The Underground Railroad
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 Underground Railroad was a secret operation that began during the 19th century, and reached its peak during the time of 1830 – 1865. The story of the Underground Railroad was one of individual sacrifice and great courage in the efforts of the African American people to reach freedom, with the help of many interconnected “stations” (Introduction to the Underground Railroad?).
The number of sites connected with the Underground Railroad was immense. The Underground Railroad was any direction slaves traveled to freedom. It was a huge scheme of paths through marshes, over mountains, along rivers, and by sea. No real trains existed on the Underground Railroad, but guides were called conductors. Runaways escaped to the North along a series of routes that stretched through the southern Border States (“History and Geography”). Slaves who escaped into the western territories, Mexico and the Caribbean, then tried to blend in with the free African American communities, which lived in these areas (Slavery’s Past).
There were many conductors in many different states, all of which were important to the Underground Railroad. The most notable of these was Harriet Tubman. Harriet made nineteen trips back to Slave States to help members of her family and other slaves to escape to freedom. She was a woman who could not read or write, but she helped over three hundred slaves to their freedom. She had many encounters with slave traders and others, who tried to capture her, but she never got caught, and she never lost a single slave (Harriet Tubman).
Another important figure in the Underground Railroad was Stephen Myers. Stephen Myers helped the Underground Railroad from 1830 to 1850. In this time he helped thousands o...
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...ic linking the people of Africa and America. It is a story of places, North and South. It is a story of secrets involving routes and language, codes and music. In the end it is a story of jubilation and freedom, bought at a great price by individuals.
Works Cited
African Genesis. History and Geography of the Underground Railroad. Nov. 7, 2000
Appleseed Recording. Free at Last.1998
Cairnes, John E. Slavery’s Past.
Lilly W. The Underground Railroad. June 16, 1999
Maryland’s African American Heritage. Harriet Tubman.
Siebert, Wilbur. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. New York: Arno Press and the New York Times 1968
U.C. Davis Division of Education. The Freedom Sympathizers and Fighters.
May 1996
U.C. Davis Division of Education. What was The Underground Railroad?. May 1996.
Underground Railroad Workshop. Able Brown. 2000
Underground Railroad Workshop. Stephen Myers. 2000
Underground Railroad Workshop. The role of the Quaker Community. 2000
United States. National Park Service. Introduction to the Underground Railroad.
United States. National Park Service & History Association. In Search of Freedom.
August 1996
Burke, Henry R. Journeys on the Underground Railroad . Marietta, OH: The Underground Railroad Research Center, 1995.
The Underground Railroad was an extremely complex organization whose mission was to free slaves from southern states in the mid-19th century. It was a collaborative organization comprised of white homeowners, freed blacks, captive slaves, or anyone else who would help. This vast network was fragile because it was entirely dependent on the absolute discretion of everyone involved. A slave was the legal property of his owner, so attempting escape or aiding a fugitive slave was illegal and dangerous, for both the slave and the abolitionist. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass understands that he can only reveal so many details about his escape from servitude, saying, “I deeply regret the necessity that impels
A historic phenomenon known as the Underground Railroad left an immense impact on the history of slaves and abolitionists. A notorious woman by the name of Harriet Tubman had a paramount role in this audacious and venturesome event. She was even nicknamed Moses from the Bible! Multitudinous slaves had followed Harriet, trusting her as their leader to guide them through the routes of the Underground Railroad; therefore, it is suitable and appropriate to say Harriet Tubman was an extraordinary heroine. Her fervid and passionate determination made her capable of traveling to the Underground Railroad. Using that driven motivation, she assisted countless slaves to their freedom.
In the nineteenth century, before the American Civil War, slavery was a normal occurrence in most of America. The Underground Railroad was a series of routes in which in enslaved people could escape through. The “railroad” actually began operating in the 1780s but only later became known as the underground railroad when it gained notability and popularity. It was not an actual railroad but a series of routes and safe houses that helped people escape entrapment and find freedom in free states, Canada, Mexico as well as overseas.
The Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad, nor was it an established route. It was, however, a way of getting slaves from the South to the North, or in this case, from the Deep South, to Mexico. In the 1800s, slavery was a major issue. As the United States began to mature, slavery began to divide. Slavery in the considered “Northern States” was emancipated, and slaves, still under bondage in the South, were looking for ways to get to the North. The Underground Railroad was one way to find freedom. A common myth about the Underground Railroad is that it was only in a pathway full of people, all trying to make it to the North for freedom. The truth is there was hardly any help in the South. The major help came along when the slaves reached the North. A former slave by the name of James Boyd was once interviewed in Itasca, Texas on this very subject. He recalls that many slaves running across the established border between Mexico and Texas to reach freedom in Mexico. ...
It is believed that the system of the Underground Railroad began in 1787 when a Quaker named Isaac T. Hopper started to organize a system for hiding and aiding fugitive slaves. The Underground Railroad was a vast, loosely organized network of people who helped aid fugitive slaves in their escape to the North and Canada. It operated mostly at night and consisted of many whites, but predominately blacks. While the Underground Railroad had unofficially existed before it, a cause for its expansion was the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act allowed for runaway slaves to be captured and returned within the territory of the United States and added further provisions regarding the runaways and imposed even harsher chastisements for interfering in their capture (A&E). The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act was a major cause of the development o...
