A Brief Look at the Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was a huge success lasting for decades and freed around one hundred thousand slaves by 1850 (History.com). The events of the railroad happened all over the country, each trip different and all routes kept secret, but slaves from the South would escape in small groups of three to five in an attempt to pass the Ohio River to Northern Free states. Slaves mainly traveled by foot in small groups, occasionally a slave would travel by boat or train, but wagon or foot was easiest as the night provided cover and there were set up safe houses (Wikipedia). The underlying causes of the Underground Railroad was as a means of escape from the harsh lives most slaves lived. The events that caused the construction of the Underground Railroad are unknown but is believed to be started by Quakers in the late 1700s (History.com). The Underground Railroad was a huge success bringing thousands of slaves into freedom a year, giving them hope for a better

Runaway slaves needed to be dressed in better clothes, food had to be bought to feed them, even train tickets needed to be bought every once and a while. For the slave, running away was not an easy task. To begin with, a slave had to escape from their owner, sometimes very difficult due to dogs or fences. The runaway slaves had to travel ten to twenty miles each night to reach the next “station”. Each night was a night filled with fear because of slave hunters and spies. Lots of money could be made for turning in a runaway slave. Depending on your own luck and cunning, you either made it to freedom, or you didn’t. Some slaves were caught multiple times but continued to try to run for freedom. Conditions were not great either. The “passengers” often had to travel through rain, mud, washed out roads, bogs, rivers, and streams. Gaining freedom was not easy.

Abolitionists helped the slaves run away to safer places and/or run away completely. As evidence, the tales of the Underground Railroad demonstrate that, a small group of bondspeople managed to escape from slavery permanently and travelled in a northerly direction, often with the assistance of others. Among them include Frederick Douglass, Henry “Box” Brown, William Wells Brown, Harriet Jacobs, Tubman and Josiah Henson.

Have you ever heard of the Underground Railroad and its most famous conductor? Well if you have not then man do I have a story for you. Harriet Tubman was a slave in the 1800’s who saved herself as well as 300+ other slaves using the route of the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a route of houses that slaves used to get to the north. Harriet changed the lives of many slaves forever.

The Underground Railroad was the name of the network that was used by enslaved African Americans. It consisted of very intricate routes that were used so that those moving along its path could lose pursuers traveling under the guise of darkness and staying in safe houses during the day. The goal of the railroad was to get the slaves from the South to the Free states and to Canada where slavery was prohibited. A slave knew that once they crossed the border into any one of the Free states that they were safe from the cruelty of being a slave as long as they were not captured by slave catchers. A reason why the railroad was so successful was because they had allies who were both black and white. One such example is the Quakers, as well as the most astounding former slaves such as Harriet Tubman who was born a slave in Maryland. When she was a teen, an incident caused her to have seizures, severe headaches and narcoleptic episodes for the rest of her life. Sojourner Truth, another pioneer of the Underground Railroad, was born a slave in New York back when it was still a slave state in 1797. She is a famous abolitionist known for her speech, “Ar’n’t I a Woman?” Still another famous Underground Railroad freedom fighter was Anna Murray Douglas who was born free; she is the first wife of Fredrick Douglass, and she helped him escape to freedom by giving him money she had saved. What all these women have in common is that they each made a tremendous contribution to the Underground

The Underground Railroad was one of the main attributes to the accomplishment of abolishing slavery. The Underground railroad was put together by runaway slaves and abolitionists; one of the main abolitionists was Harriet Tubman. Everyone knows who Tubman is but another one of the main, less known abolitionists was a man named William Still. William Still was an African American abolitionist, who was known as the father of the Underground Railroad. He was president of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, Still was an active part in the movement against slavery, and equal rights for all races.

To begin with, not only were the fugitives punished for running away, but the abolitionists helping the slaves were also

The Underground Railroad, established by abolitionists in the early 19th century, was a dynamic and well-organized network for escaping slaves seeking rights and liberty from ruthless slave owners in the southern part of the United States with Canada as their main terminus in 1850-60. In this decade an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fugitives reached Canada, while another 30,000 to 40,000 freedom seekers came through The Underground Railroad during the last decades of enslavement in the U.S. These African-American newcomers settled mainly in New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia, as well as various parts of present day Ontario. Amherstburg, Chatham, London, Oro, Woolwich, Windsor and Sandwich, Ontario became the first sanctuaries for those of the

Even though the slaves had a difficult life while enslaved, escaping was even harder for them. The first step towards freedom was escaping their slaveholder, which was a task all by itself.

In the 1800s Black and whites worked to undermine slavery. People tried to undermine slavery by taking slaves the north using the underground railroad. Another way they helped slavery was to make newspapers and make speeches to the people about slaves. People also tried to write bills and pass laws to undermine slavery.

Underground railroads have been prevalent in history since the early nineteenth century. Throughout time, many different underground railroads have been created for many different purposes, all liberating those subject to slavery or poverty. Modern slavery, known as human trafficking, usually affects immigrants who don’t completely know their rights or who are tricked into a “job” that does not fit its original description.

Though there may not have been many other alternatives to escape, quite a few African-American Slaves were so desperate for freedom that they escaped through The Underground Railroad. A number of working conditions required the slaves to interact with one another; this made it easier for them to communicate. Much of this communication was made through code talk so only the slaves would understand; this played in their favor, allowing the slaves to plan their freedom. Along with these points, many wonder what measures supported the forward movement of The Underground Railroad and what procedures obstructed its progress.

Between 1830 and circa 1865, slaves tried to escape to the north and Canada by using the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad operated at night and slaves were either moved from station to station by abolitionists or crept northward on their own, looking for a signal that designated the next safe haven. “Stations” consisted mostly of homes and churches that provided slaves a place to stay and eat for a short amount of time. Occasionally, to keep from getting caught, some white abolitionists would pretend to be a fugitive slave’s master. Sometimes lighter-skinned African-Americans could also take this role. Over three thousand two hundred people worked on the railroad and many of those brave individuals will remain anonymous. Several

The Underground Railroad was what many slaves used to escape slavery. It was not an actual railroad, although it could easily be compared to one. It was a route, with safe houses and many other hiding spots for the slaves to use. The paths had conductors telling you where to go and people who would drive you to the next safe house. You had to be quick, you had to be strong, and you had to be very courageous. The Underground Railroad led all the way to Canada. There were many people helping the slaves, and even more people that were opposing them. It was no easy task. Many slaves died of sickness or natural causes, gave up and returned back to the plantation, or were caught and either killed or brought back. It was a rough journey but a

To seek freedom, slaves utilized the Underground Railroad system and to plan their escapes they used secret forms of communication. The Underground Railroad was formed as an advantage to help slaves escape and find a life of freedom. In the 1800s, African Americans made up a large percentage of the population in the American South. They had to live life suffering the separation of the loved ones and having to be terribly overworked. The majority of slaves lacked the proper foods making them weak and unfit for the living conditions they were given. With such mistreatment comes the urge to want to flee from the hostile environment. A benefit and vital resource to the slaves who wanted to escape was the Underground Railroad. The abolitionist movement which operated the Underground Railroad communicated with numerous slaves who wanted to flee. To facilitate this movement, a form of communication operated with slave songs, dance, and quilts of fabric. To become free, a slave had to risk losing his or her life and accept the fact that death was a possibility.