Underground Railroad Research Paper

Harriet Tubman was among the greatest fighters for justice in her time and was an inspiration to others to fight for what they believe in, but she along with many others who fight experienced it themselves. When she was younger, “She knew that her brothers and sisters, her father and mother, and all the other people who lived in the quarter, men, women and children, were slaves. At the same time, someone had taught her where to look for the North Star, the star that stayed constant, not rising in the east and setting in the west as the other stars appeared to do; and told her that anyone walking toward the North could use that star as a guide. She knew about fear, too. Sometimes at night, or during the day, she heard the furious galloping of horses, not just one horse, several horses, thud of the hoofbeats along the road, jingle of harness. She saw the grown folks freeze into stillness, not moving, scarcely breathing, while they listened. She could not remember who first told her that those furious hoofbeats meant the patrollers were going past, in pursuit of a runaway. Only the slaves said patterollers, whispering the word” (Petry). Living with her family as a slave, she learned all the things she needed to know to do her job in the future as the conductor of the Underground Railroad, she learned about the North star, and she learned about how you should not get caught by the patrollers. Perturbed by the thought of the fate of her family and her future, she escaped to Philadelphia but “Rather than remaining in the safety of the North, Tubman made it her mission to rescue her family and others living in slavery via the Underground Railroad” (Biography.com editors). She made it her mission to save others and take

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

Harriet Tubman was an African American bondwomen who escaped slavery in the south. Harriet Tubman became famous as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad during the turbulent 1850s. Tubman was born a slave, she worked in the field ever since she was old enough to walk. She also endured brutal beatings. She couldn’t deal with the horrible life style she lived any longer. Tubman decided that it was time for a change. Though she was a slave, she was smart enough to come up with a master plan to get away from it all and take her people with her. In 1849 she fled slavery, leaving her husband and family behind in order to escape. Despite a bounty on her head, she returned to the South at least 19 times to lead her family and hundreds of other slaves to freedom using the Underground Railroad. Slaves suffered and weren’t treated fairly. Every slave wanted to be free and many attempted to escape but Harriet was the only one who didn’t get captured. “She was one of very few women whose escape from slavery was widely publicized in her own time among antislavery activists, and was virtually the only women celebrated as a guide for fleeing fugitives.” (Humez 5) Harriet’s bravery is what freed many slaves and also gave many slaves hope that they would see better days. She led her people to a new world where slavery was abolished. Harriet Tubman’s accomplishments and bravery as a leader on the Underground

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.

The second contribution of Harriet Tubman is that she was a conductor in the Underground Railroad, a network of antislavery activists who helped slaves escape from the south. On her first trip in 1850, Tubman bought her sister and her sister’s two children out of slavery in Maryland. In 1851, she helped her brother out of slavery, and in 1857 she returned to Maryland to guide her old parents back to freedom. Overall Tubman made about nineteen trips to the south and guided about three hundred slaves to freedom. But during those travels Tubman faced great danger in order not to get caught she would use disguises and carries a sleeping powder to stop babies from crying and also always carried a pistol in case one of the people back out once the journey has begun( Strawberry 1).

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

Harriett Tubman showed herself to be a true humanitarian towards the other slaves. She took on the leadership role to help other. Despite the fact she was on the most wanted list for the Confederate Army’s list, she was a wanted dead or alive. Harriett exhibited the character traits of strength, tenacity and determination as she helped people escape from slavery. One important quality she showed was the ability to motivate other salves to flee the plantation for freedom, to overcome the fear of being a slave and not afraid of being a free man or woman. Through her determination, strength and tenacity other slave were able to visualize their own freedom.

During the 19th century, the issue of slavery bubbled up, yet again. Slaves began to run away from their owners, in search for freedom in the North. Some made the journey alone, but many had the assistance of a network called the Underground Railroad. Some people became guides to escaped slaves to lead them to the borders. Among these brave souls was Harriet Tubman, who made it to freedom, but kept risking her own life to go back and save others. Harriet Tubman was an essential part to the success of the Underground Railroad by being an inspiration to enslaved African Americans with her own escape, her role as the main conductor, and the threat she posed to the slavery economy.

