THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
As the nineteenth century began, slaves were beginning to really seek an end to slavery and more than ever slaves wanted to gain their freedom. Slavery was still in full effect at this point in time and if anything, the conditions, working and living, of slaves were only becoming worse. With the desire to be free, enslaved individuals did basically anything that they thought would help them escape from their owners. Most of the efforts made by slaves to escape failed because they were flawed to begin with and/or the fugitive slaves would get caught. Fugitive slave laws that were in effect at the time made it extremely difficult for slaves to reach freedom because if they were caught, which many were, the runaway slave was to be returned to their owner. Once returned to their owner, there is really no saying as to what would happen to the slave, punishment may have be enforced and in some cases even death may have occurred. With freedom on their minds, some slaves would migrate to cities in the south such as Charleston and New Orleans in attempt to blend in with the free black society. This rarely was successful mainly because of the enacted fugitive slave laws but as because it was something that the slaves were not accustomed to therefore made it difficult for them to actually blend in. As these attempts failed to grant slaves liberty, it was clear that outside help was going to be needed with the desire for freedom only increasing.
Slaves began to realize that they would not be able to reach their dream of being freed individuals on their own so they looked for outside help. At this point in time, the Underground Railroad was beginning to be seen as the first real chance of freedom for the slaves. The Underground Railroad was not a solid location but a network of individuals who all had freedom for slaves as their main goal. It was not something that was put into effect by a single person or group; it was made up of both blacks and whites who aided slaves to freedom. These individuals did not know the overall process of the Underground Railroad, they only knew about the local endeavors that would help the runaway slaves. The main objective of the Underground Railroad was to help runaway slaves escape to the North and Canada. Overall, the Underground Railroad was a way that not only slaves, but outsiders such as abolitionists, hoped would bring freedom to all slaves.
Because of the punishment that would come to not only to escaping slaves but also any persons caught helping a slave escape, the Underground Railroad had to be kept a secret. To do so, the people involved would talk little about it and when they did speak of the Underground Railroad, they used terms that would imply an actual railroad. The ones involved in getting slaves from point a to point b were called conductors, the places that the fugitive slaves would stay were called stations and/or depots, these safe houses were run by stationmasters, and anybody that would send goods or money to aid the Underground Railroad were called stockholders. The basic idea of the Underground Railroad was to bring freedom to slaves by negotiating a place for runaways to hide out. When taking the Underground Railroad, a slave first had to escape from their owner. Once they had done that, they were taken on routes from one station to the next that would eventually lead them to Northern states and Canada. The routes of the Railroad ran through fourteen Northern states. Stations were normally places that were not always in use such as a barn however some were the homes of abolitionists and station masters; these stations were where the slaves would eat and sleep while they waited to be taken to the next station. The fugitive slaves would mostly travel by foot, but there were sometimes boats and trains that would take them from place to place. The travelling had to be done at night as to not bring about too much attention to a group of African Americans travelling together and the average length of these journeys was about ten to twenty miles from station to station. The routes that were taken by slaves to reach freedom in Canada and the Northern states was not an easy task at all, there were risks left and right for everybody involved with the Underground Railroad but it was a risk they thought was worth taking to bring freedom to slaves.
With the Underground Railroad being as large of a network as it was, there were a large number of people involved to make it work. One of the most notable individuals involved in the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman. Tubman was a slave herself who escaped to Pennsylvania where she stayed for a little while before returning to the south to help her sister and her sister’s two children escape. Returning for her sister is where Tubman began to help more and more slaves escape and gain freedom. She went back to the south on nineteen separate trips to help bring freedom to slaves and between these nineteen trips, Harriet Tubman helped around three hundred slaves escape from their owners. Risking her life time after time, Harriet Tubman is probably the most famous conductor from the Underground Railroad. William Still was another person who played a large role in the Railroad; so much so that he was often referred to as the “father of the Underground Railroad”. Not only did Still aid fugitive slaves in reaching freedom, he began to keep record of the slaves that he would encounter on their journeys in his journals. He hoped that one day his journals would be exposed and his writings would bring families that were separated by the institution of slavery together. As a white abolitionist, Levi Coffin became highly engaged with the Underground Railroad. Levi Coffin was a successful businessman and much of his wealth that he had acquired was being put into the efforts of the Underground Railroad. With his home acting as a station for the fugitive slaves, Coffin successfully aided about three thousand slaves escape through the methods of the Underground Railroad. Without the Underground Railroad slaves would not have been able to have a good chance of escaping and reaching their dreams of freedom, but the Underground Railroad would not have been a factor at all if it was not for certain individuals that also wanted freedom for slaves risking basically everything for racial equality.
The Underground Railroad was the largest form of anti-slavery resistance in America; however in the big picture it barely made an impact. By the 1860’s, the American population consisted of more than four million slaves; the highest concentration being 30% of the South’s total population. With the focus of both white and black abolitionists being to help slaves gain their freedom, many people helped to put the Underground Railroad into action unfortunately which the strict slave laws and terrible punishments for escaped slaves, very few ever had the chance to plan and execute their escapes. Because of that from the early 1800’s to the 1860’s, the railroad was seen as very successful. During that time more than 100,000 slaves were able to escape to the North and Canada to access freedom; however, when compared to slavery overall in history, less than 5% of all slaves ever reached the holy land. The Underground Railroad will forever be a staple in the efforts to abort slavery in America.
