The Underground Railroad - Research Paper Example

The Underground Railroad The term Underground Railroad refers to those group of people who were working together to help the slaves working in the United States to escape. The freed slaves were often route to either Northern states or Canada. The early president of United States George Washington also showed concern over such activity in late 1780s. Figures show that over 100,000 imprisoned people gained their freedom through Underground Railroad activity. Most of the freed slaves joined the movement of Underground Railroad to free the other enslaved people by sending them far away in Canada and Mexico. The growing activity of Underground Railroad gave a completely new meaning to the concept of slavery and freedom among American society. The activity did not accurately take place underground but it was carried out in clandestine, using masquerade or in the night. The term railroad subsequently came as an identity because the resting places were known as stations and those who helped the slaves to travel towards their freedom were conductors and the payments they collected were either called parcels or shipment. The whole network spread across through 14 northern states and the freedom land, which was either Canada or Mexico (Foner et al 1991). There are many stories explaining about the source of the title Underground Railway. One source narrates the story that in early 1831; Tice David found his way out from Kentucky somewhere near Sandusky in Northern Ohio. The person who was in charge of imprisoning Tice David started a search across the Ohio River in Ripley and stated the term Underground Railroad by saying, “The Nigger must have gone off on an underground railroad”. The second source claims the identity of the term Underground Railroad similar to the first one but they claim that it was coined in Pennsylvania by the slave hunters. Whereas the third allegation was in Washington DC in 1839, where a tortured slave stated that after his successful escape, he came north where he found the Underground Railroad that would led him to Boston. No matter what the actual reason was behind the term Underground Railroad, in late 1840s the term was widely recognized as the activity to give a pathway to the slaves for freedom. No one really knows the true reason behind what gave the slave runaway an identity as The Underground Railroad (Blight 1986). Underground Railroad system helped many slaves to make their way from South to North to a safe place. The activity started in 1787, when an escaped prisoner named Isaac T. Hooper designed a way to help the enslaved people to escape, giving them a place to hide with food and shelter. People who opposed the system of slavery contributed to provide homes as a shelter for the slaves. The network of Underground Railroad was across in 14 Northern states and Canada and by 1850, more than 3000 people worked together to help the slaves to reach the Promised Land (Blight 1990). Before the Civil War, many slaves found their way to gain freedom from the slavery. According to some figures, it was estimated that more than 1000 slaves escaped per year. Most of the people who escaped wanted to end the slavery and some of them just wanted to reach to their friends and families. Some slaves settled in the southern region in different towns and cities using fake documents. It is believed that the majority of fugitives tried to find their way to North and many of the fugitives kept going towards Canada. Some of the escaped prisoners willingly came back to their masters and a large number of slaves got caught by slave hunters. For those who attempted to get to the North, support came from many Native Americans and Africans. This support become obvious as the years passed. When the year 1830 passed, the supporters showed high support in carrying out this activity. The black community played an important role and later on the support was named The Underground Railroad. African people after escaping played a very important role in routing people to freedom and protecting black people from being kidnapped and sold in South after kidnapping. In most of the Northern cities the Underground Railroad contributors formed cautionary committees and ranked the conductors as officers. Geographically, the contribution was set as the Midwest provided refuge. Selected presidents were formally retired which includes the name of Levi Coffin who in early 1826 got settled in Newport, Indiana where he observed many slaves passing through the region and finding shelter with black people. Levi Coffin belongs from an Antislavery family, who were the highest contributors in The Underground Railroad movement in Indiana and Cincinnati. The movement was very efficiently managed by the black people in the region of Cincinnati, Ohio (National Park Service 1998). Enslaved people involved in the Underground Railroad movement came from all age group and both genders, but the high concentration was of young males between the ages of 18 – 35. These young males later on joined the movement and started working in cities and towns on ships docks. The idea of transporting slaves across the border was by hiding them under cargo and carried goods, which was passing in and out of the border. The slaves were disguised and they were transported on flat boats and ships to safety. Most of the escaped slaves opted to do the journey to safe land on their own without any aid or shelter. On their way they were helped by other slaves and black people but after the formation of the surveillance teams these free runners did not have the chance to avoid the patrols, local police officers, localities, hunting dogs and even gray hounds. If proper route was not taken it was impossible to avoid all these patrolling activities. If any runaway slave was caught running, they were restrained in jails and when they were picked up by the masters the jailers were rewarded for their capture. Later on the salves realized it was better