On September 17, 1849, Harriet, Ben and Henry escaped their Maryland plantation. The brothers, however, changed their minds and went back. With the help of the Underground Railroad, Harriet persevered and traveled 90 miles north to Pennsylvania and freedom.
What states did Harriet Tubman go through?
Harriet Tubman’s Path to Freedom
- Delaware. Bay. Dover. Maryland. Delaware. Denton. Chesapeake. Bay. Preston. Maryland. Delaware. Choptank. River. Cambridge. Bucktown. Salisbury.
- Maryland. Dover. Del. Cambridge. Chesapeake. Bay.
- Delaware. Bay. Dover. Maryland. Denton. Chesapeake. Bay. Preston. Choptank. River. Delaware. Cambridge. Salisbury.
What states did the Underground Railroad go through?
These were called “stations,” “safe houses,” and “depots.” The people operating them were called “stationmasters.” There were many well-used routes stretching west through Ohio to Indiana and Iowa. Others headed north through Pennsylvania and into New England or through Detroit on their way to Canada.
Where did Harriet Tubman run the Underground Railroad?
Harriet Tubman is credited with conducting upward of 300 enslaved people along the Underground Railroad from the American South to Canada. She showed extraordinary courage, ingenuity, persistence, and iron discipline.
What was Harriet Tubman’s route?
What is the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway? The byway is a self-guided driving tour that winds for 125 miles through Dorchester and Caroline Counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, then continues for 98 miles through Kent and New Castle Counties in Delaware before ending in Philadelphia.
How far south did Harriet Tubman travel?
Her journey was nearly 90 miles and it is unclear how long it took her. The Mason-Dixon Line was the demarcation of north and south, freedom and slavery. Who did Harriet Tubman marry? She was married twice.
Where did Harriet Tubman cross the Delaware River?
Blackbird State Forest Here, Harriet Tubman noted along her travels of a place called “Blackbird.” Tubman refers to Blackbird as one of her landmarks as she ventured through Delaware.
How long did the Underground Railroad take to travel?
The journey would take him 800 miles and six weeks, on a route winding through Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, tracing the byways that fugitive slaves took to Canada and freedom.
Did the Underground Railroad go through Maryland?
Baltimore was a major station on the Underground Railroad that began in Georgia and the Carolinas and passed through Virginia. The route continued through Central Maryland and into Pennsylvania. Most of these secret trails did not involve traditional 19th century railroads — steam locomotives and passenger cars.
Is Gertie Davis died?
But most sources suggest that when Tubman, in her late 20s, fled from the Edward Brodas plantation in Maryland’s Dorchester County in 1849, she went to Pennsylvania; an early biography, by her friend Sarah H. Bradford, says she reached Philadelphia.
Where did the Underground Railroad end in Canada?
Chatham, Ontario. The Buxton National Historic Site & Museum commemorates the Elgin Settlement: one of the final stops for the Underground Railroad.
What did Harriet Tubman do in Delaware?
The 2019 movie “Harriet” chronicles the story of Harriet Tubman (portrayed by Tony- and Grammy-winner Cynthia Eviro) and African-American abolitionist William Still (Leslie Odom Jr., “Hamilton”), as they collaborated with Delaware’s Thomas Garrett to aid escaping slaves on a Underground Railroad network that ran right
Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad was a network of people, both black and white, who helped escaped enslaved persons from the southern United States by providing them with refuge and assistance. It came forth as a result of the convergence of numerous separate covert initiatives. Although the exact dates of its inception are unknown, it was active from the late 18th century until the Civil War, after which its attempts to weaken the Confederacy were carried out in a less-secretive manner until the Civil War ended.
Quaker Abolitionists
The Society of Friends (Quakers) is often regarded as the first organized group to actively assist escaped enslaved persons. In 1786, George Washington expressed dissatisfaction with Quakers for attempting to “liberate” one of his enslaved servants. Abolitionist and Quaker Isaac T. Hopper established a network in Philadelphia in the early 1800s to assist enslaved persons who were on the run from slavery. Abolitionist organisations founded by Quakers in North Carolina lay the basis for escape routes and safe havens for fugitive slaves during the same time period.
What Was the Underground Railroad?
The Underground Railroad was first mentioned in 1831, when an enslaved man named Tice Davids managed to escape from Kentucky into Ohio and his master blamed a “underground railroad” for assisting Davids in his liberation. When a fugitive slave called Jim was apprehended in 1839 in Washington, the press said that the guy confessed his plan to travel north along a “underground railroad to Boston” while under torture. The Vigilance Committees, which were established in New York in 1835 and Philadelphia in 1838 to safeguard escaped enslaved persons from bounty hunters, rapidly expanded their duties to include guiding enslaved individuals on the run.
MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT: Harriet Tubman and her fellow fugitives used the following strategies to escape through the Underground Railroad:
How the Underground Railroad Worked
The majority of enslaved persons aided by the Underground Railroad were able to flee to neighboring states like as Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 made catching fugitive enslaved persons a lucrative industry in the deep South, and there were fewer hiding places for them as a result of the Act. The majority of fugitive enslaved people were on their own until they reached specific places farther north. The escaping enslaved people were escorted by individuals known as “conductors.” Private residences, churches, and schools were also used as hiding places throughout the war.
The personnel in charge of running them were referred to as “stationmasters.” There were several well-traveled roads that ran west through Ohio and into Indiana and Iowa.
While some traveled north via Pennsylvania and into New England, or through Detroit on their route to Canada, others chose to travel south. The Little-Known Underground Railroad That Ran South to Mexico.
