Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum

The City of Harrogate and the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area present

Homefront Tennessee: Children and the Civil War Exploring Homefront Letter Writing Activity

Written by Natalie Sweet

Paper to write your letter on

Quill pen Ink and ink well

Trash bags to cover your writing surface

Letter writing was an important activity during the Civil War. In fact, most of the information we know about Civil War soldier life came from soldier’s letters homes to their families. At the time of the Civil War, so many letters were written that there was a paper shortage! Today, those letters provide clues to what a soldier’s life was like.

Today, we are going to look at three different types of letters written before and during the Civil War:

A letter from an Underground Railroad Conductor to another conductor

A letter from a soldier to a friend or family member

A letter from a woman or child on the Homefront

So far, we have already learned some things about soldiers, and women and children left behind at home. Think about what you’ve learned from listening and reading stories about these people. What would they write home to a loved one? Would they write about what they did during the day? What they ate? If they were sick? Did they talk about what army life was like or about having to work in a factory to support the war? Were they happy about what they were doing or did they wish their lives were like they were before the war? Consider these things as you write. Think about how you would feel, and what you would write to a friend or family member if you lived during the Civil War.

Underground Railroad conductors are not a topic we have covered yet in our Civil War studies. Conductors on the Underground Railroad didn’t run actual trains, but their homes were “stops” on the Underground Railroad. Their “passengers” were runaway slaves. Sometimes, these conductors had to send secret messages to other conductors. Maybe they had to “conduct” a “passenger” to the next “stop.” They would have to make very sure their letter was not intercepted by slave hunters. Slave hunters looked for such letters to capture runaway slaves and to punish the people who helped them. If a conductor was caught helping a runaway slave, he or she could be punished with a 1,000 dollar fine. Since most people did not have 1,000 dollars, they sometimes lost their homes or had to go to jail as punishment. So, you can see why it was so important that conductors “hide” messages in their letters.

The following is some coded words that actual conductors used on the Underground Railroad. Compose a letter to another conductor. What would you want to tell them, and how would you say it?

Information provided by the University of Michigan’s website, http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/AlongtheTracks/codes.html

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD CODE WORDS

Agent - coordinator, one who plotted the course of escape and made contacts

Drinking Gourd - Big Dipper and the North Star

Freedom Train or Gospel Train - code name for the Underground Railroad

Heaven or Promised Land - Canada

Preachers - leaders/speakers of the Underground Railroad

Shepherds - people who escorted the slaves

Station - place of safety and temporary refuge, a safe house

Station Master - the keeper of a safe house

Stockholder - donor of money, clothing, or food to the Underground Railroad

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD CODE PHRASES

"The wind blows from the south today" - the warning of slave bounty hunters nearby "A friend with friends" - A password used to signal the arrival of fugitives with an Underground Railroad conductor

"The friend of a friend sent me" - A password used by fugitives traveling alone to indicate they were sent by the Underground Railroad network

Load of potatoes, parcel, or bundles of wood - fugitives to be expected

Finally, when you decide to write your letter, make sure you practice writing first. Write what you want to say on a scrap piece of paper, and then practice writing with the quill pen and ink; it’s more difficult than it looks!