and to Gail Lord (Lord Cultural Resources Co-president) for so generously initiating this project.