Underground Railroad Essay

The Underground Railroad existed for nearly forty years and was at its peak during 1810 to 1850. It was “a secret network of people working together who dared to put themselves at risk for what they knew was right. It had no one leader, no official existence, and no formal organization. It had no engines, and no trains; it had stations, but no tracks. Its passengers traveled without tickets and its conductors blew no whistles”.[1] The Underground Railroad got its name when one slave by the name of Tice Davids escaped from his master. He jumped into the Ohio River and swam to the other side. His master pursued him only to find that he had vanished without a trace. His master was sure that he had escaped on a secret railroad, perhaps something that ran underground. The Underground Railroad was the perfect designation as most people couldn’t see it, and it seemed to run swiftly and regularly. During a time when blacks were not permitted to read or write, were bought and sold like property, and were treated much like cattle, more than 30 000 escaped to freedom using an intricate system of escape routes aided by freed slaves, blacks born free, and northern abolitionists, most of whom were white. The routes traveled by the slaves lead them North to Canada. Other routes allowed them to escape to both Mexico and the Caribbean. Their freedom did not come without a price. “One in ten slaves died before ever reaching freedom”.[2] The idea of escaping from one’s master was not something that happened overnight, nor was it done without much physical and mental preparation. It was done over a period of months, sometimes even years. Once a slave left, there was no turning back. A slave might die on his/her journey but returning meant certain death at the hands of his/her master. The preparations for escape needed to be handled with the utmost of secrecy. The master could not learn of their plans as this would result in death. The slaves needed to create a secret

Bibliography: Connell, Kate (1993). Tales from the Underground Railroad; Steck-Vaughn Company, New York. Gorrell, Gena K. (1996). North Star to Freedom: The Story of the Underground Railroad; Stoddart Publishing Company, Toronto, Canada. Greenwood, Barbra (1998). The Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railroad; Kids Can Press, Toronto, Canada. Haskins, Jim. (1993). Get On Board: The Story of the Underground Railroad; Scholastic Inc; New York. Levine, Ellen (1988). If you traveled on the Underground Railroad; Scholastic Inc, New York. Weems, Ann. (1990). The Underground Railroad; Grolier Limited, Toronto, Canada. [1] Gena K. Gorrell, North Star to Freedom: The Story of the Underground Railroad (Toronto, Canada: Stoddart Publishing Company, 1996) 59-60. [3] Barbara Greenwood, The Last Safe House: A Story of the Underground Railroad (Toronto, Canada: Kids Can Press, 1998) 41. [4] Susan Michaels (producer), Underground Railroad (video recording), New York: A&E History Channel, 1999. [5] Susan Michaels (producer), Underground Railroad (video recording), New York: A&E History Channel, 1999. [6] Ellen Levine, If you traveled on the Underground Railroad (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1988) 36. [9] Ellen Levine, If you traveled on the Underground Railroad (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1988) 49. [12] Kate Connell, Tales from the Underground Railroad (New York: Steck-Vaughn Company, 1993) 10.