Fugitive Slave Acts
Those enslaved persons who were assisted by the Underground Railroad were primarily from border states like as Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland (see map below). Fugitive slave capture became a lucrative industry in the deep South after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, and there were fewer hiding places for escaped slaves as a result. Refugee enslaved persons usually had to fend for themselves until they reached specified northern locations. In the runaway enslaved people’s journey, they were escorted by people known as “conductors.” Private residences, churches, and schools were among the hiding spots.
Stationmasters were the individuals in charge of running them.
Others traveled north via Pennsylvania and into New England, while others passed through Detroit on their route to the Canadian border.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was the most well-known conductor of the Underground Railroad during its heyday. When she and two of her brothers fled from a farm in Maryland in 1849, she was given the name Harriet (her married name was Tubman). She was born Araminta Ross, and she was raised as Harriet Tubman. They returned a couple of weeks later, but Tubman fled on her own again shortly after, this time making her way to the state of Pennsylvania. In following years, Tubman returned to the plantation on a number of occasions to rescue family members and other individuals.
Tubman was distraught until she had a vision of God, which led her to join the Underground Railroad and begin escorting other fugitive slaves to the Maryland state capital.
Frederick Douglass
In his house in Rochester, New York, former enslaved person and celebrated author Frederick Douglasshid fugitives who were assisting 400 escapees in their journey to freedom in Canada. Reverend Jermain Loguen, a former fugitive who lived in the adjacent city of Syracuse, assisted 1,500 escapees on their journey north. The Vigilance Committee was established in Philadelphia in 1838 by Robert Purvis, an escaped enslaved person who later became a trader. Josiah Henson, a former enslaved person and railroad operator, founded the Dawn Institute in Ontario in 1842 to assist fugitive slaves who made their way to Canada in learning the necessary skills to find work.
Agent,” according to the document.
John Parker was a free Black man living in Ohio who worked as a foundry owner and who used his rowboat to ferry fugitives over the Ohio River.
William Still was a notable Philadelphia citizen who was born in New Jersey to runaway slaves parents who fled to Philadelphia as children.
Who Ran the Underground Railroad?
In his house in Rochester, New York, former enslaved person and celebrated author Frederick Douglasshid fugitives and assisted 400 escapees in their journey to Canada. In addition to helping 1,500 escapees make their way north, former fugitive Reverend Jermain Loguen, who lived near Syracuse, was instrumental in facilitating their escape. The Vigilance Committee was founded in Philadelphia in 1838 by Robert Purvis, an escaped enslaved person who later became a businessman. Josiah Henson, a former enslaved person and railroad operator, founded the Dawn Institute in Ontario in 1842 to assist fugitive slaves who made their way to Canada in learning the necessary labor skills to support themselves.
Agent,” according to the document.
A free Black man in Ohio, John Parker was a foundry owner who used his rowboat to transport fugitives over the Ohio River.
William Still was a notable Philadelphia citizen who was born to runaway enslaved parents in New Jersey and raised as a free man in the city of Philadelphia.
John Brown
Abolitionist John Brown worked as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and it was at this time that he founded the League of Gileadites, which was dedicated to assisting fleeing enslaved individuals in their journey to Canada. Abolitionist John Brown would go on to play a variety of roles during his life. His most well-known duty was conducting an assault on Harper’s Ferry in order to raise an armed army that would march into the deep south and free enslaved people at gunpoint. Ultimately, Brown’s forces were beaten, and he was executed for treason in 1859.
- The year 1844, he formed a partnership with Vermont schoolteacher Delia Webster, and the two were jailed for assisting an escaped enslaved lady and her young daughter.
- Charles Torrey was sentenced to six years in jail in Maryland for assisting an enslaved family in their attempt to flee through Virginia.
- After being apprehended in 1844 while transporting a boatload of freed slaves from the Caribbean to the United States, Massachusetts sea captain Jonathan Walker was sentenced to prison for life.
- John Fairfield of Virginia turned down the opportunity to assist in the rescue of enslaved individuals who had been left behind by their families as they made their way north.
Fairfield’s strategy was to go around the southern United States appearing as a slave broker. He managed to elude capture twice. He died in 1860 in Tennessee, during the American Reconstruction Era.
End of the Line
Abolitionist He was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and it was during this time that he founded the League of Gileadites, an organization dedicated to aiding fleeing slaves in their journey to Canada. With the abolitionist movement, Brown would play a variety of roles, most notably leading an assault on Harper’s Ferry to raise an armed army that would march into the deep south and free enslaved people under threat of death. Eventually, Brown’s forces were defeated, and he was executed for treason in 1859.
- The year 1844, he formed a partnership with Vermont schoolteacher Delia Webster, and the two of them were jailed for aiding an escaped enslaved woman and her child escape.
- When Charles Torrey assisted an enslaved family fleeing through Virginia, he was sentenced to six years in jail in Maryland.
- was his base of operations; earlier, he had served as an abolitionist newspaper editor in Albany, New York.
- In addition to being fined and imprisoned for a year, Walker had the letters “SS” for Slave Stealer tattooed on his right hand.
- As a slave trader, Fairfield’s strategy was to travel across the southern states.
- Tennessee’s arebellion claimed his life in 1860, and he was buried there.
Sources
Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad is a book about the Underground Railroad. Fergus Bordewich is a Scottish actor. A Biography of Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom Catherine Clinton is the first lady of the United States. Who Exactly Was in Charge of the Underground Railroad? ‘Henry Louis Gates’ is a pseudonym for Henry Louis Gates. The Underground Railroad’s History in New York is a little known fact. The Smithsonian Institution’s magazine. The Underground Railroad’s Dangerous Allure is well documented.
