The Underground Railroad
by It is about the facts of extremely important place in the history of the United States.
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The Underground Railroad was one of the most fascinating and gripping phenomena to emerge from brutal period of American slavery.In fact,it was neither underground nor any kind of railroad,but an intricate,loosely organized,and highly secretive network of people dedicated to helping black slaves escape from bondage in the southern states to freedom in the northern United States,Canada,Mexico,and the Caribbean.Because few of its members dared to keep records of their activites,much of theRailroad’s history has been transmitted orally,or lost.
Established as early as the late 16th century,when the first captive laborers were brought to the New World from Africa,the Railroad cosisted of an informal arrangement of”stationmasters”-people who provided food and refuge,their”stations”-the houses or barns where they provided shelter,and “conductors”-those who guided escaped slaves along the difficult routes to safety.All kinds of people worked on the Railroad,including preachers,politicians,farmers,former slaves ,and Native Americans.Most had no knowledge that they workd as part of an organization that reached all across the United States,but they were united by their hatred of the institution of slavery and their desire to help those struggling to escape.
Perhaps,the most famous of Railroad workers was Harriet Tubman.Born a slave in Maryland,she escaped through the Railroad at age of 25,and became a conductor herself.Over a ten year period,she made nearly 20 trips back into the South to lead to safety many members of her family,and dozens of othes besides,perhaps as many as 300 in all.
The conditions faced by runaways were severe.Often forced to travel at night,they would navigate by the North Star.Rivers,swamps,and forests lay in their way.They could carry little food,and depended on stationmasters and conductors to keep them from starvation.If they were unable to actually leave the southern states,they might have no choice but to take up residence deep in swamps or in mountaious areas,isolated from the world,or to join communities of Native Americans.Young men were the most successful in traveling the Railroad,though sometimes women and children would also manage to escape.Strenght and speed were critical.Slaves would occasionally employ disguises,trying to pass themselves as messengers on errands,or even,in the case of the lighter-skinned slaves,as whites.Holidays and weekends were the best times to escape,or any other circumstance that permitted a head start on the authorities.
Activity on the Railroad reached a peak in the last few decades before the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861.The great political tension created by the institution of of slavery was already tearing the country apart.White people in the South felt that slavery was an indispensable part of their culture.Their economy certainly depended on it,and they resented being dictated to from North and from Washington.Those in the North ,on the other hand,could only see the brutality in slavery.Though terribly destructive,the Civil War ultimately settled the question,and with the ratification of the 13th amendment to the U.S.Costitution on December 18,1865,it became a law that”neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist in the United States”
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