The Success of the Underground Railroad

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Famous People
Harriet Tubman’s Role in the Underground Railroad
The Fugitive Slave Act
Consequences of the Underground Railroad
References

Introduction

The south of America became prevalent with the employment of slaves in the early 19^th Century. The Underground Railroad was built with a mechanism of hidden ways and hiding places across the continent aptly named for which slaves can run away from their masters and head north to Canada or to Mexico. The establishment of this clandestine movement was not initiated only by the slaves themselves but also through the help of sympathizers and other citizens who have the capacity to help.

Other hidden pathways led to North American nations. At its emergence during the early 19^th century, approximately more than 200,000 individuals became free from bondage because of the Underground Railroad, through survey statistics only tallied less than 10 000 (Edwards 4). The Underground Railroad has caught the appreciation of all people as a symbol of independence, and it is widely regarded in African culture and society. The system was at its peak between the years 1810 through 1850 and even expanded after the release of the Fugitive Slave Act (“Underground Railroad,” 2007). The name of the system should not be taken literally as a railroad escape route since the slaves often traveled on boats and other transport vehicles too.

The hidden pathway was “underground” in the idea of it being a secret and illegal group but was not always below the ground as its name says. In their travels, they used railroad language like ‘conductors’ and ‘stations.’ The Underground Railroad was composed of hidden pathways, travel routes, meeting areas, and hiding places supported by anti-slavery advocates and even commoners willing to help. These people were classified into the minute, free organizations which, for the objective of managing the hidden identity of the Underground Railroad, had the knowledge of linking meeting places along the way but small information of their existing locations. Many independent connections were established through familial connections. African slaves would go from one area to the other, consistently trekking their way upwards (Levine, p. 6). The various guides on the pathways involved independent Negro and American anti-slavery advocates, escaped slaves, and even ordinary citizens. Various religious organizations took huge responsibilities in the maintenance of the secrecy of the Underground Railroad. Quakers, for instance, believed in abolishing slavery in America (Stubbs, 1995). They are a group belonging to the Society of Religious Friends who started helping runaway slaves by guiding them through the Underground Railroad towards the free states in the north.

Most individuals connected with the Underground Railroad only had small details concerning their roles of a certain process and not of the entire escape route. Though this may look like a very unstable pathway for the slaves to get their independence, thousands of slaves got their independence by moving upwards annually. The Underground Railroad’s extent is still a debatable issue to historians because none were certain of the exact routes the slaves took. What is known is that it extended from the south to the north of the continent, close to Canada and a little to the east coast.

The rest areas where the slaves get the chance to stop for the meantime and feed themselves were managed by the station managers. There were also ‘stockholders’ who supplied financial assistance or goods for support. There were ‘conductors’ who significantly guided the slaves from area to area. The conductor would frequently disguise themself as a runaway and go to a field. Once he enters the field, the conductor would lead the slaves to pathways upward. During the night, the fugitives would go, trekking for about 30 kilometers every day. Their movement would decline a little at the stop-over during the day, and they can relax for a while. While relaxing at the stop-over, information was transferred to the succeeding stop-over to enable the controller to be aware of that slaves would become. Oftentimes the road and sea would be utilized for movement. Financial assistance was provided by concerned persons to aid in purchasing tickets and give out clothes for the slaves so they would be not be recognized (March, p. 6).

Southern citizens — obviously, people who approve of slavery — were not pleased by this entire procedure. Leading from many initiatives to provide solutions to this grave dilemma, a legislative policy was enacted that enabled people who controlled slaves to contract individuals to recover their slaves and imprison them known as the Fugitive Slave Act. The slave legislations transformed into a dilemma since most independent slaves, according to the law, were still being imprisoned, including the runaways. This then motivated many individuals of the North to become involved in the management of the hidden pathways.

Famous People

A. William Still

William Still, often regarded as “The Father of the Underground Railroad,” aided thousands of slaves to flee, and there were circumstances that he used his own house to hide slaves. He managed documents, which involve individual profiles of the slaves that also had secret pathway information. He communicated with all of these slaves, often taking the role of a mediator in interactions between the fugitives and those still being kept in bondage. He then wrote these stories in his book in the late 19^th century.

