The Underground Railroad Analysis

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.

Unlike other authors, Colson Whitehead decided to develop his main character in a unique and complex way in his novel The Underground Railroad. Cora’s character development not only occurs with the people she meets, but also with the locations she passes through. Each station, with its own interior and setting, is what ultimately affects her character’s state of mind. Since every state has a different view on slavery, it is natural that the conditions of each station reflect that of the opinions of the outside world, hence affecting Cora herself. Her struggles she faced in order to get to freedom both built her up and tore her down; the root of this driving force can be found within the railroad’s interior.

During the Pre-Civil War era in America, many Africans become enslaved. They were taken from their homes in Africa, packed densely onto ships and transported across the Atlantic to Southern America. White Americans bought these Africans, including children, to work on crop plantations or do housework. ("Africans Arrive in North America") Countless slaves tried to escape the southern slave states to the anti-slavery northern states. A number of slaves even went as far as Canada to be free of the harsh environment they were forced into (Burton 125). These slaves used a network of secret routes and houses called the Underground Railroad. During this time, not all white folks agreed with enslaving other human beings so a group of

The secret routes traveled by the enslaved, a beacon of hope for many; the Underground Railroad rescued thousands of slaves from their plantations with the help of Harriet Tubman, Levi Coffin, and many more gracious people. The Underground Railroad wasn’t a railroad nor underground, it’s name came from it’s era, the steam engine was invented and also by the popularity of the railways being traveled; they also used the word underground because some parts went under barns along with it being kept as such a big secret. Was the Underground Railroad worth being created, for the torment and strife that the unfortunate slaves went through, along with the people who risked their lives and were unfortunate enough to be caught with some of the freed

The Underground Railroad was perhaps the most active and dramatic protest action against slavery in United States history and as we look at the Underground Railroad in North Carolina we will focus on the Quakers, Levi Coffin’s early years, and the accounts of escaped slaves from North Carolina. The unique blend of southern slave holder and northern abolitionist influences in the formation of North Carolina served to make the state an important link in the efforts to end slavery inside and outside of North Carolina borders.

The clanging of chains, the quiet trekking of fugitives through swamps and forest, the kind hands of strange friends, the disguises, the whizzing of bullets through trees and brush, the long winding “train tracks” that pierced the border of states and morality, and the dark complexion of the most courageous men and women that defied law. It was these that carved the crack in the concrete wall of slavery and formed the Underground Railroad. Obtaining an understanding of the Underground Railroad can be key to a sense of pride in our country and its stride at overcoming the prevailing issue of ethnic discrimination.

As it is stated above, it was illegal to help slaves to escape, which means that neither slaves nor the helpers could behave completely aboveboard. As a result, many evidence of the Underground Railroad system remain secret: there was little document left that told the whole story of the system, and only reminiscences of the men who participate could disclose some of the facts that happened during that time (3,142). What people could know and be sure of is that there are various ways for both the slaves and helpers to reach the goal of freedom by using the Underground Railroad. Northerners raised money to hire some agents or conductors for the system, and with the help of these people, some secret places were built in the South (3, 142). First step for these conductors was to spread the

Comparisons come in all shapes and sizes, but in the case of the Underground Railroad, it is rare that such a metaphor would come to life as a physical embodiment of freedom. The Underground Railroad is often misinterpreted by grade-school students as a literal underground railroad with subterranean tracks and shiny train cars chugging along in the darkness, but Colson Whitehead, the author of The Underground Railroad, takes artistic liberties and reimagines the famous trail to freedom just as a child would: With actual rails running through caves and train cars bumping through the earth under America. With respect to a The New Yorker review, Whitehead chooses to have this literal railroad as both a device to further the plot of his novel

The Underground Railroad was a path of unknown ways and some secret locations used by 19th century slaves of African fall in the New World in attempts to get to free states and Canada with the support of abolitionists and allies who were encouraging to their cause. This period is also appeal to the abolitionists, black and white, free and enslaved, who helped the refugees. The network also supplied a chance for against slave white Americans to take an opinion and play an important role in undercutting the industry called

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

This book will create an image of a woman Harriet Tubman, who was compared to the biblical Moses as she was determined to get her people out of bondage and onto freedom seen as their promised land. Reading the book will no doubt create a level of pain within the reader as he/she feels the pain that not only Harriet Tubman suffered but also those who suffered and died in the quest from slavery to freedom. This small yet powerful book of 22 chapters, takes us as passengers on this fictitious railroad, that was truly a historical pathway. While the Underground Railroad must not be seen as an actual railroad underground, it was a secret organization that the slaves would use to escape and that it was a series of paths through land and sea routes so that runaway slaves could become free. If one were to visualize this pathway to freedom and compared to modern day train stations, then the reader should be able to visualize that the stations along the way were simply houses and barns owned by people who were sympathetic and supportive of the slaves to be set free.

The Underground Railroad is one of the most historical national monuments around the world. The term underground railroad was used to describe a network of meeting places, secret passageways, and safe houses used by the African slaves to escape the slave states and travel to the northern states, such as Canada (“Underground Railroad Where History”) . The Underground Railroad also had many prominent figures including Harriet Tubman, John Fairfield, and Levi Coffin (“People and Events”). The Underground Railroad is known as one of the most secret systems of escape during slavery.

In the novel, The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead utilizes the narrative of the heroine, Cora, in order to track freedom in the south during the 1800s and help Americans better understand their own history. While tracking the theme of Continuity in the novel, the concept of ‘Reality v. Delusion’ is widely spread amongst the novel as well as other relevant texts such as the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself. The overwhelming captivity endured by slaves initially creates a sense of hopelessness, however, the slaves gain a sense of hope for freedom as they mature and age.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a rather vocal story with some strong depictions in the lives of the slaves in the South. As a fictitious ensemble, this story simply sought to bring to light the slavery situation in the South. The author did not base her book on the reality of any particular slave but from the collective narratives of slavery, one would conclude that her assertions are rather factual. At the time, the author’s aim may have clouded the minds of the readers and critics since she clearly was an abolitionist with the hope of abolishing slavery in the South. However, her assertions in this book are very similar to the relationship between slaves and their masters.

"Many times I have suffered in the cold, in beating rains pouring in torrents from the watery clouds, in the midst of the impetuosity of the whirlwinds and wild tornadoes leading on my company—not to the field of...war...but to the land of impartial freedom, where the bloody lash was not buried in the quivering flesh of a slave...." (7,p.i).