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Underground Railroad Research Paper

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Recommended: The affect of slavery to the united states

The ‘Underground Railroad’ and its significance to the study of American pre-civil war history

Table of Contents
1. Civil war
2. Slavery in America
3. Underground Railroad
4. Runaway slaves
5. Slave hunters
6. Abolitionism

The civil war in American caused the most important turning points in the history. The civil war started around 1861 to 1865. Within that period more than 618000 people lost their lives and millions more injured. Both uncompromising difference between the slaves and free states and the decisions of the national government over unstated territories based to start the civil war.
Slavery in the United States was the legitimate establishment of asset slavery that existed in the United States of America in the …show more content…

Many of them were beaten and tortured. Because of the slave trading, their family members are sold to different owners. Most of them did not have enough to eat, warm clothes or a good place to live. Almost everyone scared to be sold to the south, because the way of treating to the slaves in south was so harder than other places. Based on these facts their mind automatically generated the word “escape or run away”. But run away was a dream for most of them until they find the “Underground Railroad”.
The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor railroad. They named it as “Underground Railroad”, because of it was not an easy way to go. So many barriers, darkness and the fear were there with them always. The “railway” term used to describe how the journey works. Various routs were called “lines”, the stopping places are called “stations”, and the people who helping them are called “conductors” and their charges were called packages. The final destination of the journey was called “Promised Land” which is related phrase to the Holy Bible.
By the increasing of slaves run away, the owners of the slaves start the chase them. The character of “Slave Hunters” took the responsibility to take slaves

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When they came together it would really help take their minds off of what was truly happening. They would share stories of their dreams if they ever became free. Mothers would share some of their wisdom to their kids to help guide them in the future. Some slaves would plan a way to escape (Sand 57). Slaves were poorly fed and clothed.

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The Underground Railroad of the United States of America was a complex system of knowledge and experience that made it possible for slaves to escape the harsh realities of laboring for the opportunistic region of the North. With this in mind, all fugitives faced tremendous odds, displaying unimaginable amounts of courage in order to bypass themselves from the conditions they lived under in the South. Similarly, there were many directly opposing ideas making their way through the minds of those in the legislature, in essence creating a social divide that would arguably continue until the end of the civil rights movement. Although today it is known as a singular concept, the Underground Railroad was composed of several independent organizations that in turn collectively had goals of abolishing slavery.

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Homesteads can also be known as “stations” simply meaning, a place to hide and feed the slaves on the journey. The unbiased author of this story, Benjamin Quarles, has once said that “the underground railroad is the most effective means of undermining the slave system” Oates, S. (2003). Although it may seem as if the escaped slaves main goal was to go to the North, it has been proven wrong. Even if the African Americans

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Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad by Eric Foner. He was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of history at Columbia University. Foner received his doctoral degree from Columbia University. This book focuses on abolitionism organizations wanted to get rid of slavery and any unequal laws against slaves. Foner made the reader open-minded over the underground railroad, by being very descriptive of the time period and events.

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The Underground Railroad was a secret network established in the United States during the early-to-mid 19th century. It was used by African-American slaves to escape into free states and Canada with help from ”conductors” and “stationmasters”. Slavery was a dark time in America’s past. Not only did slavery separate millions of families, it destroyed the white man’s reputation to African people. Many slave owners treated their slaves well, many did not.

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It was various routes where they stopped and the conductor their charges were known as packages or freight They would run the station and nothing that was done there would get pass them. Conductors moved the fugitives from one station to the next, that how the station operated to help the slaves. Once the fugitives reached each station are giving clothes for the body to hide themselves. This operation helped both men women and child get to freedom. The Underground Railroad was not really underground nor was it a railroad it got the name because it had to be secret and the darkness was needed.

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The Underground Railroad was an intricate network of safe houses and routes designed to help African American slaves escape their oppressors. While the exact date of its creation is not known, we do know that it began sometime in the 19th century and continued to exist until it was disbanded in 1865. While it was in existence, the Underground Railroad was the largest anti-slavery movement in America and liberated somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 slaves. In this essay I will tell you about the reported origin of the Underground Railroad, how it got its name, its structure, one famous conductor, and the experience of escaped slaves who immigrated to Canada.