Based on the specifics provided by Still, information was most of the time hidden in order that only those people who had sufficient knowledge in the hidden pathways would completely comprehend their purpose. As a result, the government was often misled regarding the correct location of the slaves, while Still was always able to guide them at the appropriate places and bring them to secured locations, usually to North American borders (Stein, p. 3).

B. Charles Wheaton

During the early 19^th century, Charles Wheaton’s home was a stop-over on the hidden pathway, enabling fugitives to go to northern borders. During this time, a fugitive named Harriet Powell was linked to Charles Wheaton because of information that leaked and leading him as the person hiding Powell. This allegation was never proven anyway, and Powell was able to escape to northern borders (Tobin, p. 6).

C. Thomas Garrett

While he labored all his life to become a major stakeholder of the metal industry in his native state, Thomas Garrett also had responsibilities as an area manager on the final stages of the hidden pathways in their area. At his home, slaves who fled would stop over in secret rooms to let the night pass prior to moving over and going north. The government was knowledgeable of his initiatives, and he was jailed most of the time. In spite of this, however, his efforts as part of the Underground Railroad area managers remain firm (Monjo, p. 6).

Harriet Tubman’s Role in the Underground Railroad

As a fugitive herself, she enabled more than ten operations to free almost a hundred relatives to North American borders utilizing the hidden pathways. Over the course of her life, she labored tirelessly, often taking various odd occupations. As an anti-slavery advocate, she aided the freedom of slaves and motivated many others to join her advocacy by their own initiatives. During wars, she took on the duties of information collector, caretaker of slaves, medical officer, and provider of financial resources. She is considered the first female in the US to organize and empower an assault (Mcmullan, p. 4).

Even though the slaves seldom trekked on authentic railways, the major way of traveling was barefoot or by carts. The pathways where the slaves traveled under the leadership of Tubman were not obvious to mislead the hunters. Most routes were done by her initiatives or minute organizations; sometimes, just like what happened to the Pearl Rescue, there were plenty of people who fled. Most of the slaves are perceived to have been men who work in plantations and are below the age of 50. The travel was most of the time too tiring and misleading for females and the young people to finish triumphantly. It was always ordinary, however, for slaves who had fled through the hidden pathways and founded various ways of living as independent people to buy their loved ones and relatives out of bondage in succession and then make moves to be bonded with them. In this way, the denomination of past fugitives who gained their independence because of the bravery and heroic efforts of people who managed the hidden pathways was larger than the hundreds who practically trekked the Underground Railroad (Smedley, p. 3).

Because of the potential dangers of discovery, Tubman devised messages regarding pathways, and secured places were transferred through verbal messages. Southern media during those times were most of the time loaded with information collecting and pleading for data regarding the fugitives and providing monetary prizes in exchange for the information regarding these fugitives. Police agents and other people authorized to hunt slaves went up as high as the North American territories in their desire to locate these slaves.

Tubman’s work on helping free other slaves put herself in grave danger since she instantly became a fugitive and assured a bounty was placed on her head. Her unwavering efforts to free slaves paid off later in life as she lived a long peaceful life in New York until her death in 1913 (“Harriet Tubman”)

The Fugitive Slave Act

The potential dangers of being caught were not applicable to real slaves only. Since powerful, sturdy black people in the best years of their lives were really important assets, it was not uncommon for independent black people — both past fugitives and those who been free their whole life— to be caught and turned into slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act—authenticated documents that validate the independent status of black people — could readily be rubbished and therefore enabled their managers’ feeble protection (Hansen 7). Also, under the powers of the slavery legislations, when runaway slaves were captured and made to face a specific court handled by a judge, they possessed no power to a fair investigation and could not even issue their plea to represent themselves; the people who pursue the fugitives only had to make an oath to possess a document that will give them the power or control of their escaped slaves.

