Underground Railroad History

With the assistance of the Underground Railroad, many Black communities settled in Southern Ontario, Canada. Despite these Black communities seeking refuge in Canada to escape slavery and discrimination, this does not mean systemic oppressions are absent in Canadian society. Although Black people did not experience slavery as prevalently in Canada in comparison to its neighbour, the United States, it persisted. On August 1, 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act, made slavery in Canada illegal by law. Despite

PART I The Underground Railroad was a network of people, African American as well as Caucasians, who assisted escaped slaves from the South by offering shelter, aid and protection. It was the term used to describe a network of meeting places, secret routes, passageways and safe houses used by slaves in the U.S. to escape slave holding states to northern states and Canada It developed as a joint effort of several different clandestine groups most notably the Quakers who were the first known group to take on the effort. The activities of the underground railroad operated from the early 1800s to the Civil War however, the exact dates of its existence are unknown.

The Underground Railroad was arranged to help the slaves escape north to have the freedom. Harriet Tubman was famous in African-American History, she was known as the leader controlling the idea of the Underground Railroad. She helped 300 slaves escape from the south to the north. Her birth date is unknown because slaves were not allowed to record their birth date. She worked as a nurse and a spy for the northern army. According to the secret history of the Underground Railroad magazine, it states that the railroad was not hidden, and a group of people made a little secret about runaways. The reason why they wanted to escape was that they had bad living conditions and they were forced to work although they did not get paid.

Where exactly did the Underground Railroad go? The network of routes stretched over 14 Northern states and “the promised land” of Canada, where fugitive slave hunters could not reach them. While some “passengers” would stop as they reached a free state such as PA, Ohio, or New Jersey, others would keep going until they got all the way to Canada. This enabled them to be 100 percent safe. While the slaves were escaping, many of the slaves owners would be trying to catch them. Safe houses, owned by both black and white people, let them stay there to hide while they rested. The people who gave them food, shelter, and even jobs, were called “engineers.” These

Would you walk over 800 miles, and risk your life to escape from slavery? Many slaves who tried to escape to freedom, were at a high risk of being caught and sent to jail or were harshly punished by their masters. The Underground Railroad was a system, that helped many slaves make it north. It was run by many famous slaves, and/or abolitionists. The Underground Railroad had many cities known today that saved the lives of countless slave and created notable names that made the railroad successful.

The Underground Railroad was one of the main attributes to the accomplishment of abolishing slavery. The Underground railroad was put together by runaway slaves and abolitionists; one of the main abolitionists was Harriet Tubman. Everyone knows who Tubman is but another one of the main, less known abolitionists was a man named William Still. William Still was an African American abolitionist, who was known as the father of the Underground Railroad. He was president of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, Still was an active part in the movement against slavery, and equal rights for all races.

As a nation, Canadians like to console themselves virtue wise with pride in Canada as an accepting nation. During the use of the underground railroad, it seems inherent that black individuals viewed Canada as safe haven where skin color did not matter at all. However, when world war one broke out, Canada’s response to black soldiers was racist because of their recruitment (or lack thereof), their role in the war, and a biased rewarding systems.

Slavery began in the early 1600’s and lasted until 1865 when it was finally abolished. For 265 years blacks in the United States were considered property and were treated like animals. Most slaves suffered immensely and did not have the same rights as other people in the United States. Since the slaves had no rights they had to come up with their own way of protesting. They came up with the brilliant idea of the Underground Railroad. escaped slaves make their way from southern states, into northern states where they would be considered free. The Underground Railroad, which was not a railroad and most certainly not underground, was a way to help escaped slaves make their way from southern states, into northern states where they would be considered

Back in the US when slaves were being used and sold, freedom for black men, women and children seemed impossible. From where they were found from, most were captured and sent from Africa against their own will, while others were born into the life of enslavement. Any owners who had promised freedom to their slaves was just a lie. This left them with only a choice to either stay to die of slavery or try to escape for a better life. Canada was surely the place they should resign to for free life, and the only way to reach there was the Underground Railroad.This was not as simple as it may sound, because fear was one main obstacle that stood in their way. With the chance of being spotted when escaping, the price could mean their life. And who

Slavery was a horrific action that took place for hundreds of years., The Underground Railroad was a way to escape this atrocity. The Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad that was underground, but instead a system of homes and places that would house runaway slaves and help them to escape to the North. The Underground Railroad was a dangerous thing, but had the great reward of, freedom for slaves, if theyyou successfully completed the challenge. It took great courage and bravery to take the chance to run away and become free. Many people would try to harm the runaways and would do anything to send them back to the slavery they wanted to escape from. Even with all these challenges the slaves found it worth the risk for the freedom, and many have told their stories of hardships and hope of freedom.

     The Underground Railroad, the pathway to freedom which led a numerous amount of African Americans to escape beginning as early as the 1700‘s, it still remains a mystery to many as to exactly when it started and why. (Carrasco). The Underground Railroad is known by many as one of the earliest parts of the antislavery movement. Although the system was neither underground nor a railroad, it was a huge success that will never be forgotten.

By the 1840s the Underground Railroad was known to be up and running, the first organized system to help runaway slaves.

Black and white people in the U.S. worked to undermine slavery by building the underground Railroad to help people escape from slavery to the North and to Canada. The underground Railroad was not run by one individual, it consisted of many individuals. Many whites and blacks tried to move over hundreds of slaves northward each year. An organized system to assist runaway slaves seemed to have begun towards the end of the

The Underground Railroad was a network of people who assisted fugitive slaves. Slaves that escaped from the south to the North and then to Canada. Run away slaves received assistance along the way from individuals who were involved in this network. The organization became successful the estimated 1810 and 1850, 100,000 slaves escaped from the South through the Underground Railroad. The abolition of slavery had been a concern for anti-slavery advocates since the inception of slavery. The first abolitionist society was in Pennsylvania in 1775. In time, individual anti-slavery advocates directly assisted in run away slaves escapes. Soon the Underground railroad became out in the open, others helped and a secret organization wasn’t so much of a

The Underground Railroad was not a railroad or underground. The Underground Railroad was a path for slaves to escape. More than 100,000 slaves escaped through the Underground Railroad. (History.com, history.com staff, paragraphs one and two) The slaves can thank people like Harriet Tubman because she was one of the people that helped the slaves leave and be free. There were other people, like William Still, Levi Coffin, and John Fairfield. One of the paths that went through the Underground Railroad was in Cincinnati, Ohio. Different paths extended through fourteen states and including Canada. The Underground Railroad was formed during the 1700-1790s. The Underground Railroad ended in 1861 when the Civil War started. (history.net, in between paragraphs one and two)