Underground Railroad Research Paper

Freedom is a right that is entitled to every citizen in the United States, how come not everyone has it? Many people were deprived of their freedom because of slavery and racism in the 19th century. People were not allowed to do or be in certain places because they were different. Slavery did not give rights to African American slaves in the 19th century, and it prevented their lives from reaching their true potential. However, some people did escape from the nightmare, but it was a perilous journey. Slaves escaped through the Underground Railroad, with the help of ‘conductors’ in the dark of night. Fleeing into the north and Canada, they escaped their masters and finally became free.
The route of the Underground Railroad had to be kept secret.

Slaves had to be discreet when talking about the Underground Railroad to other slaves, especially when the slaves were highly monitored by their masters. The Underground Railroad was one of the most efficient escape routes for fugitive slaves. Frederick Douglass, a fugitive slave, writes in his own narrative of how people openly discussed the routes: “I have never approved of the very public manner in which some of our western friends have conducted what they call the underground railroad, but which, I think, by their open declarations, has been made most emphatically the upperground railroad” (Douglass 71). The point he was making in his words explain; the Underground Railroad was not completely underground. It was a metaphor for segments of the escape route underground and transport of slaves out of slavery. The real translation of his words into contemporary language would be “Well.. If you're going to talk about the Underground Railroad so much, might as well call it the Upperground Railroad” (Hecht 1). On the other hand, slaves were extremely clever keeping the routes a secret. They hid clues into songs they sung, quilts they knitted, and even put it in

She was a former slave who escaped from her master, and vowed to help other fugitive slaves escape from their owners. The Afro-American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier Inc. wrote’ “When Tubman first attracted the attention of the country’s most powerful abolitionists is unknown” (“Racing for Freedom”, 1). Douglass also escaped from the slavery that he was born into, but did not give the details in his narrative for the following reasons, “It would afford me great pleasure indeed, as well as materially add to the interest of my narrative, were I at liberty to gratify a curiosity, which I know exists in the minds of many, by an accurate statement of all the facts pertaining to my most fortunate escape” (71). After a successful escape, he (Add what led to him becoming a conductor ) Douglass was also a conductor of the Underground Railroad. Maryland Public Television explained, “Douglass also served as a ‘conductor’ on one of the last stops on the Underground Railroad before slaves found freedom in Canada”(pathways.thinkport.org). According to “Underground Railroad: A Passage to Freedom,” Douglass escaped on a real railroad without any freedom papers, but had a certificate stating he was a citizen of the U.S. The conductor did not look carefully at the paper, and Douglass was not troubled. His successful escape was much easier than others who have no education, and those who lived in the wide open