Slavery was, and is, the mistreatment of people as property. Slavery in British colonies dates all the way back to 1619 when African Americans first arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. As soon as the African Americans arrived they were no longer considered to be “human”. Slaves were property; therefore they could be traded and sold. Slaves were cruelly whipped if they did something their master did not approve of. Some slave owners were so violent that they whipped their slaves until they bled and then they would rub salt into the wounds. Morosely, slaves were so horribly mistreated, some chose to take their own lives over continuing to be a slave. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which ended slavery once and for all in the U.S. Today, Abraham Lincoln would be shocked to know that in North Korea nearly every citizen is still treated like a slave. Kim-Il-Sung (the first leader of North Korea) basically enslaved his entire country and isolated them from the rest of the world. When Kim-Il-Sung isolated/ embargoed North Korea from all other countries, he caused the catastrophic famine disaster. A country 60 years in dictatorship was devastatingly ruined by famine in 1993. This famine killed 3 million North Korean people! North Korea has been at war with the U.S for 50 years and is afraid that they too will enslave them. After Kim-Il-Sung died Kim-Jung-Il, his son, then became leader. Then after Kim-Jung-Il died, Kim-Jun-Un, his son, soon took his place. Leader after leader, the same patterns continued for the North Korean people. Today North Korea is one huge propaganda country. North Korea has hosted huge parties and many other celebrations. While these parties are taking place, thousands of pe...
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Greene, Bob. “America's 'Slave Narratives' should shock us.” CNN.com, Web. 30 November 2013.
“People & Events: The Underground Railroad c.1780 – 1862.” Africans in America. Web. 30 November 2013.
Sandoval, Claudio. "Don't Tell My Mother I Am In North Korea". YouTube. 30 November 2013.
Seoul Train (2004) - IMDb. Web. 30 November 2013.
“Slavery in America”. History, Web. 30 November 2013.
Westhead, Rick. “North Korean defector offers glimpse of life in his homeland. ” Toronto Star. Web. 30 November 2013.
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...
As a final note, Gregory Wigmore`s article really touched upon a unique and unexplored topic on local history in the Windsor-Detroit region. I had never seen the Detroit River as a safe haven for anyone, much less slaves. His article focuses on how the borders provided freedom and screwed over the slave owners that got stuck in red tape trying to retrieve their `property.` Although cross border freedoms were created, laws at the time didn`t protect the slaves in the country they were living in; the only way to freedom was to run away. This article is an interestingly unique and an underexplored topic of slavery before the underground railroads.
Blaine Harden, former national correspondent and writer for the New York Times, delivers an agonizing and heartbreaking story of one man’s extremely conflicted life in a labor camp and an endeavor of escaping this place he grew up in. This man’s name is Shin Dong-hyuk. Together, Blaine Harden and Shin Dong-hyuk tell us the story of this man’s imprisonment and escape into South Korea and eventually, the United States, from North Korea. This biography that takes place from 1982-2011, reports to its readers on what is really going on in “one of the world’s darkest nations” (back cover of the book), that is run under a communist state and totalitarian dictatorship that was lead by Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and currently lead by Kim-Jong un. In Escape from Camp 14, Shin shows us the adaptation of his life and how one man can truly evolve from an animal, into a real human being.
Americans must understand that the horrors of slavery and oppression were not just limited to the South, one reason why the Underground Railroad ran to Canada. Although Fugitive Slave Laws were not dated until 1850, slaves—in this case indentured servants—could not be sure of freedom until they reached Canadian soil. This book gives readers a glimpse of who we might have found as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and what kind of predicaments they put themselves into for the sake of others. The author’s tone generally seems to sympathize with the abolitionist plight, and she refers to the prejudices of southern Illinois society as a “legacy of shame” (Pirtle 120-121).
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
Biography Underground Railroad Kate Clifford Larson. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014. Ripley, C. Peter et al., eds., The Black Abolitionist Papers, vol. 5, The United States, 1859-1865
The Underground Railroad was not a real railroad with a train, but a network of meeting places in which African slaves could follow to Canada where they could free. Those who helped were at risk of the law but got the satisfaction of knowing that they were helping those who did not deserve to be treated like less than everyone else. People who escaped had to take care, they were creative with giving instructions and the way they escaped their owners, but if they were caught the punishment was not very humane. John Fairfield was a white man, born into a family in Virginia who owned slaves; he never liked the idea of owning slaves, so he became friends with them. When he turned twenty, he helped his friend escape by taking him to Canada.
Harris, Leslie M. “In The Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863. New York: University of Chicago Press, 2003. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/317749.html
No one would ever think that a small country could create a controversy known the world over, but North Korea has achieved this goal. The North Korean genocide has claimed 2000 people a day and these killings are from starvation and beating. Many people think communism is better than democracy, but it has its faults. For example, North Korea is Communist and whatever the leader’s beliefs, the Communist citizen has to believe. What is happening and what happened is genocide.
The Underground Railroad despite occurring centuries ago continues to be an “enduring and popular thread in the fabric of America’s national historical memory” as Bright puts it. Throughout history, thousands of slaves managed to escape the clutches of slavery by using a system meant to liberate. In Colson Whitehead’s novel, The Underground Railroad, he manages to blend slave narrative and history creating a book that goes beyond literary or historical fiction. Whitehead based his book off a question, “what if the Underground Railroad was a real railroad?” The story follows two runaway slaves, Cora and Caesar, who are pursued by the relentless slave catcher Ridgeway. Their journey on the railroad takes them to new and unfamiliar locations,
When someone hears about North Korea, most of the time, they might automatically think of the sadistic, manipulative regime that brainwashes its people. After the Korean War ended, North Korea has become the the most isolated, secretive country in the world (Cripps). However, as of 2010, North Korea has changed its policy to allow foreigners to visit in guided tours (Cripps). When the hermit nation opened the doors to travelers and foreign investments, cartoonist Guy Delisle became one of the few people to witness the life inside of Pyongyang when he was assigned to oversee the production of a cartoon in a North Korean animation studio. The graphic novel he produced as a result of his visit documents his experiences and provides a rare glimpse behind the
Born into slavery, Araminta Ross, better known as Harriet Tubman soon rose to fame as one of the most well- known conductors on the Underground Railroad. With nineteen successful trips into the South and over 300 people freed by Tubman’s guidance alone, it is clearly evident why Tubman was referred to as the “Moses” of her people (Gale US History in Context). Although it is often thought that the years spent on the Railroad were some of Tubman’s toughest journeys in life, one must consider the aspects of her life leading up to her involvement with the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was a perilous journey to undertake, the consequence of being caught trying to escape was death. Tubman was willing to take that risk, the risk of losing her life in order to help complete strangers gain freedom. It must be taken into consideration why Tubman would put her life at such a risk when she would perceivably receive no personal gain. Harriet Tubman’s personal experiences, love for freedom, and selflessness led her to become one of the Underground Railroad’s most successful conductors.
From Slavery to Freedom: African in the Americas. (2007). Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Retrieved October 7, 2007 from Web site: http://www.asalh.org/
“I’m just one person, even if I have to sacrifice my life, some day, something is going to change.” An anonymous man from North Korea who wanted to remain secret stated this quote. Ultimately, King Jong Un is the current dictator of North Korea. Clearly, he rules under a totalitarian government, for this means the government is in control of everything. The people under a totalitarian government have little to no say. In the film, The Secret State of North Korea, the go behind the scenes of what life is like under the dictator King Jong Un.
Cho, E. (2012). The thread of Juche: negotiating socialism and nationalism through science in North Korea.