The Underground Railroad And The Abolitionist Movement

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.

The Abolitionist movement during the Antebellum period, was a critical time in American history. The goal of this movement was to emancipate all slaves immediately, and end discrimination, as well as segregation. The brave men and women involved in this movement were called abolitionists and antislavery advocates. The antislavery advocates stood for freeing slaves gradually, and abolitionists wanted slavery gone immediately. No matter how fast, these people all wanted to spread opposition against slavery across the United States. Northern churches started liking this whole idea of abolishing slavery, which started conflict between the North and South. These arguments led up to the Civil War.

The Underground Railroad was the path that slaves took while escaping. It consisted of stations or "depots" (houses), " conductors" (those who lived in the homes), "tracks" ( the actual trail they took) and even " station masters" and "presidents" who led the efforts in their area. The railroad analogy was used to describe many aspects of this anti-slavery activity. The code helped those involved in freeing the slaves communicate with each other without others understanding.

“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

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.

The Underground Railroad which many of you have heard the term before in your history classes was actually started around 1780. The Civil War started in 1861 many years later this passage contributed to the war. The Underground Railroad was a word that was used to describe a network of places to meet, unknown routes, passages and safe homes used by slave to escape into Canada from the United States for freedom. The Railroad was estimated to free 1,000 slaves a year in total the freed an estimated 100,000 between 1810 and 1850. The “conductors” of the railroad would act as a slave and go on the plantation and would convince slaves that they were slaves and could be free with their help but they would need to do as

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.

The Underground Railroad was a series of routes that slaves would use to escape the ownership of their owners. It helped slaves escape and the people who would help the “underground railroad” function were white abolitionists who would hide the escapees in secret places, while supplying them with food and the things necessary to live. The Underground Railroad helped many slaves escape to the North.

history, the Abolitionist Movement was known for being one of the biggest voices for anti-slavery. The Abolitionist Movement had one goal: abolish slavery completely. The people that were part of the Abolitionist Movement also wanted to end discrimination and segregation between other races (Abolitionist Movement, history). Their movement and ideas became so extensive it was illustrious in politics and churches in the north. As their words advanced, it caused many people to argue if their points were valid and ethical. Not many people back then believed that all men were equal. Peoples mixed beliefs caused many quarreling between the north and the south. Their disagreements spread to antagonism and hostility between the two; starting the Civil War (Abolitionist Movement, history). Their goal of abolishing slavery was completed when the 15th amendment was passed but their practices of ending racism and segregation still goes on

The Civil War was one of the biggest wars and with it being one of the biggest wars it had the most U.S. casualties. Most people thought that the war was fought over the issue of slavery. Then there are others that think that the war was fought about States’ Rights, and I believe that slavery was the reason why the war actually started.

The Underground Railroad was a system of individuals who helped escaped slaves to obtain their freedom in the northern part of the states, even as far as Canada. “The Underground Railroad was the first American civil rights movement” (Snodgrass) which managed to operate secretly for more than fifty years. While there was no actual railroad underground, there was an organized network of secret routes and houses to help refugee slaves to their freedom.

The Underground Railroad is viewed as simply a series of trails that led slave to freedom. It was more than that. What were the motivations behind the creation of it? Were there political involvements? Was it developed with financial gain in mind? The Underground Railroad is another one of those subjects that gets swept under the proverbial carpet. Slavery happened everywhere, whether people want to admit it or not. The Underground Railroad was a positive and a negative thing. Most people don’t comprehend what it fully entailed or the impact that it had on all people. It is important to review the past, so we can make an attempt to not make the same mistakes. The above questions will be answered in a well rounded account of all parties involved from the abolitionists to the slaves and those who were supporters.

     Not only did the Underground Railroad have a huge impact on history, one of the most questioning characteristics of the Underground Railroad was its lack of formal organization. (Carrasco). When possible, conductors met at border points in Cincinnati Ohio, Wilmington Delaware, lake ports of Detroit, Sandusky Ohio, Erie Pennsylvania, and Buffalo New York. These were all locations for a quick escape to Canada. (Underground).

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.

The Underground Railroad was not a railroad or underground. The Underground Railroad was a path for slaves to escape. More than 100,000 slaves escaped through the Underground Railroad. (History.com, history.com staff, paragraphs one and two) The slaves can thank people like Harriet Tubman because she was one of the people that helped the slaves leave and be free. There were other people, like William Still, Levi Coffin, and John Fairfield. One of the paths that went through the Underground Railroad was in Cincinnati, Ohio. Different paths extended through fourteen states and including Canada. The Underground Railroad was formed during the 1700-1790s. The Underground Railroad ended in 1861 when the Civil War started. (history.net, in between paragraphs one and two)