Nonetheless, the US government believed that the Fugitive Slave Act was needed due to the loss of solidarity by the law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, and the citizens that are not residents of the South. States enacted legislation that delays or disprove the government’s slave catching mechanism, which government officials from the South took as absolutely inappropriate, and this transformed into a major drive for its downfall. In some areas of the North, the people who pursued the fugitives had to have protection from the law enforcers to implement their government-given power. Even in places that denied compliance with the Fugitive Slave Act, though, black people were often not appreciated well; some states even enacted legislation that disallowed black people from roaming in that place (Switala, p. 5).

Consequences of the Underground Railroad

Approximations differ significantly, but less than 50 000 captives fled to North American borders through hidden pathways. This established a significant impact on the North American communities. Cultural diversity in the North American societies as a result of the Underground Railroad phenomenon is a typical dilemma among its industries and another workplace. Many research studies specifically put into the spotlight the correlation between the Underground Railroad phenomenon and cultural diversity to this issue. However, cultural diversity in North American societies may also be identified through misinterpretations in occupation, sexual orientation, or place of birth (Burke 5). These diverse elements in the composition of the North American societies transform the issue as unique and famous among experts. In many situations, this problem is already branded as a normal phenomenon that has to be managed; if not, this problem can cause differences among the members of the population and could result in failure for the North American societies concerned.

Apart from being male or female, the variance of cultures in North America as a consequence of the Underground Railroad escape by slaves is another essential element that results in diversity dilemmas. In accordance with past studies, this typical phenomenon can be linked to the issue that other North American people have the possibilities to treat their colleagues in a fair manner as opposed to fugitive slaves whom they cannot relate with culturally (Pirtle, p. 7). This phenomenon is a result of numerous elements, including hindrances to the interaction that cause conflict and quarreling. In the situations of these conflicts, individual shortcomings are often given too much emphasis.

One of the primary dilemmas concerning this topic is the lack of information that North American individuals possess for the appreciation of other races and ethnicity. The lack of information regarding varied races and ethnicities that the Underground Railroad gave birth then establishes a selfish perspective regarding the people of the minority. Sad to say, instead of making initiatives of understanding the races, ethnicities, and lovable aspects of the minority communities, individuals choose to behave inappropriately and abuse these people as an obvious sign of ignorance for these people. For instance, some North American workers believe that the existence of various fugitive slaves in their working environment illicit bad impacts which hinder their proper functioning; these workers claimed that dilemmas that emerge from this topic are also connected to interaction, and human factors as the differences among workers become obvious in their communication (Williams, p. 3).

References

Burke, Henry Robert. Washington County Underground Railroad (OH) (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing: 2004
Edwards, Pamela Duncan. Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad. Harper Trophy; Reprint edition 1999
Hansen, Joyce. Freedom Roads: Searching for the Underground Railroad. Cricket Books/Marcato; 1^st edition 2003
“Harriet Tubman”. Web.
Levine, Ellen. If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad. Scholastic Paperbacks; Reissue edition 1993
Marsh, Carole. The Mystery on the Underground Railroad. Gallopade International: 2003
Mcmullan, Kate. The Story of Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad (Dell Yearling Biography). Yearling; Reissue edition 1990
Monjo, F. N. The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad (I Can Read Book 3). Harper Trophy; Reissue edition 1992
Pirtle, Carol. Escape Betwixt Two Suns: A True Tale of the Underground Railroads in Illinois (Shawnee Books). Southern Illinois University: 2000
Smedley, R. C. History Of The Underground Railroad in Chester and The Neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania. Stackpole Books; 1st edition, 2005
Stein, R. Conrad. The Underground Railroad (Cornerstones of Freedom). Children’s Press (CT) 1997
Stubbs, D.P. The Underground Railroad. 1995.
Switala, William J. Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania. Stackpole Books; 1st edition 2001
Tobin, Jacqueline L. Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad. Anchor; 1st Anchor Books edition 2000
“Underground Railroad”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Web.
Williams, James. Life and adventures of James Williams, a fugitive slave, with a full description of the Underground railroad. Cornell University Library: 1873

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