Essay On The Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad Through the development of the Underground Railroad slave escape in the mid 1800s, there was much leading into this great historical occurrence. Two key things that factored into this were the many dangers involved in the travel and journey and also the abolitionists that helped the slaves through their rigorous escape. In analysis of the excursion with the dangers faced and the perseverant abolitionists, through the many struggles their rough journey ended in success for these escaped slaves. Most evidently a big factoring detail to the success of the underground railroad was the many dangers implicated. Engagement with the underground railroad was illegal as stated in previous Fugitive Slave Acts in 1793. This
enforced that slave hunters were able to catch fugitives and bring them back into slavery, and this found to be very risky for escaped slaves. With this, slaves were at very high chance of being flogged, jailed, branded, sold back to slavery and in severe cases killed. Additionally, the slaves had little supplies to assist them in survival through their escape which made travel most difficult. When slaves would attempt to bear materials they could not carry all necessary supplies with them in the event of escape. In this, they found themselves battling starvation daily in all their travels along the underground railroad. Another dangerous variable faced was that they had little chance of survival in severe temperatures during late hours of the night. This found to be arduous and tough for the fugitives to survive and prosper with their intentions. Through these many dangers that contributed to the setbacks in the journey of the underground railroad, it is evident that they would not have been successful if they could not bear through these complications. A key aiding factor to the success of the underground railroad slave escape was the help of abolitionists, people who persevered and strived to abolish slavery.
Abolitionists jeopardized the security of our country and “employed various methods including colonization schemes, legal and political action and public speeches” (Connecticut Freedom Trail). One abolitionists that stands out for their perseverance in escaping slavery is Henry Bibb. “He made many failed attempts to escape slavery; yet, he still had the courage and perseverance to continue in his fight for freedom after every capture and punishment.” (Eastern Illinois University). Bibb shows that with hard work and persistence that he could make a “successful and much anticipated escape to the northern states and then on to Canada with the help of the Underground Railroad.” (Eastern Illinois University). Another abolitionist that made a great indentation on the slave movement was Harriet Tubman. “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if I only knew they were slaves.” (Tubman), this shows Harriet Tubman’s desire to free all slaves and that if she could have saved each of them she would have. Tubman was an excellent conductor and with her hard work she proved to be successful in her slave escape leadership. With having these abolitionists, slaves were well lead in their escape and this movement brought about much awareness of
slavery. All in all, the Underground Railroad slave escape shows much about how through hardships and with abolitionists, you can be successful in your journey. Throughout the entire expedition these people leaned a lot in the process of what it takes to abolish something they felt strongly about. And this finds to be a great accomplishment for our nation towards the end of slavery.