Follow the Drinking Gourd

Follow the Drinking Gourd
"Find the north, and you'll find freedom."

But which direction was north?

Slaves knew the promise of freedom lay to the north, but they didn't know how to get there. In a desperate effort to keep their slaves from running away, masters tried to prevent them from learning any directions.

"They find out which was is east, then they figure out west. The next thing you know, they figure out which way is north," went the old saying. 

Yet the deliberate attempts to keep slaves ignorant, and therefore enslaved, were destined to fail. Slowly the word spread that to find freedom, one had only to look to the skies. With the north star pointing the way, thousands began the perilous journey to freedom. Those who could not or would not attempt the journey at least wanted to ensure that their children knew how to escape.

So, as soon as slave children were old enough to understand, their parents would take them outside, point out the big dipper -- the "drinking gourd" -- and teach them this song. For at the end of the "drinking gourd" was the north star. And the path of the north star was the path to freedom.
Lyrics
When the sun comes back,
     and the first Quail calls,
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is waiting
     for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.

Chorus:
Follow the drinking gourd,
Follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is waiting
    for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.

The riverbank will make a very good road,
The dead trees show you the way.
Left foot, peg foot traveling on,
Following the drinking gourd.

The river ends between two hills,
Follow the drinking gourd,
There's another river on the other side,
Follow the drinking gourd.

When the great big river meets the little river,
    Follow the drinking gourd.
For the old man is waiting
    for to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd.


Please note, the following links will take you to pages and files off this site:

Follow the Drinking Gourd
Printable version in .pdf format; includes music and lyrics. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Follow the Drinking Gourd Teacher's Guide
Provides background information and related activities.

Follow the Drinking Gourd
Multimedia presentation from NASA explains how the slaves used the stars to find their way to freedom. Requires RealAudio player. Takes awhile to download on low-bandwidth connections.

Follow the Drinking Gourd
These pages, suitable for middle school students and above, re-count a few desperate escape attempts and reveal the dangers slaves faced as they tried to reach freedom.

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