Underground Railroad - Essay Example

Underground Railroad In 1834, The National Antislavery Society came up with the secretive idea of organizing an Underground Railroad. The effort composed of both the whites and black abolitionists whose aim was to free as many slaves as possible. These were groups that were against slavery and they felt that there was a need to come up with more effective measures to end this vice. The idea was actualized in 1838 with a well organized Underground Railroad having been developed. Robert Purvis was on the helm of this idea.

Through the directions that were provided by the agents, thousands of slaves were able to escape from their masters. These Underground Railroads composed of mainly the back roads, swamps, caves, forest, rivers, etc. These well developed routes made it hard for the masters to recapture the escapees. As a result, many masters felt that there was no need to purchase more slaves only for them to escape using these well developed networks. Therefore, the notion that slave-trade was a loss making business played a significant role in reducing the magnitude of the trade (Peterson 35).

The reason is that the demand for slaves reduced drastically after thousands of slaves escaped from their masters. The Underground Railroad actualized the campaign by the abolitionist that slave trade was immoral. Slaves who used these routes were put in safe places such as homes and churches where they could eat before embarking on the journey to freedom to as far as Canada. This aspect encouraged many slaves to attempt to escape, an aspect that made it hard for the masters to keep these slaves in their farms.

This increased the interests of the masters towards paid labor or the use of machineries which were more predictable. Furthermore, when some of these slaves were being released, some masters were left injured; an aspect that increased fears among those who held slaves in their homes and farms (Peterson 43). This played a significant role in eradicating slavery in the country. The freedom of some of the slaves who were lucky to use the Underground Railroad encouraged the remaining slaves to fight for their freedom.

The number of attacks that were directed to the masters by their slaves increased tremendously. Other slaves resorted to the use of work slowdowns, sabotage and destruction of their master’s property. Another group faked sickness and used self-mutilation in order to get their freedom (Peterson 57). As a result, maintaining the slaves became a very expensive affair to the masters. Therefore, many of them opted not to keep them anymore and instead sought for better alternatives in order to solve the issue of labor deficiency.

Many organizations such as churches were very vocal regarding slavery and slave trade. However, slave masters had a strong financial power, an aspect that made it hard for the church to achieve their objective. However, the idea of Underground Railroad gave these organizations a chance to rescue the slaves and offer them with freedom. This effort was supported by some sections of United States. As a result, many masters felt that they were fighting a losing battle. Therefore, they opted to release the remaining number of slaves (Peterson 87).

This played a significant role in abolition of slave trade. Works Cited Peterson, Judy M. The Underground Railroad: Bringing Slaves North to Freedom. Mankato: Bridgestone Books, 2003. Print.