Places of the Underground Railroad (U.S. National Park Service)
A map of the United States depicting the many paths that freedom seekers might follow in order to attain freedom. NPS provided the image. When enslaved African Americans attempted to obtain their escape via the use of an underground railroad network of routes, safehouses, and resources distributed across the country, they were referred to as “fugitives from justice.” This attempt was frequently spontaneous, with enslaved persons setting off on their quest to liberation on their own initiative.
During the 1820s and 1830s, the United States experienced a surge in the number of people who sought independence from oppression.
In certain instances, the choice to aid a freedom seeking may have been a result of a spur of the moment decision. When the Underground Railroad was purposeful and planned, as it was following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, it was a successful strategy.
Origins of the Underground Railroad
Enslaved people have long sought liberation, dating back to the earliest days of the institution of slavery. Colonial North America – which included Canada and the northern states of the United States – was heavily involved in the slave trade during the nineteenth century. Newly enslaved Africans frequently fled in groups with the intention of establishing new communities in isolated locations. Slavery was particularly widespread in the northern states, making escape extremely difficult. Before the mid-nineteenth century, Spanish Florida and Mexico were the most popular escape destinations for those fleeing bondage.
- The Clemens’ residence is owned by James and Sarah Clemens.
- Following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 by Congress, Canada became a shelter for many people who were hoping to gain their freedom.
- Those living in free Black communities in the North were devastated by this.
- However, as a result of these seizures and kidnappings, a large number of individuals were persuaded to provide assistance as part of the Underground Railroad.
- Formerly enslaved men and women also played an important part in assisting freedom seekers, such as the Clemens family, in their quest for freedom.
- In addition to establishing a school and a cemetery, they served as a station on the Underground Railroad from their residence.
- Bethel AME Church is a congregation of African-Americans.
The Role of Women in the Underground Railroad
Since the beginning of slavery, enslaved people have been striving for their liberation. In the slave trade, colonial North America — which included Canada and northern states in the United States – played a major role. In order to create new settlements in isolated places, newly enslaved Africans frequently formed groups and fled. Also prevalent in the northern states, slavery made emigrating more difficult. Spanish Florida and Mexico were popular escape destinations for many bondage evaders until the mid-1800s.
- The Clemens’ residence is owned by James and Sarah.
- This measure made it easy and profitable to pay slave catchers to track out and apprehend political dissidents and political prisoners.
- In many cases, slave hunters abducted African Americans who were in fact lawful citizens of the United States.
- Individuals, couples, and even families were among those who took part in the Underground Railroad network.
- The Greenville settlement in western Ohio was founded by James and Sophia Clemens.
A handful of freedom seekers made their way to Greenville as a last destination. Bethel AME Church is a congregation of African-American men and women. Smallbones’s photograph is in the public domain.
Legacy of the Underground Railroad
Locations related with the Underground Railroad may be found all throughout the United States, and a number of national preservation projects are devoted to recording these historical places of significance. In the case of the National Park Service’sNetwork to Freedomprogram, for example, the program includes locations that may be proven to have a link to the Underground Railroad. By working in conjunction with government agencies, people, and organizations to recognize, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, the Network to Freedom hopes to bring attention to this important part of human history.
- The Barney L.
- The public domain is a term used to describe a piece of property that is owned by the public.
- Identification, evaluation, and protection of America’s historic and archeological resources are the goals of this National Park Service initiative, which brings together public and private efforts.
- This is true of places such as theBarney L.
- With the help of the Underground Railroad, Barney was able to escape from his bondage.
- Barney finally settled in Denver, where he made a name for himself as a successful businessman.
- Barney was also an outspoken fighter for African-American civil rights, and he played a crucial part in Colorado’s admittance to the Union as a free state.
- Ford Building contribute to the telling of the tale of the Underground Railroad and its participants – both free and enslaved – in the United States.
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad, a vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to the North and to Canada, was not run by any single organization or person. Rather, it consisted of many individuals – many whites but predominently black – who knew only of the local efforts to aid fugitives and not of the overall operation. Still, it effectively moved hundreds of slaves northward each year – according to one estimate,the South lost 100,000 slaves between 1810 and 1850. An organized system to assist runaway slaves seems to have begun towards the end of the 18th century. In 1786 George Washington complained about how one of his runaway slaves was helped by a “society of Quakers, formed for such purposes.” The system grew, and around 1831 it was dubbed “The Underground Railroad,” after the then emerging steam railroads. The system even used terms used in railroading: 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.For the slave, running away to the North was anything but easy. The first step was to escape from the slaveholder. For many slaves, this meant relying on his or her own resources. Sometimes a “conductor,” posing as a slave, would enter a plantation and then guide the runaways northward. The fugitives would move at night. They would generally travel between 10 and 20 miles to the next station, where they would rest and eat, hiding in barns and other out-of-the-way places. While they waited, a message would be sent to the next station to alert its stationmaster.The fugitives would also travel by train and boat – conveyances that sometimes had to be paid for. Money was also needed to improve the appearance of the runaways – a black man, woman, or child in tattered clothes would invariably attract suspicious eyes. This money was donated by individuals and also raised by various groups, including vigilance committees.Vigilance committees sprang up in the larger towns and cities of the North, most prominently in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. In addition to soliciting money, the organizations provided food, lodging and money, and helped the fugitives settle into a community by helping them find jobs and providing letters of recommendation.The Underground Railroad had many notable participants, including John Fairfield in Ohio, the son of a slaveholding family, who made many daring rescues, Levi Coffin, a Quaker who assisted more than 3,000 slaves, and Harriet Tubman, who made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom. |
Harriet Tubman’s Path to Freedom (Published 2017)
After a three-day journey over the Eastern Shore, which included Tubman’s birthplace and the terrain she crossed with escaped slaves in tow, I arrived in Philadelphia, having traveled from Dorchester County through Delaware. My visit coincided with the resurgence of interest in Tubman in the state: The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, a $21 million project in Church Creek that commemorates Tubman’s journey from slave to Underground Railroad “conductor” and, later in life, Civil War scout, spy, and nurse, will open to the public on March 11.
