The Influence Of Eric Foner's Monograph On The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was one of the more popular ways slaves could escape from their bondage and obtain their freedom. Many people would not assume that New York City was an important station on the Underground Railroad. Eric Foner, a professor and prominent historian from Columbia University, has published a monograph about the Underground Railroad. His monograph, titled Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad describes how New York City “was a crucial waystation in the metropolitan corridor through which fugitive slaves made their way from the Upper South” (Foner, 2015, pg. 7). Foner also explains about how the fugitive slaves issue affected the coming of the Civil War and the national debate about it.

Although most of his secondary sources came from history books, his primary resources came from the abolitionist newspapers, reports from the organizations, and the Record of Fugitives. Although most of the resources Foner uses applies to the abolitionist movement, the main idea of his monograph was how New York City “was a crucial waystation” for the Underground Railroad, and not necessarily about the other cities, such as Philadelphia and Boston (Foner, 2015, pg. 7). Others do not agree that New York City was crucial for the Underground Railroad. History states that “there were many well-used routes stretching west through Ohio to Indiana and Iowa [with] others… into New England… on their way to Canada” (“Underground Railroad,” n.d., para. 11). History does mention New England, but does not point out New York City, which might reference that it was not as crucial as Foner depicts it to be. Some little-known facts that Foner puts in his monograph can backed by others. An example of this is where Foner states that Torrey was credited with creating the Underground Railroad as an organized system. Stanley Harrold, a professor at South Carolina State University, agrees with Foner and states that Torrey “became an antislavery martyr… for having initiated an underground railroad” (Harrold, 2000, pg. 274). Since Foner only recently published his monograph, most of the information that he infers would supported until