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Literature is often credited with the ability to enhance one’s understanding of history by providing a view of a former conflict. In doing so, the reader is able to gain both an emotional and logistical understanding of a historically significant event. Additionally, literature provides context that can help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the political climate of a time period. Within the text of The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead’s, the use of literary elements such as imagery, metaphor, and paradox amplifies the reader’s understanding of early 19th century slavery and its role in the South of the United States of America. Throughout the novel, Whitehead utilizes a girl named Cora to navigate the political and personal consequences of escaping slavery, the Underground Railroad, and her transition

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To a greater extent, slavery was the greatest cause of the outbreak of the civil war in 1860. Disputes of slavery caused economic and political troubles between the northern and southern states leading up to the civil war. The fact the the northern and southern states were different in almost every way caused them to turn out like completely different territories, one of their greatest differences was the fact that most southern states economy relied on hard labour, agricultural jobs like tobacco in Maryland, and cotton in Virginia; this caused their economy to be more based on the labour of slaves than the more developed territories in the north (Harrold), who after this time was starting to not need the slave labour in their territories because after early 1800’s, the industrial revolution had been spreading to America, and the country developed very quickly. But in this expansion, only the north states were getting the effect of the industrial revolution, meaning the north would not need slave

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The Underground Railroad was a network of safe houses African American slaves used to escape freedom. As the speaker said, it could be operated by anyone of any race or social status to help assist slaves to freedom. They helped by providing food, medicine, and places to hide for escapees on their way to freedom. The speaker mentioned that music was embedded in African Americans because it was embedded in them. They often sang of hope and expressed that with one another through song, but they also sang to express to one another secretly how they would either escape or meet up secretly.

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Turning points in history can be good or bad, or even a little of both. A turning point is a specific, significant moment when something begins to change. The Civil Rights movement definitely had its share of good and bad turning points. Specifically, the Underground Railroad had its share of both good and bad turning points. The Underground Railroad left its legacy on American history, changed the way Americans think about African Americans, and helped to move America forward in its pursuit of freedom for all.

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These conductors guided these fugitive slaves to escape from their enslavement in order to be free as part of the “underground railroad”. Among these conductors is the notable Harriet Tubman, a former slave who led three hundred slaves to safety in the North (McGill, 2005). Besides assisting these fugitives in escapement, other efforts included housing these slaves, recapturing them from authorities, and providing resources for the fugitives to settle in once freed. To further illustrate the metaphor of the underground railroad umbrella, “the homes and businesses where fugitives would rest and eat were called "stations" and "depots" and were run by "stationmasters," those who contributed money or goods were "stockholders," and the "conductor" was responsible for moving fugitives from one station to the next” (“The Underground Railroad”, n.d.). This network of systems continued on and as it became more widespread and more known about, the underground railroad found success in bringing the issue of slavery “to the forefront of public consciousness and convinced a substantial and growing segment of the northern population that the South’s peculiar institution was morally wrong and potentially dangerous to the American way of life” (Devine, 2011).

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Living conditions for slaves were dreadful, with long work hours and low wages. Slave masters separated families and sold off children from their parents, or vice versa. Slaves were prone to severe punishment for even trivial offenses. Whippings and beatings were prevalent. Running away allowed them to get away from all the hostility, if only for a while.

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The novel The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is full of ahistorical elements. In a book about slavery in America, his use of ahistorical elements results in a commentary on racial discrimination and abuse in a unique, narrative way. He portrays every state differently, using each of them as an example of a different type of discrimination. South Carolina is represented as a “progressive” and modern state, with new and innovative ideas on how to treat slaves. It even has the Griffin Building to represent its modernism, even though that wasn 't built historically until 1910.

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Introduction: During the 1800’s, Slavery was an immense problem in the United States. Slaves were people who were harshly forced to work against their will and were often deprived of their basic human rights. Forced marriages, child soldiers, and servants were all considered part of enslaved workers. As a consequence to the abolition people found guilty were severely punished by the law.

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