As part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, which spans 125 miles and includes 36 historically significant locations on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the facility will be located on 17 acres of land on the Eastern Shore.
Initially, the region served as a gateway through which slave traders transported them from Africa to the colonies, and later as an important network of paths and waterways that served as a part of the Underground Railroad.
“However, few returned to the land of their enslavers, risking capture and re-enslavement, and even lynching, in order to assist others in their own struggle for freedom,” says Ms. Larson. Tubman was one of the select few.
In the Mire
Although the precise year of Harriet Tubman’s birth is uncertain, historians generally believe that she was born Araminta Ross in 1822 to Benjamin and Harriet (Rit) Greene Ross. When she married in 1844, she took on her mother’s first name, which she changed to Harriet Tubman. A native of Peters Neck, she was raised on a property owned by Anthony Thompson, a medical doctor and lumber tycoon, before moving to Bucktown with her family when she was a child. My first stop was the Bucktown farm of Edward Brodess, Dr.
It was a 20-minute drive from my hotel.
I came to numerous interesting places along the road, including:
3. Stanley Institute
Although the precise year of Harriet Tubman’s birth is uncertain, historians generally believe that she was born Araminta Ross in 1822 to Benjamin and Harriet (Rit) Greene Ross, and that she married Benjamin Tubman in 1844, taking on her mother’s last name. She was born in the adjacent hamlet of Peters Neck, on a property owned by Anthony Thompson, a medical doctor and lumber tycoon, and subsequently went to Bucktown with her family to live with them. My first stop was the Bucktown property of Edward Brodess, Dr.
It was a 20-minute drive from Cambridge.
The following places caught my attention while traveling:
4. Bucktown Village Store
The Bucktown Village Store, which dates back to Tubman’s time but has been refurbished, is still in operation. This is where Tubman first shown symptoms of disobedience as a teenager, and it was here that she suffered the consequences of her actions.
First Flight
Tubman had come to Bucktown Village Store one day with the chef of a slave owner, and they had crossed paths with an overseer who was having a disagreement with his slave. According to reports, the slave had fled the property without authorization. When the overseer ordered Tubman to assist him in restraining the guy, she refused, resulting in the slave breaking free. The overseer then took a two-pound weight off the counter, hurled it at the running slave, and instead hit Tubman in the back of the head.
She married John Tubman, a free black man, over a decade later, despite the fact that she remained in slavery to the Brodess family at the time.
When Tubman’s master died in 1849, she and two of her brothers, Harry and Ben, fled, afraid they would be sold into slavery. They subsequently returned, fearing they would face punishment.
The Return
Tubman left the farm shortly after returning, guided through the night by the North Star and the well-worn trails of the Underground Railroad up into Pennsylvania, where slavery was prohibited at the time. She would later write in her book about her experience of being free, which she described as “bittersweet.” She was free and lonely in Philadelphia, where she worked odd jobs to supplement her income. Tubman began planning her return to her hometown in order to bring her family with her: “I was free, and dey should be free as well.
- Tubman’s niece, Kessiah, was the subject of the sale.
- As soon as he received the highest price for Kessiah and their children, he transported them to a local safe house, where they were met by Tubman, who conducted them on a tour of Philadelphia until they reached the city’s harbor.
- Her visits to Maryland’s Eastern Shore numbered a dozen during the following decade, during which she saved the lives of around 70 family members and friends.
- The author of the Tubman biography, Ms.
- She used bribes to get others to do what she wanted.
- As she made her way north, she followed the stars and other natural phenomena.”
Due North
After crossing the border into Caroline County and entering Poplar Neck as the sun began to drop in Dorchester County, I continued northward. In addition to offering breathtaking vistas of the Choptank River, the region is rich in historical significance. Mount Pleasant Cemetery is located here, as is Tubman’s former home, where she escaped slavery in 1849 and returned later, in 1857, to free her parents from their then-owner, Dr. Thompson, who controlled 2,200 acres of land in this region.
Safe Houses of Worship
Fugitive slaves fleeing to Pennsylvania made their way through Maryland’s Eastern Seaboard, passing through Caroline County and into Kent County, Delaware, before arriving in Philadelphia.
In Dover, where they would regularly get assistance from free black and Quaker abolitionists, they would frequently make a pit stop. The Star Hill A.M.E. Church, which now serves as a small museum, was built on the site by the black community later on.
The Stationmaster
On my final day on the Eastern Shore, I was inspired by the Quakers’ dedication to the Underground Railroad to pay a visit to the Friends Meeting House in Wilmington, Del., which houses the burial site of Thomas Garrett, a Quaker abolitionist who was a close friend of Harriet Tubman and one of the most important “stationmasters” on the Underground Railroad during the abolitionist movement. Garrett supported over 2,700 enslaved persons on their path to liberation over the course of four decades, offering them with food, housing, money, and contacts to other abolitionists along the way.
In a letter sent in 1868, Garrett expressed his admiration for Tubman, saying, “For the truth be told, I never met with any individual, of whatever hue, who had greater trust in the voice of God.” Tubman had sent a letter to Ednah Dow Cheney, a philanthropist and suffragist, a decade earlier, in which she detailed her religious beliefs.
Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad
Taking a look at Harriet Tubman, who is considered the most renowned conductor on the Underground Railroad, our Headlines and Heroes blog. Tubman and those she assisted in their emancipation from slavery traveled north to freedom, occasionally crossing the Canadian border. While we’re thinking about the Texas origins of Juneteenth, let’s not forget about a lesser-known Underground Railroad that ran south from Texas to Mexico. In “Harriet Tubman,” The Sun (New York, NY), June 7, 1896, p. 5, there is a description of her life.
- Prints Photographs Division is a division of the Department of Photographs.
- Culture.
- She then returned to the area several times over the following decade, risking her life in order to assist others in their quest for freedom as a renowned conductor of the Underground Railroad (also known as the Underground Railroad).
- Prior to the Civil War, media coverage of her successful missions was sparse, but what is available serves to demonstrate the extent of her accomplishments in arranging these escapes and is worth reading for that reason.
- Her earliest attempted escape occurred with two of her brothers, Harry and Ben, according to an October 1849 “runaway slave” ad in which she is referred to by her early nickname, Minty, which she still uses today.
- Photograph courtesy of the Bucktown Village Foundation in Cambridge, Maryland.
- Her first name, Harriet, had already been chosen for her, despite the fact that the advertisement does not mention it.
She had also married and used her husband’s surname, John Tubman, as her own.
Slaves from the Cambridge, Maryland region managed to evade capture in two separate groups in October 1857.
In what the newspapers referred to as “a vast stampede of slaves,” forty-four men, women, and children managed to flee the situation.
3.
3.
Tubman and the majority of her family had been held in bondage by the Pattison family.
While speaking at antislavery and women’s rights conferences in the late 1800s, Tubman used her platform to convey her own story of slavery, escape, and efforts to save others.
There are few articles regarding her lectures during this time period since she was frequently presented using a pseudonym to avoid being apprehended and returned to slavery under the rules of the Federal Fugitive Slave Act.
“Harriet Tribbman,” in “Grand A.
Convention at Auburn, New York,” Anti-Slavery Bugle (Salem, Ohio), January 21, 1860, p.
“Grand A.
Convention in Auburn, New York,” Anti-Slavery Bugle (Salem, Ohio), January 21, 1860, p.
A description of Harriett Tupman may be found in “A Female Conductor of the Underground Railroad,” published in The Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA) on June 6, 1860, page 1.
In addition, when Tubman’s remarks were mentioned in the press, they were only quickly summarized and paraphrased, rather than being printed in their whole, as other abolitionists’ speeches were occasionally done.
With the rescue of Charles Nalle, who had escaped slavery in Culpeper, Virginia, but had been apprehended in Troy, New York, where Tubman was on a visit, Tubman’s rescue attempts shifted from Maryland to New York on April 27, 1860, and continued until the end of the year.
At the Woman’s Rights Convention in Boston in early June 1860, when Tubman spoke about these events, the Chicago Press and Tribunereporter responded with racist outrage at the audience’s positive reaction to Tubman’s story of Nalle’s rescue as well as her recounting of her trips back to the South to bring others to freedom.
- Later media coverage of Tubman’s accomplishments was frequently laudatory and theatrical in nature.
- On September 29, 1907, p.
- This and several other later articles are included in the book Harriet Tubman: Topics in Chronicling America, which recounts her early days on the Underground Railroad, her impressive Civil War service as a nurse, scout, and spy in the Union Army, and her post-war efforts.
- In keeping with contemporary biographies such asScenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman(1869) and Harriet, the Moses of her People(1886), both written by Sarah H.
- Taylor, financial secretary at Tuskegee Institute, certain content in these profiles may have been embellished from time to time.
This request was made in an essay written by Taylor shortly before to the release of his book, “The Troubles of a Heroine,” in which he requested that money be delivered directly to Tubman in order to pay off the mortgage on her property so that she may convert it into a “Old Folks’ Home.” On March 10, 1913, Tubman passed away in the Harriet Tubman Home for Aged Negroes in Auburn, New York, where she had lived for the previous twelve years.
While these newspaper stories provide us with crucial views into Harriet Tubman’s amazing heroics, they also serve as excellent examples of the variety of original materials available inChronicling America. More information may be found at:
- Harriet Tubman: A Resource Guide
- Harriet Tubman: A Resource Guide
- Runaway! from Slavery in America: A Resource Guide
- Slavery in America: A Resource Guide Newspaper advertisements for fugitive slaves, as well as a blog called Headlines and Heroes Topics in Chronicling America: Fugitive Slave Advertisements
A Guide to Resources on Harriet Tubman Runaway! from Slavery in America: A Resource Guide; Runaway! from Slavery in America: A Resource Guide Newspaper advertisements for fugitive slaves, as well as a blog called Headlines and Heroes; Topics in Chronicling America: Fugitive Slave Advertisements
The Underground Railroad in Indiana
Mary Schons contributed to this article. The 20th of June, 2019 is a Thursday. For 30 years before to the American Civil War, enslaved African Americans utilized the Underground Railroad to gain their freedom, a network known as the Underground Railroad (1861-1865). The “railroad” employed a variety of routes to transport people from slave-supporting states in the South to “free” states in the North and Canada. Sometimes abolitionists, or persons who were opposed to slavery, were responsible for organizing routes for the Underground Railroad.
- There was a great deal of activity on the Underground Railroad in the states that bordered the Ohio River, which served as a boundary between slave and free states.
- Not everyone in Indiana supported the emancipation of enslaved people.
