Cause and Effect in Flight to Freedom

Activity Overview

Understanding text structure can improve students’ comprehension of the text. Examples of informational text structures include compare/contrast, chronological, cause/effect, and problem/solution. In this activity, students will identify the cause and effect relationships in the text.

Example 1

• Cause: "Drastic laws made the Road illegal in the north."


• Effect: Agents put "God’s law" above the law of the land; they believed in "universal freedom for mankind" so they created "stations" in an abandoned barns.

Example 2

• Cause: The second Fugitive Slave law was passed in 1850.


• Effect: The District of Columbia alone complained that in this period the number of its slaves had been reduced from 4694 to 640 by "underground railroads and felonious abductions."

Example 3

• Cause: "Unaccustomed to making their own way, unused to the rigors of northern climate, many of them met poverty and disease."


• Effect: "The Canadians, however, did much to help them; they were willing to absorb the fugitives into their national life, to share their work, and to give them aid in establishing farms."

Note: teachers may want to explore T-Chart writing before beginning this activity.

Template and Class Instructions

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