Underground Railroad Essay

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Underground Railroad "I have heard that so many slaves are escaping into freedom along a route that could not be as certain, slave owners said there must be an Underground Railroad under the Ohio River and on to the North (Demand)." The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century slaves in the United States in order to escape to the slave free states with the help of some courageous people. Slaves had been reported escaping way before the movement began. Over the span of 200 years, the slaves grew tired of the mistreatment. Southern states tightened their legislation, it was made known anyone who helped a slave escape, would be condemned to prison or beaten brutally (Hudson). The struggle for equality …show more content…

"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) There are many speculations of the Underground Railroad, along with many people that questioned whether or not the railroads ever really existed. Some even believe it to be a myth …show more content…

America is now a slave free country thanks to the efforts shown by abolitionists like the ones involved in the Underground Railroad. In the city of Cambridge, Maryland sits the 18 square mile national monument that pays tribute, honor, and gratitude to the last civil rights movement, and serves as a reminder of the slaves and their struggle to reach freedom, and also serves as a memorial for the ones who lost their lives fighting. The national monument was specifically dedicated to the mother of the operation, Harriet Tubman, because she is considered to be the main activist who not only saved herself from slavery, but strived to save over three hundred people along with

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