- Because Indiana was a part of the Underground Railroad, its narrative is the tale of all states that had a role in it.
- However, while some people did have secret chambers in their homes or carriages, the great bulk of the Underground Railroad consisted of individuals surreptitiously assisting slaves who were attempting to flee slavery in whatever manner they were able to.
- The persons that were enslaved were referred to as “passengers.” “Stations” were private residences or commercial establishments where passengers and conductors seeking freedom might take refuge.
- If a new owner supported slavery, or if the residence was revealed to be a station on the Underground Railroad, passengers and conductors were obliged to locate a new station or move on somewhere.
- Only a small number of people kept records of this hidden activity in order to protect homeowners and others seeking freedom who required assistance.
People who were found assisting those who had fled slavery faced arrest and imprisonment.
No one knows exactly how the Underground Railroad received its name, nor does anybody care.
Another version of the story assigns the name to a freedom-seeker who was apprehended in Washington, D.C., in the year 1839.
A third narrative connects the name to an enslaved man called Tice Davids, who made the decision to pursue his freedom in 1831, according to the legend.
Unfortunately, there was no boat available to take us over the river.
His enslaver returned to Kentucky without him, claiming that Davids had vanished while traveling on a “underground railroad.” To put it another way, the name “Underground Railroad” had been widely accepted by the mid-1840s.
According to Article 6 of the Northwest Ordinance, slavery was prohibited north of the Ohio River; however, the rule did not apply to enslaved persons who were already residing in the region.
Slavery was a common feature of life in the Northwest Territories at the time.
Indiana was established as a territory in 1800, with future United States PresidentWilliam Henry Harrison serving as the area’s first territorial governor.
Harrison and his followers also believed that permitting slavery in Indiana would increase the state’s population.
Their petition was refused by Congress.
The “contract holder” has the authority to determine how long the victim must be held in slavery.
When Indiana became a state in 1816, its stateConstitutioncontained wording that was comparable to Article 6 of the Northwest Ordinance—new enslaved persons were not permitted, but existing enslaved people were allowed to continue in their current state of enslavement.
The term “slave” was still used to describe some Hoosiers as late as the 1820 census.
(White people were exempt from this requirement.) Indiana’s 1851 Constitution prohibited blacks from voting, serving in the military, or testifying in any trial in which a white person was accused of a crime.
All three pathways eventually went to Michigan and subsequently to Canada, although they took different routes.
Lewis Harding said in a 1915 history of Decatur County, Indiana, that the county was a spot where three roads came together after crossing the Ohio River at separate points in the county.
assisted the escaped slaves in every way imaginable,” he adds, using the injunction as an example.
As Harding says, “the sympathies of the majority of the residents of this nation were with the escaped slave and his rescuer.” Historians now feel that the path to independence resembled a spider’s web rather than three independent pathways to freedom.
While traveling, they had to avoid organized networks of patrolmen who grabbed freedom-seekers and held them hostage for ransom money.
Known as the “President of the Underground Railroad,” Coffin is credited for bringing slavery to Indiana in 1826.
In his memoir, Reminiscences, Coffin tells the story of two girls who escaped Tennessee and sought refuge with their grandparents in the Indiana county of Randolph.
They were not, however, destined to live in safety.
When the alarm went off, it attracted the majority of the settlement’s black people together in a single location.
Unknown to them, an uncle of the two girls rode up on his horse at the same time the enslaver was being held at bay by the grandmother’scorn knife.
They were not given any authorization to enter the premises or search for items, according to him.” The uncle remained at the doorway for as long as he could to continue the dispute with the enslaver.
According to the account, the girls were disguised as guys and sneaked past the crowd to where two horses were waiting for them.
The girls were able to make it to Coffin’s residence without incident.
Eliza Harris’s Indefatigable Escape Indiana is the scene of one of the most famous slave escapes in history, which took place in the state of Indiana.
Harris made the snap decision to flee to Canada with her infant son in tow.
There were no bridges, and there was no way for a raft to get through the thick ice.
Moving from one ice floe to another while carrying her child, she eventually made it to the other end.
Eliza, in fact, is the name of the character who travels across the frigid Ohio.
In order to recover from their ordeal, Harris and her child traveled to Levi Coffin’s Fountain City residence.
In 1854, Levi and Catherine Coffin were on a visit to Canada with their daughter when a woman approached Catherine and introduced herself.
God’s blessings on you!” It was Eliza Harris, who had safely migrated to Chatham, Ontario, Canada, when the call came through.
Illustration provided courtesy of The Library of Congress is a federal government institution that collects and organizes information.
Examine the list of locations to determine if any are in your immediate vicinity.
But it was carried out according to a completely other set of rules.
.
Levi Coffin’s Reminiscences, published in 1880abet Help is a verb that refers to assisting in the committing of a crime.
abolitionist A person who is opposed to slavery as a noun.
authority Making choices is the responsibility of a nounperson or organization.
The payment of a fine or the performance of a contract under the terms of an agreement constitutes a bond, which is an unenforceable agreement.
cattle Andoxen are nouncows.
The American Civil War The American Civil War was fought between the Union (north) and the Confederacy between 1860 and 1865.
conductor A person who escorted slaves to safety and freedom on the Underground Railroad was known as a guide.
The House of Representatives and the Senate are the two chambers of the United States Congress.
convictVerb to find someone guilty of committing a criminal offense.