to stick with the African and white contributors of Underground Railroad to safely reach the Northern Areas. The movement became more organized in 1830 when the members of the Underground Railroad increased (Ripley 1986). As the movement started to grow Anti-Slavery Society came into existence in England in 1832, and with the time span of 5 years the society successfully operated in Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. One year later, a man name Garrison started the movement, forming an Anti-slavery society in America, comprising of black and white people. The society comprised of many official members and feminist anti-slavery bodies from other states of America. The American Anti-Slavery Society grew its member and by the year 1838 there were about 250,000 members working together to run the movement. When Abby Kelley was appointed as an official member, the American Anti-Slavery Society was divided but Garrison kept the movement running and supported females to keep the Underground Railroad activity moving. The support of the governing bodies from the constitution forced the Northern people to stop the support of slavery system. Garrison’s members were peaceful people and did not support in the favor of ending slavery in violent ways. Garrison’s members were more religious people who after two decades supported Utopian communities and women’s rights (National Historical Landmark 1998). Due to certain circumstances, it is impossible to find out the perfect information, the routes that freedom fighting slaves took to arrive at the Promised Land states. There is insufficient evidence that gives the idea that there were sign posts for the route in the area. It has been proved that people from south and mainly white people helped the slaves to escape. The activities took place in the dark and people of the northern areas also assisted the fugitives to escape. The Underground Railroad movement caused the southern people to be penalized with punishment and even death sentences. The entities that started and encouraged slaves to escape were since 1790. It was a person named Gabriel, who made the whole thing work. He stated that he was hiding in a boat of a white man for ten days and none of the black people helped him. It is evident that the slaves, who got settled in South for freedom, worked as conductors to contribute in the Underground Railroad Movement (Ripley 1986). African Americans started gaining spirit and encouragement in 1850s to find their way to freedom and running away. The Law passed in 1850 gave the act of 1793 a new meaning which stated that the states where slavery was illegal, the slave holders could run a search operation to find the slaves and how they got freedom through the Underground Railroad movement. This resulted in the killing of black men and women in different states that often occurred on streets and made the conductors hesitate to give out any information regarding the slaves. Later on the abolitionist won the battle and helped many slaves in finding a way out from the hardship of slavery and from there masters (Horton et al 1997). But the national government still held the view point of discrimination for complete 10 years and after a session of court they decided to declare that the black people would have no rights in the country. The passed law gave the states a shock and they started working independently to help the black slaves to win their freedom. Civil war started and many black people had the chance to free themselves from their entrapment. Slowly the efforts of the government to return the slave to their masters vanished but the remaining slaves became the property for war. From there they started taking liberty to free themselves. The war to save the union slowly got the direction of the war to save the slaves which was not only to save the African American black people but to make sure that in other parts of the globe, the system of slavery system was ended. A crack in the slavery system soon made it possible for the slaves to gain their freedom and as time passed, the European countries stopped the slavery system and transportation of workers (Horton et al 1997). This vast disturbance and association of the black population within the South created unparalleled opportunities for freedom which took place even before the federal government accredited the actuality. In July, 1862, after the catastrophic crusade, President Lincoln issued the Second elimination Act stating that the government could employ black people for decent and professional jobs. This opened the gateway for all the African American to hold the grounds of freedom (Horton et al 1997). Works Cited Blight, David.“Where does the term Underground Railroad come from?” National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. 1990. Web 14 Dec. 2011. http://www.freedomcenter.org/underground-railroad/history/term/ Foner, Eric and Garraty, John A. “Underground Railroad.” The Readers Companion to American History. 1991.Web 14 Dec. 2011. http://www.history.com/topics/underground-railroad Horton, James O, and Lois E. Horton. In Hope of Liberty: Culture, Community, and Protest Among Northern Free Blacks, 1700-1860. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print. National Historical Landmark.“Underground Railroad Resources In The U.S. Theme Study.”National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, National Register History and Education, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.1998. Web 14 Dec. 2011. http://www.nps.gov/history/nhl/Themes/UNGRR.FINAL.pdf National Park Service. “Exploring a Common Past: Researching and Interpreting the Underground Railroad.” U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, History Office, National Register, History, and Education.1998. Web 14 Dec. 2011. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/ugrr/exuggr1.htm Ripley, C P. The Black Abolitionist Papers: Vol. 2. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986. Read More