The Mississippi: River of Song
This online exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution focuses on the history and types of music that have sprung to life along the Mississippi River. Select a location on the map and find out about music in that area. Click on an artist’s name or on the artists to hear and see local musicians play. With a small group of classmates, have each student learn about music from a different region of the river. Then present your group’s findings to the class.

PBS: Africans in America
Huck Finn’s relationship with Jim is the focus of both Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Hauptman’s Big River. Learn about slavery and the African American experience at this site. Click on Judgement Day 1831–1865 to read about the era in which the two works are set. Then go to Narrative, Fugitive Slaves and Northern Racism, and finally The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act. If Jim eventually made it to a free state, what effect would the Fugitive Slave Act have had on him? Record your answer in the Web Links Activity Log.