Municipality is a type of political entity that is smaller than a state or province, but often larger than a city, town, or other municipality.
defendantNounperson or entity who has been accused of committing a crime or engaging in other misconduct.
economy The production, distribution, and consumption of commodities and services are all referred to as a system.
enslave acquainted with the verbto completely control Adjectivewell-known.
forbidVerb to ban or prohibit something.
fugitive a noun or an adjective that has gotten away from the law or another limitation a system or order established by a country, a state, or any other political body; government Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American writer and abolitionist activist who lived from 1811 to 1896.
Nouna huge, flat sheet of ice that is floating on the surface of a body of water.
labor is a noun that refers to work or employment.
Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the term negronoun was frequently used to refer to persons of African descent.
During the American Civil War, the North was comprised of states that backed the United States (Union).
A portion of the modern-day states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota belonged to the Northwest Territory at the time of its creation.
The Ohio River is the greatest tributary of the Mississippi River, with a length of 1,580 kilometers (981 miles).
passenger A fugitive slave seeking freedom on the Underground Railroad is referred to as a noun.
Requests are made verbally, and are frequently accompanied by a document signed by the respondents.
prominentAdjectivethat is significant or stands out.
recover from an accident or strenuous activityVerb to recover from an injury or rigorous activity repeal a verb that means to reverse or reject anything that was previously guaranteed rouse a verb that means to awaken or make active.
Slavery is a noun that refers to the act of owning another human being or being owned by another human being (also known as servitude).
South During the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America (Confederacy) was backed or sympathized with by a huge number of states.
Supreme CourtNounin the United States, the highest judicial authority on questions of national or constitutional significance.
terminology A noungroup of words that are employed in a particular topic area.
Nounland that is protected against invaders by an animal, a person, or the government.
the southern hemisphere Geographic and political territory in the south-eastern and south-central sections of the United States that includes all of the states that sided with the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
unconstitutional Adjective that refers to a violation of the laws of the United States Constitution.
9th President of the United States of America, William Henry HarrisonNoun (1773-1841). (1841). word-of-mouth Informal communication, sometimes known as rumor or rumor mill. NounA official order issued by a government or other authoritative body.
Media Credits
Mary Schons contributed to this report. on the 20th of June in the year of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ When enslaved black Americans attempted to gain their freedom in the 30 years preceding the American Civil War, they turned to the Underground Railroad for assistance (1861-1865). Slavery-supporting states in the South were served by a network of “railroads” that connected them to “free” states in the North and Canada. Sometimes abolitionists, people who were opposed to slavery, organized routes for the Underground Railroad.
- There was a great deal of activity on the Underground Railroad in the states that bordered the Ohio River, which served as a border between slave and free states.
- Despite widespread support for emancipation, not all Hoosiers were on board with it.
- Because Indiana was a part of the Underground Railroad, its history is the story of all states that participated in it.
- To the dismay of many, the Underground Railroad did not consist of a network of underground passageways.
- People who traveled south to find enslaved people who were looking for freedom were referred to as “pilots” in railroad jargon.
- “Passengers” were the term used to describe the enslaved.
- With each change in ownership of the house, additional or fewer stations were added to the Underground Railroad network.
It was done in a quiet manner, by word of mouth, that the stations were being established.
Liberation seekers would be forced to return to slavery if they were apprehended and brought to justice.
Slavery was supported by both states that supported slavery and free states, and this applied to both groups.
According to one account, the term was coined by failed Pennsylvania patrolmen who attempted to kidnap freedom seekers.
He claimed that he collaborated with others to flee to the North, where “the railroad ran underground all the way to Boston,” after being tortured by his captors.
Eventually, Davids managed to get away from his Kentucky enslaver and make it to the Ohio River in time.
When Davids realized he was about to be captured, he swam across the river to the other side and slipped out of sight.
To put it another way, the term “Underground Railroad” had become widely used by the mid-1840s.
When the new United States government established the Northwest Territory in 1787, it included the land that would eventually become Indiana as part of that territory.
Even though no one else was allowed to be enslaved in 1787, people who were enslaved in 1787 remained so.
Vincennes and FloydCountyin the south, and as far north as La Porte, are two places where evidence of slavery has been found.
Because Harrison believed that slavery would help the economy grow, he encouraged its use.
For a period of ten years, the politicians and business leaders of Indiana petitioned Congress to remove Article 6.
Indiana Territory House of Representatives established a new legislation in 1805 that allowed persons to keep enslaved people who had been bought in the United States after they were brought to the country.
Property was extended to the enslaved person’s offspring, as well.
Indiana was a free state by 1816, yet it was not a welcoming environment for African-Americans.
) (This was not required of white people.
Indiana’s Underground Railroad (also known as the Indiana Underground Railroad System) There were three main routes of the Underground Railroad in Indiana, according to popular belief at the time of the discovery.
The slavery trade in Canada was abolished in 1833.
Decatur County, Indiana, was described by Lewis Harding in his history of the county published in 1915 as a place where three routes came together after crossing the Ohio River at various points.
assisted the fugitive slaves in every way possible,” he writes, citing the injunction as his source.
As Harding writes, “the sympathies of the vast majority of the citizens of this country were with the fugitive slave and his aid.” Rather than three distinct routes to freedom, historians now believe the path to freedom resembled a spider’s web.
While traveling, they had to avoid organized networks of patrolmen who kidnapped freedom-seekers and held them hostage in exchange for ransom payments.
Levi Coffin of Newport, Indiana, was the most well-known Underground Railroad “station master” in the state (now called Fountain City).
The couple claimed to have housed approximately 2,000 people over the course of two decades, spreading bedrolls on their kitchen floor to accommodate as many people as they could fit in.
“It was there that the girls stayed after their long and perilous journey of enjoying their newly gained independence and hoping that their master would never find out where they had gone.” They had no intention of remaining in safety, however.