Freedom was not something that came easy during the nineteenth century and there were many attempts to attain freedom by slaves and efforts through the Anti-Slavery Movement. The Underground Railroad became one of the most well-known efforts to bring freedom to slaves. There were a large number of people involved in making it all work because those individuals wanted to bring racial equality to all and freedom to slaves. Individuals such as William Still, Harriet Tubman, and Levi Coffin all jeopardized their lives and the lives of other to reach such a goal. Although the Underground Railroad played a role in bringing freedom to slaves, compared to the number of slaves that attempted and reached freedom, it was not the most successful way of going about granting liberty to slaves. Now, it is probably the most acknowledged of all efforts to bring freedom to slaves however, looking at the big picture in the number of slaves that were actually freed during this time period, it did not have that great of an effect.
Slaves began to realize that they would not be able to reach their dream of being freed individuals on their own so they looked for outside help. At this point in time, the Underground Railroad was beginning to be seen as the first real chance of freedom for the slaves. The Underground Railroad was not a solid location but a network of individuals who all had freedom for slaves as their main goal. It was not something that was put into effect by a single person or group; it was made up of both blacks and whites who aided slaves to freedom. These individuals did not know the overall process of the Underground Railroad, they only knew about the local endeavors that would help the runaway slaves. The main objective of the Underground Railroad was to help runaway slaves escape to the North and Canada. Overall, the Underground Railroad was a way that not only slaves, but outsiders such as abolitionists, hoped would bring freedom to all slaves.
Because of the punishment that would come to not only to escaping slaves but also any persons caught helping a slave escape, the Underground Railroad had to be kept a secret. To do so, the people involved would talk little about it and when they did speak of the Underground Railroad, they used terms that would imply an actual railroad. The ones involved in getting slaves from point a to point b were called conductors, the places that the fugitive slaves would stay were called stations and/or depots, these safe houses were run by stationmasters, and anybody that would send goods or money to aid the Underground Railroad were called stockholders. The basic idea of the Underground Railroad was to bring freedom to slaves by negotiating a place for runaways to hide out. When taking the Underground Railroad, a slave first had to escape from their owner. Once they had done that, they were taken on routes from one station to the next that would eventually lead them to Northern states and Canada. The routes of the Railroad ran through fourteen Northern states. Stations were normally places that were not always in use such as a barn however some were the homes of abolitionists and station masters; these stations were where the slaves would eat and sleep while they waited to be taken to the next station. The fugitive slaves would mostly travel by foot, but there were sometimes boats and trains that would take them from place to place. The travelling had to be done at night as to not bring about too much attention to a group of African Americans travelling together and the average length of these journeys was about ten to twenty miles from station to station. The routes that were taken by slaves to reach freedom in Canada and the Northern states was not an easy task at all, there were risks left and right for everybody involved with the Underground Railroad but it was a risk they thought was worth taking to bring freedom to slaves.
With the Underground Railroad being as large of a network as it was, there were a large number of people involved to make it work. One of the most notable individuals involved in the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman. Tubman was a slave herself who escaped to Pennsylvania where she stayed for a little while before returning to the south to help her sister and her sister’s two children escape. Returning for her sister is where Tubman began to help more and more slaves escape and gain freedom. She went back to the south on nineteen separate trips to help bring freedom to slaves and between these nineteen trips, Harriet Tubman helped around three hundred slaves escape from their owners. Risking her life time after time, Harriet Tubman is probably the most famous conductor from the Underground Railroad. William Still was another person who played a large role in the Railroad; so much so that he was often referred to as the “father of the Underground Railroad”. Not only did Still aid fugitive slaves in reaching freedom, he began to keep record of the slaves that he would encounter on their journeys in his journals. He hoped that one day his journals would be exposed and his writings would bring families that were separated by the institution of slavery together. As a white abolitionist, Levi Coffin became highly engaged with the Underground Railroad. Levi Coffin was a successful businessman and much of his wealth that he had acquired was being put into the efforts of the Underground Railroad. With his home acting as a station for the fugitive slaves, Coffin successfully aided about three thousand slaves escape through the methods of the Underground Railroad. Without the Underground Railroad slaves would not have been able to have a good chance of escaping and reaching their dreams of freedom, but the Underground Railroad would not have been a factor at all if it was not for certain individuals that also wanted freedom for slaves risking basically everything for racial equality.
The Underground Railroad was the largest form of anti-slavery resistance in America; however in the big picture it barely made an impact. By the 1860’s, the American population consisted of more than four million slaves; the highest concentration being 30% of the South’s total population. With the focus of both white and black abolitionists being to help slaves gain their freedom, many people helped to put the Underground Railroad into action unfortunately which the strict slave laws and terrible punishments for escaped slaves, very few ever had the chance to plan and execute their escapes. Because of that from the early 1800’s to the 1860’s, the railroad was seen as very successful. During that time more than 100,000 slaves were able to escape to the North and Canada to access freedom; however, when compared to slavery overall in history, less than 5% of all slaves ever reached the holy land. The Underground Railroad will forever be a staple in the efforts to abort slavery in America.
Freedom was not something that came easy during the nineteenth century and there were many attempts to attain freedom by slaves and efforts through the Anti-Slavery Movement. The Underground Railroad became one of the most well-known efforts to bring freedom to slaves. There were a large number of people involved in making it all work because those individuals wanted to bring racial equality to all and freedom to slaves. Individuals such as William Still, Harriet Tubman, and Levi Coffin all jeopardized their lives and the lives of other to reach such a goal. Although the Underground Railroad played a role in bringing freedom to slaves, compared to the number of slaves that attempted and reached freedom, it was not the most successful way of going about granting liberty to slaves. Now, it is probably the most acknowledged of all efforts to bring freedom to slaves however, looking at the big picture in the number of slaves that were actually freed during this time period, it did not have that great of an effect.