The Underground Railroad Analysis

The underground railroad helped aid thousands of slaves to freedom but the common image, Harriet Tubman, checkpoint houses and tunnels from south to north, it is incorrect. Eric Foner shatters that image in Gateway to Freedom in which he illustrates the complex narrative of the underground railroad in New York. Foner portrays the railroad not of an organized system going from south to north but rather the combined efforts of groups and individuals that have gone untold with time. Foner writes of the myriad of individuals who contributed in the abolitionist movement in New York City. The first being the Manumission Society, founded in 1785 by John Jay, who “offered legal assistance to blacks seeking freedom, … and sponsored antislavery lectures
For instance, "Freedom's Journal regularly complained about the 'acts of kidnapping, not less cruel than those committed on the Coast of Africa,' that took place in New York City" (Foner 51). Two other works that compare to the subject of Foner’s is Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America's First Civil Rights Movement by Fergus M. Bordewich and Slave Narratives of the Underground Railroad edited by Christine Rudisel and Bob Blaisdell. Bordewich would disagree with Foner in the aspect of most abolitionists did not engage in civil disobedience like the revolutionary war. While Rudisel and Blaisdell would agree with Foner’s account from the story of Henry
It was supposed to settle the issues between the Northern and Southern United States. In the immediate passage people fled to Canada because it offered more liberties than the United States resulting in “the number of blacks f[alling] from 13,815 to 11,840, the lowest figure since the end of slavery in the state." (Foner 136). This fell in part because the law “"reinvigorated and radicalized the underground railroad." to help more blacks to earn their freedom (Foner 145). Many abolitionist groups who kept records of helping fugitives burned their papers to avoid punishment. The law forced those neutral in the abolitionist movement to choose the law over their opinions and help local law enforcement find fugitives (Foner 26). Foner writes in Gateway to Freedom about the secret story of the underground railroad in New York City. He shows the various intuitions that came into being to combat slavery and the impact of the Fugitive Slave Act. The topic is important to remind the audience that history needs to be explored deeply to understand the truth behind great feats such as the underground railroad. The type of reader likely to enjoy this monograph is a history student or anyone interested in a more complete image of the