Their captor, as well as a band of men from Richmond and Winchester, were awakened by this event.
Around the grandparents’ cabin, more than 200 people gathered to surround and protect them from harm.
“He demanded to see the writ, which was handed to him by the officer,” Levi explains.
He denied that they were given any authority to enter the house and search for property.” The uncle remained at the doorway as long as he could to continue the debate with the enslaver.
According to the story, the girls were disguised as boys and smuggled through the crowd to a location where two horses awaited for them.
To Coffin’s house, the girls were able to make it without incident.
One of Eliza Harris’ children was sold for money in the winter of 1830, according to her enslaver, who she overheard saying he was planning to sell another of her children for money.
Eventually, she managed to slip away and flee to the Ohio River.
Harris jumped onto a chunk of ice floating in the river after hearing her enslaver’s horse approaching.
It was in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, that Harris’ daring escape was recounted.
It went on to become one of the most influential novels in history, causing many Americans to sympathize with enslaved people and abolitionists as a result of reading it.
They then reportedly spent some time in the nearby town of Pennville, Indiana, before continuing their journey northwards.
“How are you, Aunt Katie?” the woman exclaimed as she snatched Catherine’s hand in her own.
God bless you!” It was Eliza Harris, who had safely relocated to Chatham, Ontario, Canada, from her previous residence in the United Kingdom.
Thank you for using this illustration National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (also known as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)) The Underground Railroad Has Arrived.
Analyze the list of locations to determine if any are in your immediate vicinity.
A completely different approach was taken in its execution.
.
1880abet, Levi Coffin wrote his reminiscences.
abolish is a verb that means to eliminate or eliminate something.
accommodate Provide or satisfy is a verb.
presumptive or presumptiveAdjectives that are alleged Roughly Adjective that refers to a figure that is either general or close to exact.
baffle verb to be perplexed and annoyed The payment of a fine or the performance of a contract under the terms of an agreement is referred to as a bond.
cattle ‘Nouncows’ are a type of adverb.
In the American Civil War (also known as the American Revolutionary War), The American conflict between the Union (north) and the Confederacy between 1860 and 1865 is referred to as the American Civil War (south).
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate comprise the United States Congress.
Someone is found guilty of an illegal act when they are found guilty by a jury.
An administrative unit that is smaller than a state or province but typically larger than a city, town, or other municipality.
DefendantNounperson or organization who has been accused of engaging in criminal activity or another type of misconduct dwell To reside in a specific location is the verb to reside.
encourage Verb to motivate or encourage someone or something.
well-known Adjectivewell-known.
forbidVerb to forbid or prohibit something from happening.
fugitive a noun or an adjective that has gotten away from a law or other constraint a system or order established by a nation, a state, or some other political unit Noun Abolitionist leader and author Harriet Beecher StoweNoun(1811-1896) was an American writer and activist who was active in the abolitionist movement.
- ice floe influential Important in terms of having the ability to influence the opinions or attitudes of others; influential in terms of being influential in terms of being influential.
- Nounwork or employment is defined as: labor.
- A network is a series of interconnected links that allows for movement and communication.
- a region of the United States that stretched between the Mississippi River and Pennsylvania’s western border, and north of the Ohio River (from 1787 to 1803).
- novelNounA fictional narrative or story that is told in a fictional manner.
- ostensibly It is a noun that means to pretend or show up.
- perilousAdjectivedangerous.
pilot Person who traveled to slave states in search of slaves desiring freedom and willing to risk their lives in order to obtain it was known as an informer on the Underground Railroad.
adjective important or distinguishing itself from the rest of the crowd ransom Property release or return fees are referred to as nounfees.
repeal Something that was previously guaranteed is being overturned or rejected.
slave hunter Uncountable person who goes in search of fugitive slaves with the intention of forcing them back into slavery.
smuggle Take something secretly or steal it is the definition of the word “steal.” South An ill-defined geographic region primarily composed of states that either supported or were sympathetic to the Confederate States of America (Confederacy) during the American Civil War.
Those who sympathize with the Supreme CourtNounthe highest judicial authority in the United States on issues of national or constitutional significance To understand or share a feeling or emotion is to use the verb understand.
terrain Topographic features of a particular area are denoted by the noun.
a region in the southeastern United States a geological and political region in the south-eastern and south-central regions of the United States that includes all of the states that supported the Confederacy during the American civil war In Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote an anti-slavery novel in 1852, which became known as the Uncle Tom’s Cabin Noun.
9th President of the United States, William Henry HarrisonNoun (1773-1841). (1841). word-of-mouth Informal communication, also known as rumor, NounA formal order issued by a government or other authoritative authority.
Writer
Mary Schons is a writer who lives in New York City.
Editors
Kara West, Emdash Editing, Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing
Producer
Kara West, Emdash Editing, Jeannie Evers, and Emdash Publishing
Last Updated
The 20th of June, 2019 Permissions Granted to Users Users’ permissions are detailed in our Terms of Service, which you can see by clicking here. Alternatively, if you have any issues regarding how to reference something from our website in your project or classroom presentation, please speak with your instructor. They will be the most knowledgeable about the selected format. When you contact them, you will need to provide them with the page title, URL, and the date on which you visited the item.
Media
If a media asset is available for download, a download button will show in the lower right corner of the media viewer window. If no download or save button displays, you will be unable to download or save the material.
Text
It is possible to download media assets from the media viewer by clicking on the download button located in the upper right corner. The media cannot be downloaded or saved if there is no button visible.
Interactives
Any interactives on this page can only be accessed and used while you are currently browsing our site. Interactives are not available for download.