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Slavery: The Underground Railroad

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The underground railroad was used during the 1840’s by many African Americans. The underground railroad was a series of hidden underground tunnels and safe houses for African Americans. The reason that the railroad was created and existed was because at this time, the slaves (African Americans) were treated extremely badly by their owners/masters (white Americans). The goal in taking the underground railroad was to reach safety which was considered “North” and “Canada” at the time. The reason that slaves would want to escape to northbound was because in the North slavery wasn’t as bad and cruel as it was in the south. This is because the South is mainly plantations and they often over worked slaves to death and tortured them. While in the North …show more content…

When the underground railroad was formed, it gave a lot of the slaves hope and they began to fight for something that they all believed in. There was resistance on the plantation on which they worked as well. We saw that slaves were sabotaging fields by destroying the plants, breaking tools, and slowing down the speed at which they worked. Slaves were refusing to have children, so that their children wouldn’t be forced to live the life that they do currently. And lastly, we saw slaves beginning to form together and stand together as one to fight for equal …show more content…

The people behind the underground railroad were not always African Americans. In fact, several white families were aiding slaves in their escape because they believed that slavery should be abolished. So, we saw that for the first time in history people of color and white came together and shared the same beliefs. The goal was to reach the North because slavery was kept a very minimum there when compared with the South. This shows that the North and the South were already semi divided at the time. This division between North and South would lead to the Civil War and the emancipation of all slaves in the South. Had it not been for this underground railroad it’s possible that the emancipation would never have come. The underground railroad itself is a symbol for what they were fighting for. It represented equal rights, equal treatment, and equal opportunities for African Americans. The underground railroad was the first sign of hope that slaves had, had in a very long time. The underground railroad was a passageway to civil

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Hua 1 Edison Hua Ms. Rehling GATE English 8 13 October 2015 Contributors to the Underground Railroad In 1810 to 1850, slavery was major profit in the South. People from Africa were kidnapped and taken to work as slaves in the colonies. Life as a slave was harsh, cold, cruel, and life threatening. As a result, many people opposed slavery by creating the Underground Railroad.

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1897 Words | 8 Pages

The compromise was not a true compromise at all, it preserved the Union and brought temporary peace. Within the compromise, the fugitive slave law was passed, allowing slaveholder to capture runaway slaves, and make them return to their original owner. Underground railroads were established, which allowed slaves to runaway underground to small stations located in the north, and oftentimes in Canada. A hero to a lot of slaves, Harriet Tubman, escaped slavery from Maryland, and returned to the South numerous times to help guide more than three hundred slaves to the north and gain freedom. Slavery was extremely evident during this time period and was “needed” to help connect both sides of the United States.

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They spoke for freedom and led others to the abolitionist movement. Abolitionists played a very crucial role in the ending of slavery. The Underground Railroad was one act of civil disobedience that helped start the abolitionist movement. It was a system of safe houses run by abolitionists to help free slaves.

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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.

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171 Words | 1 Pages

The Abolitionists were people that were against slavery, and the group was dedicated to the cause of getting rid of it. Most of abolitionists were from the North, and the Abolitionist movement started in the 1830s. The Underground Railroad is the most thought of when we think of the Abolitionist Movement. The Underground Railrod helped fugitive slaves from the south, get to the North. Most of the slaves that went through this process made it to their destination, and became free African Americans like they had wanted to be.

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The Underground Railroad was a system of roads that helped lead slaves to freedom. It had routes with houses, buildings and safe places where slaves stayed on their way to freedom. The Underground Railroad was a secret network. The Railroad was made up of many members, both black and white who wanted to help slaves. Quakers also helped, they were a religious group of friends who helped enslaved people get to the Underground Railroad.

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1958 Words | 8 Pages

By the early 1800’s, contempt for slavery had grown amongst the American public and many individuals decided to take action. The Underground Railroad and Abolition Movements were the two largest groups that fought against the establishment of slavery in the United States. While the Civil War officially ended slavery, The Underground Railroad and the Abolitionist movement were successful only because they worked together. While they are often intertwined in their efforts, the Underground Railroad was focused on freeing slaves, and the Abolitionist Movement was focused on winning public opinion.

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In conclusion, this essay is important to know about because this stuff still happens today. Human trafficking exists and people like Harriet Tubman are able to take a stand and work on the problem. People are put into a form of slavery and forced to work there. The modern day underground railroad was established by victims like Harriet Tubman and still works. I hope this inspired you to make a difference and continue her dream of no slavery.

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Because of the rapid settlement of the western land in the 1850s, Congress wanted to enforce a transcontinental railroad to replace America’s current weak transportation system—horse-drawn carriages were still used and soldiers often had to walk. But due to the constant competition between the Northern members and the Southern

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The journeys up to the north were horrendous. The routes held many challenges. Common challenges were weather, pro slavery white people, they risked getting shot, and worst they could be captured(Doc. 2). Lots of antislavery leaders, like Frederick Douglass, wrote editorials on the subject and held peaceful protests against it. Frederick Douglass was an African American man who was against slavery from the start.

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It is surprising that after all of the obstacles that were put in the way of those that were helping the slaves escape and the runaway slaves that such a high amount of people were actually able to escape enslavement and lead on better lives. Some historians believe that as many as 100,000 slaves escaped via Underground Railroad between the years of 1800 and 1865 alone. While this seems like an extremely high number, in the 1840’s there were over 4 million slaves living in the south. Of those that attempted to escape, a majority of them were caught and returned to their owners. Unfortunately, the number is constantly debated because there were no records that were kept by the slaves or by those helping the slaves during this time for fear

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Annotated bibliography Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. Print.

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By using the railroads people were able to travel towards the western frontier in hopes of a better place. It is true that railroads organized internal transportation and intimately connect the Midwest to West. Furthermore, this opportunity was not accessible to everyone. Unequal gender and racial relationships became more obvious for those who had the short end of the stick. Womyn and men, as were colored and white people, were physically separated in a streetcar.

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The building of roads, canals and railroads played a large role in the United States during the 1800s. They served the purpose of connecting towns and settlements so that goods could be transported quickly and more efficiently. These goods could be transported fast, cheap and in safe way through the Erie Canal that was built to connect the Great Lakes to New York. Railroads were important during Civil War as well, because it helped in the transportation of goods, supplies and weapons when necessary. These new forms of transportation shaped the United States into the place that it is today.

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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”.

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