"The Underground Railroad" was not really a railroad, but a title to a 200 year old struggle for freedom (Demand). "The Railroad" became the first civil rights movement for the United States, and one of the most impacting movements to date. It was also one of the first times in history where blacks and whites intermingled for the same cause in coherence. The actual operation was called "the freedom train" and on that imaginary train there were "conductors", these people later came to be known as the activists for the abolition of slavery. These brave men and women performed life risking tasks that led them to help as many slaves to escape as possible. These heroes gradually became incredibly well known over the decades. Many still have their names today like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Henry Thoreau, Harriet Beecher Stowe and many more. (Demand)
The Underground Railroad is famous for the things it has done, but most people don't understand or fully know what it was really about. First of all, it has nothing to do with an underground train or railroad as it may seem. The term "Underground Railroad" actually has different stories for its inception. One of these stories was of Tice Davis, a runaway slave in 1831. While running away from his owner he dove into a creek and was out of the owner's sight. His owner said "he must have gone off on an underground railroad." (http://www.whispersofangels.com/opposing.html) Although highly unbelievable, it can be found quite amusing. The logical explanation, though, is that the word "underground" is a term for secretive, while "railroad" represents the working together of people like train cars to "ship" the slaves. The main reason for the Underground Railroad was the effort to abolish slavery. None of the other efforts were contributing as much, and it was definitely our country's first major anti-slavery movement.
If you were caught helping runaway slaves, you were punished. Your punishment wasn't incarceration; you were sold as a slave ((((()))))). Harriet Tubman had a 40,000 dollar reward for her capture, dead or alive; that didn’t stop her, though. Harriet Tubman was a former slave who went by “Moses”. She did this for her own protection while making trips to the south to free slaves. Harriet Tubman leads the way for the fugitive slaves. She is said to be fearless and made 10 trips to the deep south in a year (Anita Ross 1-2). She escaped at 27 and returned about 13 times to free her friends and family. After that, she decided to become a “conductor” of the Underground Railroad (Harriet Tubman Proclamation 1). Frederick Douglass was also a sole contributor to the Underground Railroad. He was also an escaped slave. Frederick Douglass spoke about his experience in slavery. He was also a “conductor” just like Harriet Tubman. Frederick Douglass wrote an autobiography called The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. He was an important part to the Underground Railroad because he was one of the last stops before Canada (Pathways to Freedom 1). Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass were important contributors to the Underground
Siebert, Wilbur H. - The Underground Railroad From Slavery to Freedom , pp. 125, 156.
Well-known conductors are mainly known for how many fugitives they helped and/or housed, one being Harriet Tubman.
The Underground Railroad focused around the time of 1820 to 1865. It took place in most of the southern states of America including Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, etc… Most slaves worked on big plantations and were classified as property not people. The slaves worked hours and hours each day of their life. There was no pay and no respect for most of the slaves. The Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad, but it was like a railroad in many ways. There were specific routes you had to follow to get to your next destination, and conductors. Eventually the slaves would fail on escaping, or they would make it to what was sometimes called the promise land, “Canada”. Even though the North was slavery free, a black person could not run to New York and be safe. This was because by 1640 the courts gave a law that made it so slave owners still had a right to their property. There were st...
The underground railroad was a system organized to safely move slaves into free states (Coddon). Harriet Tubman was an outstanding abolitionist and black leader of her time. After freeing her whole family from slavery, Tubman’s main concern was the freedom of all slaves. She became well acquainted with many white abolitionists and often received food and shelter from them, while trying to free someone from slavery (Coddon). Most of the Underground Railroad was organized in Philadelphia, where Tubman became acquainted with William Still (Coddon). This was were the first anti-slavery society was established. Still was a black man who was the executive director of the General Vigilance Committee and later became known as “The Father of the Underground Railroad” (Coddon). Since written records were life-threatening to keep, many were burned or not kept at all. Although William Still did say this about Harriet Tubman, “She was a woman of no pretensions; indeed , a more ordinary specimen of humanity could hardly be found...Yet courage shrewdness, and disinterested exertions to rescue her fellow man, she was without equal. (Coddon)” Still encouraged African resistance to slavery, and even taught himself how to read (Turner). He worked nonstop to end race discrimination and, in 1867, he published A Brief Narrative of the Struggle for the Rights of Colored
“Why are you here? Peeking? Pervert?” I look behind me to see another wonderful looking girl. But a strong one at that. She sent me flying. Me. Flying. Before she could ask my name she came around the corner all flustered and stuff. “W-w-what are you doing here?!!!” It was Tatsuki. I bolted out of there not even looking behind me if I was being followed. I rush to my room and lock my doors behind me. What’s going to happen tomorrow? I ponder on the thought before realizing what spell that women shot at me. It was a paralyzing spell. I couldn’t do anymore things for the rest of the night! Well not like I had anything planned, so I just drifted into sleep dreaming about the next day and what might happen.
The benefit of switching to a global accounting standard is that a financial statements from a country will be using the same rules as another country’s financial statements. In an increasingly global market place, international comparability is critical to enable the effective allocation of scarce resources (Hicks, 2009). IFRS have allow companies and users of preparing the financial statements to speak the same language, resulting them to be easier to compare with each other. In the current system, if a company used a different rule i...