William Still was a huge part of the abolition movement and the Underground Railroad (UGRR). A child of former slaves, with very little formal education, Still changed the lives of hundreds of people through his compassion and hard work. Some may have thought of him as a lawbreaker, but I see him as a hero.
Still’s parents had four children in slavery, two boys and two girls. Then, Still’s dad bought his freedom. Later the mother ran away from slavery with the two girls, leaving the boys behind in slavery. Still’s mom took the two girls because on a plantation the girls often get raped and the boys can fend for themselves. Still’s mom and dad reunited and had 14 more kids, Still being the youngest. One of the two boys left in slavery died and the other eventually escaped. Still’s escaped brother that was left in slavery by their mother found Still after escaping and learned all about how he was Still’s brother and his family.
He had very little real education, though
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Therefore the Underground Railroad had to extend into Canada. Usually slaves escaped from close places like Maryland not really far away like Still’s brother’s family in Alabama
I don’t think that Still broke the law because he was standing up to the “superior” whites and helping his race become free and equal. Although Still never saw the US treat blacks as equal to white, he was part of the first step towards that. When Still was in Philadelphia, everybody knew where Still’s house was and that he was hiding runaway slaves in there, but he was never arrested for it. I think that part of the reason for this was Pennsylvania was a free state, but even after the fugitive slave law was passed he never was caught by the law. Still’s actions led to many more acts of courage from people like Martin Luther King Jr. and eventually to President