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The Underground Railroad Was Not Only A Significant Part Of Our Nation 's History

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The Underground Railroad was not only a significant part of our nation’s history, but also a journey towards freedom, possibility, promise, and hope for so many African American slaves who ventured along the many “railways” of it. Being involved in the Underground Railroad was a risky affair, but simultaneously, incredibly rewarding for those exerting such great efforts to grab the dreams and promise set before them. The Underground Railroad occurred in several decades prior to the Civil War (Cecelski, 174). Without these roads of hope before the Civil War ended slavery, there is no telling what the condition our country would be in. Examining the places, lives, perspective, and ideas that went into creating this sometimes successful…show more content…
This does not come as a shock considering how much easier it was to be hidden within these shipping vessels, out of sight and—at times—out of mind of their masters. Traveling over land was much riskier when taking the Underground Railroad to the elusive freedom being sought after (Cecelski, 174). There were many states up north that would aid in providing housing and fresh starts for the African American-escaped slaves. Indiana, for example, has “claimed to have a ‘station’ in every town affiliated with the Underground Railroad (Cox, 18). On the other hand, in Ripley, Ohio, “a town that was ‘pro-slavery,’” a man by the name of John Parker states that the Underground Railroad had a vast amount of slaves being smuggled in and out of this Northern town (Kammen, 4). The fact that there were “slavery-active” towns smuggling African-American slaves beneath their masters’ feet seems incredibly risky and brave of those poor souls destined to obtain freedom. Smuggling slaves out of bondage and onto freedom up north, was not limited to only African Americans, but also many other helpful people of a variety of races, ethnicities, and genders (Cecelski, 176). The people of differing race were typically lower class, some were Quakers, and the majority did not have much of a hand in the wealthier planters and landowners whose slaves were being led to freedom (Cecelski, 176). What this demonstrates for
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