Essay on Slavery - Underground Rail Road

The Underground Railroad was one of the most remarkable protests against slavery in United States history. It was a fight for personal survival, which many slaves lost in trying to attain their freedom. Slaves fought for their own existence in trying to keep with the traditions of their homeland, their homes in which they were so brutally taken away from. In all of this turmoil however they managed to preserve the customs and traditions of their native land. These slaves fought for their existence and for their cultural heritage with the help of many people and places along the path we now call the Underground Railroad.

Both free and enslaved Africans were discriminated against in this time period but responded differently towards their challenges. African Americans found ways to cope with their situation one being religious gatherings (Doc D). They sang old traditional African songs and danced. By doing so, they can forget about life troubles for a moment and give themselves a sense of hope that someday they would by free. Some slaves where more violent than other and began rebellions against their white owners. The use of rebellion was inspired to them by the Bible and that God was pleading for their cause with earnestness and zeal (Doc G). Slaves who caused mischief was relocated deeper south where the treatment and condition was even worse. The Fugitive Slave Law forced the North to send back any slaves who escaped to the North in return for a reward. Slaves who tried to escape to the North were also relocated. By relocating them, the chances of escape decreased for them. Even

The Underground Railroad was a path to safety and freedom for thousands of slaves before the Civil War. Escaping from the chains, confinement and abuse of slavery was no easy task and it took the cooperation of many people

The Underground Railroad was a passage to freedom for the slaves which made the slave-owners exasperate. The slaves had to risk their lives while travelling to the northern states but it was worth it as the result of such hard work was freedom. The underground railroad, a secret network running from the Deep South through the free states and to the Canadian border that helped slaves escape from the slave-holding states before the Civil War, allowed abolitionists and their allies to help runaway slaves, made "conductors" like Harriet Tubman famous, and reached its height after the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.

Throughout the 1800s in America, slavery was a controversy between the north and the south. A Slave was one who was the property of another human being under law and was forced to obey them. The North felt that slavery was unfair and inhumane, whereas in the South, they felt as though slavery was crucial to their success. African American slaves were not allowed many rights: they were not allowed to testify in court against a white person, could not receive an education, or even sign contracts. Due to the brutality they faced each day, many slaves escaped with hopes to find freedom. The Underground Railroad, a system utilized by many runaway slaves to help them escape from the South to Canada, played a large role in the downfall of slavery and eventual abolition in the United States following the Civil War.

Back in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the Confederate States’ slave population, the newly freed slaves fled North in hope of better treatment. The experience they received was barely better than being enslaved; also it was frequently worse as it was a struggle to secure the basic needs of life, practically survival, rather than living life.

The slaves heard about the Underground Railroad from other slaves and the used codes to communicate so that no one else knew what they were talking about. The spread the word that Harriet Tubman was coming to get them. She went by the name, Moses, because no one knew that it was really

The “stations” were usually ten to twenty miles apart. It was especially dangerous for woman and children. They had to travel with little to no belongings, cross treacherous terrain, fend off wild animals, and survive severe temperatures. Safe houses were important so the runaways could get some nutrition because the risk of starvation was great. They put themselves in grave danger for a chance at a better life. Some slaves could not handle the journey and would return home to their slave owners. How many feet traversed the path to freedom will never truly be known. However one estimate suggests roughly one hundred thousand slaves made the perilous journey northward. The following is an example of one of the many songs that the fugitive slaves used for directions on their way to

It was called the underground railroad to be carried in secret -The most active of the railroad workers were northern free blacks who had no support from white abolitionists -Most famous conductor, an escaped slave named Harriet Tubman reportedly made 19 return trips to the south and helped 300 slaves escape -The fugitive slave act declares that all runaway slaves be brought back to their masters -The fugitive slave law was passed requiring northerners to return runaway slaves to their owner under penalty of law.

The Underground Railroad covered 29 states in the United States as well as Mexico, the Caribbean, and Canada (Smedley 56). The concept of rails included streams, rivers, forests, swamps, and back roads. It is believed

     The Underground Railroad, the pathway to freedom which led a numerous amount of African Americans to escape beginning as early as the 1700‘s, it still remains a mystery to many as to exactly when it started and why. (Carrasco). The Underground Railroad is known by many as one of the earliest parts of the antislavery movement. Although the system was neither underground nor a railroad, it was a huge success that will never be forgotten.

Slaves were faced with the choice of whether to escape slavery or not. Escaping slavery to go to Canada (where there was no slavery) was very risky and dangerous, but slavery itself was horrible and cruel. Most slaves would travel along the Underground Railroad, a secret network that helped slaves escape to Canada, with the help of conductors (abolitionists who used railroading terms to hide the Underground Railroad). Most slave masters and overseers were cruel, many conductors on the Underground Railroad were willing to help, and slaves were free in Canada (not to mention that the Canadians were very welcoming). A slave in

In Missouri during the 1850’s times were very harsh for slaves. As time went on there were ways slaves were escaping, especially through the underground railroad that Harriet Tubman mainly worked on. At its peak about 1,000 slaves were escaping every year. There were more than 5,00 court cases recorded on escaped slaves. Underground railroad people used certain codes to maintain the escape anonymous. Slaves were referred to as passengers or cargo while the hiding places they hid in were stations or depots. The main people that aided and helped the slaves escape were the main people so they were considered conductors or engineers. The conductors were the ones that suffered the most rather than the slaves, they experienced uncomfortable situations,

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

The routes of the Underground Railroad were complicated and often zigzagged to confuse slave hunters. The one problem with this was it often confused the runaway slaves also. Due to this there are obviously plenty of stories about slaves getting lost and sometimes instead of going north they would accidentally head south.