Underground Railroad Since the year of 1619, when a Dutch ship brought the first African slaves into the United States, slavery thrived. In states like Mississippi, over fifty percent of the population owned slaves. As retaliation, during the year of 1850, the Underground Railroad was created, with the sole purpose of liberating the slaves in captivity (History.com Staff). To disagree with slavery was widely looked down upon. Laws were put in place like the Fugitive slave acts to specifically arrest those who assisted the slaves, along with the slaves themselves (Levi Coffin). The leader of the Quakers, George Fox, kept his philosophy of equality consistent when he and his group became the front-runners of emancipation. The Quaker group, with …show more content…
When he was a kid, his family would hide runaway slaves in their Delaware county farmhouse. From a young age, Garrett knew that slavery was cruel. One time Garrett’s family’s black servant was kidnapped. The servant was almost forced back into slavery (Thomas Garrett). This moment changed Thomas’s life forever, as he noted this event as the time in which we wanted to devote his life to the abolitionist movement. Thomas strategically lived in Delaware, as it was the final station of the Underground Railroad (Enabling Freedom). Garrett would provide the runaway slaves with a place to stay, food, water, and money. He would even frequently work hand in hand with the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman (Underground Railroad). Thomas Garrett devoted forty years of his life freeing slaves (Underground Railroad). He helped over 2,700 slaves escape. Although Garrett was fined over $5,400 during his time, which is equivalent to around $165,000 in 2018, Thomas was never deterred (Bureau of Labor Statistics). He wanted to change people’s lives and give them the freedom they were entitled to when they were born on this planet. Garrett, a wealthy, white, Quaker member, didn’t view African Americans any differently than he viewed his own family. His story and passion was very complementary to what George Fox envisioned the Quakers to be. His role as a conductor led to thousands of slaves fleeing to a place where they are
Part I Identifications (In a couple of sentences describe 15 of the following people, places, or events) 1. Luanda- This is a Portuguese factory that was located south of Kongo. The factory was also founded and established around the 1520s. This became the source for Portuguese colony of Angola.
The Underground Railroad was a series of passage ways used to help fugitives escape slavery from the South to the North. The sacrifices of many people created an opportunity for slaves to live the life they deserved. Three main people were Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett, and Ellen Craft. Because of their bravery, many slaves were able to escape living in harsh conditions, ultimately attaining freedom. Harriet Tubman was one of the most important people in the Underground Railroad.
Another major figure in the Underground Railroad was Thomas Garrett. Born unto a Quaker family who his runaway slaves in Delaware, Garrett was exposed to opposition at an early age. After saving the life of an African American slave who was kidnapped by slave traders, Garrett became dedicated to the abolitionist cause in 1813. He was on record saying, “Friend, I haven't a dollar in the world; but if thee knows a fugitive who needs a breakfast send him to me”. He turned his home in Wilmington, Delaware into the last stop for the Underground Railroad before slaves reached Pennsylvania where they got their freedom.
Many of these routes were in the South, where a majority of slavery was most common. These routes were organized by abolitionists, who were people that opposed slavery. Abolitionists had individual actions that would help slaves become free and escape.. In addition to the South, slaves passed through Connecticut at a number of times. After passing through Connecticut, Stamford, New Haven or Old Lyme, often on to Farmington, the "Grand Central Station", the slaves would go North, which led them to Westfield or Springfield, Massachusetts.
In 1774 and 1776 in England the Quakers proposed their reasons for ending slavery such as stating that slavery was cruel, inhumane and unjust, slaves were dehumanized and humiliated and were not regarded as human being but as part of estate stock and that the slaves were not provided with sufficient food, clothing , housing and medical care which often led to deaths due to diseases. Their proposals were disregarded because the slave trade had become a necessity to every nation in Europe allowing them to continue making great profits.
In conclusion, during the time of slavery, the underground railroad was probably the most useful, and successful ways for slaves to escape to freedom. There are many people that are very known, and talked about a lot
The Significance of Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s involvement in the Underground Railroad (as part of the Abolitionist Movement, 1850-1860) The Underground Railroad is not what it may appear in its most literal sense; it is in fact a symbolical term for the two hundred year long struggle to break free from slavery in the U.S. It encompasses every slave who tried to escape and every free person who helped them to do so. The origins of the railroad are hidden in obscurity yet eventually it expanded into one of the earliest Civil Rights movements in the US.
Being enslaved was not an easy job for African Americans. African Americans survived slavery through their connection with their culture. They then went on to contribute to the economic and social development of the South and America. African Americans survived the institution of slavery and Africanized the American South. They helped free themselves by sticking together as a family, resisting, as well as wanting slavery to change.
One of the most influential modes of unorganized revolution was through running away. Thousands of slaves would take their families or escape on their own to the north, where many abolitionists and free black men lived and would take them in. However, crossing the border states was difficult, as news reports about runaway slaves quickly spread and they would soon be captured by local townsfolk. To make escape more effective and safe, an underground railroad was adopted. The underground railroad was “a loosely organized network of safe houses in the border states, [and they] helped more than 20,000 runaways make their way to freedom (PBS).
This society was founded in Philadelphia in April of 1775. Later, in 1784, the society changed its name to the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage. The leader of this society was Anthony Benezet. Benezet was a Quaker educator who is also recognized for persuading the Quakers to create the Negro School at Philadelphia.
The Underground Railroad. A metaphor as it was, it was neither a railroad nor was it even underground. In the time where slavery became a divided issue with the status of legality in various parts of the country, the underground railroad found its beginnings through collective organized efforts from abolitionists and allies alike to help enslaved African americans to escape to territories and states where they could be free from slavery. It was a loosely-developed system that also included series of routes led by “conductors” such as Harriet Tubman, for escaping slaves, or “passengers”.
Slavery in America first began in the first permanent English settlement, Jamestown, in 1619. African slaves were brought to this colony to assist the colonist in the production of the profitable crop tobacco. Slavery in America would go on to be practiced throughout the America until the late 18th century. The abolition movement was an endeavor to abolish slavery in the United States.
One of Harriet Tubman’s most famous roles was her job as a conductor of the Underground Railroad. She spent 10 years freeing a total of 38 slaves from various plantations (Document B). Harriet “abducted” most of the slaves she helped lead to freedom from Dorchester County, Maryland. From there, she led them to St. Catherines in Canada or to Philadelphia (Document A and B).
The Underground Railroad was helpful to slaves because it helped them escape and be free. Slaves not only wanted to be free they also wanted their families to be free. The Underground Railroad did just that. The Underground Railroad was not underground nor a railroad it was just called underground because of its secretive nature and railroad because of the emerging transportation. Harriet Tubman was a women who wanted to be free!
Throughout 1776 to 1852 the ever-changing United States was in the process of developing increasingly deeper and stronger attitudes toward the abolishment of slavery. In no other years, but those between 1776 to pre-Civil War, had the United States been as nearly determined to eradicate slavery. There were numerous reasons behind the need to put an end to slavery, some derived from the ideals of the Revolutionary War, the Second Great Awakening, Antebellum Reform Period, and Manifest Destiny. The Revolutionary War took place in order for Americans to gain independence from the British, and it not only fought for freedom, but also equality—one of the leading justifications for abolition. Moreover, the first Europeans came to America for religious