Underground Railroad and a Life of Freedom - Research Paper Example

Underground Railroad Underground Railroad happened to be the name of a secret network that was organized to help men, women and children run away from slavery to a life of freedom. The Underground Railroad stood to be operational, before slavery in the United States of America was brought to an end by the Civil War. The Underground Railroad was a well organized network that provided all kinds of help and assistance needed by the escaping slaves. This included providing the escaping slaves with food, hiding places and the transportation required by them to run away from the places where they were trapped as slaves. The people running and managing the Underground Railroad networks also provided the escaping fugitives with the appropriate information like the places where they could hide, the shelters where they could seek food and help and the safest routes that carried them away from the places where they could get caught. The Underground Railroad was a very well organized network run and managed by people who intended to help the men, women and children caught in slavery, run away to a life of freedom and liberty (Strother 26). The amazing thing was that the Underground Railroad neither happened to be a railroad, nor was it underground. It was named the Underground Railroad because it was run and managed in an environment marked by silence and secrecy (Blackett 91). Disguise and the darkness of the night happened to be the best friends of the escaping fugitives and the people who helped them escape and hide. The railroad terminology was used to name and refer to the people associated with the Underground Railroad (Blackett 27). Thereby it got the name Underground Railroad. The various routes traced by the slaves to escape were referred to as lines. The places where they stopped and halted were called stations. The people who aided the slaves along these routes were referred to be the names conductors or engineers. The fugitives that these conductors helped escape and hide were named cargo or freight. It happened to be an expansive network that was widely spread across 14 states in the North and the free territory of Canada that happened to be beyond the influence and reach of the infamous slave hunters (Pirtle 15). The engineers and conductors hid the escaping slaves from the people who were deployed to trace and catch them. The Underground Railroad solely existed owing to the existence of the institution of slavery in the United States of America. It intended to help and aid many people who wanted to escape a life of slavery and was run by people who were willing to help the escaping slaves. The life of the slaves happened to be very unhappy that involved much harassment, torture, pain, suffering and danger. Thereby it was but natural that many slaves wanted to run away from a life of misery and pain. There were many people during the days of slavery who believed that slavery was wrong and cruel. Thereby they were willing to put their lives at risk to help and aid the escaping slaves. The Underground Railroad was run and aided by varied kind of people and individuals. These included both blacks and whites and people hailing from both the Slave States and the Free States. Many free black people, white people and even slaves served as engineers and conductors whose life purpose was to help people caught in a life of slavery (Calarco 287). The large free black populace residing in Baltimore and free blacks located in other places willingly provided help and assistance to the slaves escaping from the Southern States (Calarco 307). Many Quakers, abolitionists and other white people helped the railroad because irrespective of being white, they regarded slavery to be an unethical, immoral and cruel practice (Calarco 54). Associating with the Underground Railroad was indeed fraught with much risk and danger. It exposed the people associated with the Underground Railroad to harsh punishments and even death. No wonder the people running and aiding the Underground Railroad did have really strong views against slavery. That is why they showed the willingness to risk their lives and well being to help the escaping slaves. It is difficult to mention the exact identity and number of all the people who worked with the Underground Railroad, because the whole thing was run in secrecy. It was imperative for them to keep their operations secret to protect themselves and the slaves they helped. It took the coordinated and well organized efforts of a number of people to help salves escape to freedom. It involved an extensive network of people that stretched from the Slave States, all the way to Free states and Canada. It was something that happened to be vast, extensive and big. The main attributes that defined the conductors running the Railroad was a strong hatred for slavery and immense bravery. The Underground Railroad ended up in North, the land of freedom. However, in 1850 the Congress passed a law called the Fugitive Slave Act (Shectman 181). As per this law, even people in the Free States were bound to return the runaway slaves to their legal owners (Shectman 181). After the passage of this law, most of the slaves escaping via the Underground Railroad extended their journey right up to Canada to assure a certain freedom and safety. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, it became risky and dangerous for the runaway slaves to reside in Free States like Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The beautiful thing about the Underground Railroad was that it happened to be a closely coordinated and well managed effort against slavery, undertaken by both the black and the white people who hated the institution of slavery and did not mind risking their lives to help the suffering slaves. It does need to be recognized that Underground Railroad did do much to undermine the institution of slavery in those days, when it was legal to sell, purchase and own people. Works Cited Blackett, R.J.M. Making Freedom. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2013. Print. Calarco, Tom. People of the Underground Railroad. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. Print. Pirtle, Carol. Escape Betwixt Two Suns. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000. Print. Shectman, Jonathan. Bound for the Future. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012. Print. Strother, Horatio T. The Underground Railroad in Connecticut. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1962. Print. Read More