Harriet Tubman's motivation was to help leads hundreds of slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad. She wanted to help slaves because she has been in their shoes and she knows what its like to be enslaved. Harriet wanted to put an end in slavery. "Physical violence was a part of daily life for Tubman and her family." (Civil Rights Activist Biography) Harriet wanted to make a different, she wanted to save slave's lives. She followed through, and committed to what she wanted to do.

Harriet Tubman escaped slavery to become a leading person who advocated and supported the abolition of slavery. Harriet tubman made use of the network known as the underground railroad to travel nearly 90 miles to philadelphia. Harriet Tubman thought then rather than remaining in the safety of the north, Tubman made it her mission to rescue her family and others living in slavery. Harriet tubman had valiant ,hardworking,resourceful,unwavering,served others without rewards remained strong in the midst of a pain and motivated others. Harriet tubman journey to freedom was never easy as dangers were always near by in addition to the rough road that the fugitives had to travel on. Harriet motivated her fellow fugitives slaves in her own unique way .Harriet tubman had many traits ,Brave,inspirational,confident,intelligent,determined,stubborn.The trait that was most beneficial was intelligent.Harriet tubman had a trait that was harmful was brave. Harriet Tubman didn't make any mistakes or decisions but however she stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Harriet Tubman however never got caught. Harriet Tubman believes mistakes. Apparently Harriet tubman was to brave to think that she might not get caught.Harriet tubman always believed in herself. Harriet tubman or in the the slaves she guided were never

Although her brothers returned to the south she made it her mission to rescue her family and other slaves too. In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act, “that required the authorities in the North to assist Southern slave catchers and return runaway slaves to their owners” (Goldfield 397). Harriet Tubman came up with a brilliant idea of re-routing the Underground Railroad to Canada. As time went on Tubman was responsible for freeing more than 700 slaves in the South, making her the first woman in America to command an armed military raid. One of her quotes are “I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say; I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger” (Biography 1). Tubman risked her life for her family and others this shows her courageous attitude and how smart she was to learn how to reroute the railroad. She was a true humanitarian during American

Harriet Tubman was brave, she showed this by saving countless lives and risking her own. During a ten-year span she made 19 trips to the south to take over 300 slaves to freedom. Harriet proudly says that “she never lost a single passenger.” Harriet was fearless, she would take slaves to freedom during the night, pitch black with only a lantern to light the way. Running to freedom during the night she was able to avoid slave catchers. Slave catchers were brutal. They used dogs, whips, and guns to hunt down slaves for money. And for Harriet to have enough courage to confront these slaves if caught… it took a lot of bravery.

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.

“The Underground Railroad was the term used to describe a network of meeting places, secret routes, passageways, and safe houses used by slaves in the U.S. to escape slaveholding states to northern states and Canada.”(History.Net Editors, Paragraph #1). A trip on the Underground Railroad was full of danger. The slaves wanted to get away from their slave owners. Most of this usually happened at night. The big conflict was over the South and North disagreeing about whether slavery should be permitted. It was mainly the South who wanted slaves. This was so they could have people work for them without paying them. The South liked this because they could save their money to buy more slaves

The 1800’s were a bad time for the United States. A new country and already we had vastly differing opinions on one topic: slavery. People were on one extreme or the other, resulting in heated debates and fights over laws and regulations. A revolutionary of her time and an escaped slave, Harriet Tubman was singlehandedly the most effective Underground Railroad “conductor” there ever was. If it were not for her, many slaves would never have been freed from the institution of slavery. Rebellious and set on attaining her freedom from a young age, she never let anyone keep her in her “place.” The 11th child in a family and illiterate her entire life, she managed to set over 300 slaves free in a period of about ten years.