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.

Slavery is a disappointing example of inhuman behavior, a dark past in our history books. Two stories demonstrate the cruelty of slavery while living on a plantation. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the underground railroad and “The People Could Fly” give two different encounters on the topic of slavery. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the underground railroad is a biography and “The People Could Fly” is a historical fiction. Both would make one wonder, what is there to live for when freedom does not exist in your life? The two different genres of books are able to give readers an understanding of how heart-wrenching and depressing life of a slave was. Both show the family of slaves taking care of one another. They show the fatherhood even though the slaves are going through harsh conditions, the way the story is told and what kind of story it is, and the secret language that the slaves have.

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.

When examining early American history it is commonplace, besides in higher academia, to avoid the nuances of native and colonizer relations. The narrative becomes one of defeat wherein the only interaction to occur is one of native American’s constant loss to white colonizers. It is not to say that the European colonizers didn’t commit genocide, destroy the land and fabric of countless cultures, but rather when looking at history it is important to take a bottom’s up approach to storytelling. We must examine in what ways the native Americans fought English colonization, not just through war, but also through the legal system that was established after the area was colonized.

“I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person… There was such a glory over everything. The sun came up like gold through the trees, and I felt like I was in Heaven.” Harriet Tubman uttered these words when she arrived in Pennsylvania, a free woman at last (National Geographic). Years later, when talking about the reasons she ran away, Ms. Tubman would state, “[There are] two things I [have] a right to and these are Death and Liberty. One or the other I mean to have. No one will take me back alive” (America’s Civil War, 42). While most research on the Underground Railroad focuses on the northern states, the state of Iowa played an essential role in the

However in the novel, The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead, freedom is just a dream every African American character desires. Whether enslaved or free they must navigate the impossible choice between slavery or racism. The stigma of colored people create this idea that Ridgeway believes "If niggers were supposed to have their freedom, they wouldn't be in chains. If the red man was supposed to keep hold of his land, it'd still be his. If the white man wasn't destined to take this new world, he wouldn't own it now." (Whitehead) Similarly, any white person who feels sympathy for the enslaved is confronted with the fact that if they choose to assist enslaved people, they will likely be killed along with their families.

The Underground Railroad was an intricate system of households and farmhouses alike that were all connected throughout many towns and villages in the mid 1800s. It was formed by the common goal of people taking a stand against the law and helping thousands of black slaves escape from the south to gain their rightful freedom in the north. This happened because many people began to see slaves as human beings with value, rather than brutes that were valued less than a human. Throughout the mid 1800s, there were many cases of runaway slaves attempting to escape to freedom without anywhere to hide or anyone to help. A lot of people realized that this was a very impactful movement so they began to open up their minds and homes to these fugitive slaves as an attempt to help them make it into the north. Many people helped these runaway slaves because they believed it was morally right, that black oppression was a crime; slaves held value and deserved to keep their family together and lead a life as any other man or woman would, and former slaves shed light on these critical issues.

Slavery was a dark time in America’s past. Not only did slavery separate millions of families, it destroyed the white man’s reputation to African people. Many slave owners treated their slaves well, many did not. They forced their slaves to live in deplorable conditions. Malnutrition and overworking often led to death. If you were a slave, would you risk it all and try to run away? You might not have a choice if you wanted to stay alive.

A journey of hundreds of miles lies before you, through swamp, forest and mountain pass. Your supplies are meager, only what can be comfortably carried so as not to slow your progress to the Promised Land – Canada. The stars and coded messages for guidance, you set out through the night, the path illuminated by the intermittent flash of lightning. Without a map and no real knowledge of the surrounding area, your mind races before you and behind you all at once. Was that the barking of the slavecatchers’ dogs behind you or just the pounding rain and thunder? Does each step bring you closer to freedom or failure?

American Experience: Transcontinental Railroad. The railroad was a very big accomplishment in America's history. Transcontinental Railroad showed more then anything America's persistence, intellectual advancement, and above all else, Courage. This accomplishment came with many hardships and many sacrifices as well as achievements. While this accomplishment shows the good traits of America like drive and courage, It also reveled the darker traits of America, like betrayal, inequality, and most of all, greed. This paper will go over, How the Transcontinental Railroad was set into motion, the construction of the railroad and how it was used.

the 1780 a movement had started called the underground railroad. The purpose of the underground railroad was to free slaves from the south. There were blacks and whits apart of the underground railroad. In the 1830 the underground railroad was moving, somewhere between 40,000- 100,000 slaves were set free. Harriet tubman was one of the leaders of the underground rail road. She would travel to the south to get the slaves and help led them to freedom. They would travel long and hard to get to their freedom. They would stay at safe houses they were made to hide the slaves just incase their mastor or anyone else came looking for them. The safe house had secret rooms just to protect the slaves from anyone trying to kiil them. This created conflict and tension between the North and South. When Abram Lincoln was elected for

The Gateway to Freedom is an enticing novel that gives further knowledge of racial discrimination and the social inequality of blacks at the time of slavery and how the Underground Railroad combatted this through the different committees and activists of the time. This essay will focus on how the Underground Railroad affected family, economy and religion- the social institutions, those who operated the Underground Railroad were diverse and have different reason for following the abolitionist movement, and not all the committees are made equally.

(2) Perhaps the most effective and dramatic aspect of The Underground Railroad was Mr. Whitehead’s decision to present characters with little or no background information and then detail that information in dramatic fashion in later chapters devoted exclusively to that character. This decision by the author to “jump around in time and space” was especially noteworthy with respect to Cora’s mother, Mabel. Throughout the novel, we are led to believe that Mabel had run away from the Randall plantation while purposely leaving her young daughter behind to suffer as a slave. Cora is portrayed repeatedly as resenting her mother for not taking her when she had escaped. “Once Mabel ran, Cora thought of her as little as possible. After landing in South Carolina, she realized that she had banished her mother not from sadness but from rage. She hated her.” (98) Further, despite extensive searches by the slave catcher, Ridgeway, no evidence of

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

Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America’s First Civil Rights Movement by Fergus M. Bordewich is an inspiring piece of literature that tackles on information about the underground railroad, and many other aspects we’ve never known about at that point in time. The book is written by Fergus Bordewich, born on November 1, 1947 in New York City, New York.Fergus graduated from Columbia University and now lives with his wife Jean P. Bordewich in San Francisco as one of the best historians in the world. He is the author of many historical fictions such as The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, America’s Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise that Preserve the Union, and many more. As you can see, he’s been changing perspectives on many historical topics for quite some time.