What Role Did The Quakers Play In The Underground Railroad? (Solved)

Quakers played a vital role in facilitating their settlement and helped other fugitive slaves reach freedom through the Underground Railroad in the region. A notable Underground Railroad station in the region was the Quaker settlement of Chambersburg.

• The Quaker campaign to end slavery can be traced back to the late 1600s, and many played a pivotal role in the Underground Railroad. In 1776, Quakers were prohibited from owning slaves, and 14 years later they petitioned the U.S. Congress for the abolition of slavery.

What roles did people play on the Underground Railroad?

People known as “conductors” guided the fugitive enslaved people. Hiding places included private homes, churches and schoolhouses. These were called “stations,” “safe houses,” and “depots.” The people operating them were called “stationmasters.”

Who were the Quakers and why are they important to the story of slavery?

By the early 1800s, the Quakers had become devoted abolitionists and helped slaves to escape through the Underground Railroad, a secret network that aimed to transport slaves to free states or territories.

What impact did the Quakers have on the institution of slavery in North Carolina?

Over the years, the Quakers gradually achieved the slaves’ freedom by transferring the slaves to Quakers who left North Carolina to live in free states. Upon arrival in a free state, the Quaker “slave owner” would then set the slave free.

What did the Quakers do during the Civil War?

Third, Quakers influenced the liberal policy Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton adopted toward citizens whose pacifist religious principles led them to resist military service after the Union passed its first conscription law in March 1863.

Who is the leader of the Underground Railroad?

Harriet Tubman (1822-1913), a renowned leader in the Underground Railroad movement, established the Home for the Aged in 1908. Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman gained her freedom in 1849 when she escaped to Philadelphia.

Who was the most important person in the Underground Railroad?

HARRIET TUBMAN – The Best-Known Figure in UGR History Harriet Tubman is perhaps the best-known figure related to the underground railroad. She made by some accounts 19 or more rescue trips to the south and helped more than 300 people escape slavery.

Why are the Quakers important?

Quakers have been a significant part of the movements for the abolition of slavery, to promote equal rights for women, and peace. They have also promoted education and the humane treatment of prisoners and the mentally ill, through the founding or reforming of various institutions.

What was the goal of the Quakers?

Quakers are followers of a religious movement that began as an offshoot of Christianity in 17th century England. The movement emphasizes equal, inward access to God for all people.

Why were they called Quakers?

George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends in England, recorded that in 1650 “Justice Bennet of Derby first called us Quakers because we bid them tremble at the word of God.” It is likely that the name, originally derisive, was also used because many early Friends, like other religious enthusiasts, themselves

How did the Quakers help end slavery?

The Quaker campaign to end slavery can be traced back to the late 1600s, and many played a pivotal role in the Underground Railroad. In 1776, Quakers were prohibited from owning slaves, and 14 years later they petitioned the U.S. Congress for the abolition of slavery.

What are Quaker beliefs?

The essence of the Quakers Quakers seek religious truth in inner experience, and place great reliance on conscience as the basis of morality. They emphasise direct experience of God rather than ritual and ceremony. They believe that priests and rituals are an unnecessary obstruction between the believer and God.

Did Quakers pay taxes?

Most Quakers were opposed to taxes designated specifically for military purposes. Though the official position of the Society of Friends was against any payment of war taxes. A number of Quakers even refused the “mixed taxes.” Up to 500 Quakers were disowned for paying war taxes or joining the army.

Did Quakers fight in civil war?

Bacon states that only two or three hundred Quakers enlisted in the entire Union Army. 1 Chester Dunhan in The Attitude ofthe Northern Clergy Toward the South, 1860-1865 asserts that when actual fighting commenced in 1861 Friends maintained their pacifist principles just as they had since colonial days.

What was settled by the Quakers?

Many Quakers settled in Rhode Island, due to its policy of religious freedom, as well as the British colony of Pennsylvania which was formed by William Penn in 1681 as a haven for persecuted Quakers.

What were Quakers quizlet?

A Quaker was a member of a religious movement know as the The Religious Society of Friends. Quakers valued peace, women’s rights, and opposed slavery. The Quakers affected the establishment of Pennsylvania in several ways.

Quaker Activism

The Quaker struggle to abolish slavery dates back to the late 1600s, and many Quakers were instrumental in the establishment of the Underground Railroad. Quakers were forbidden from having slaves in 1776, and it was not until 14 years later that they petitioned the United States Congress for the abolition of slavery. A core Quaker principle is that all human beings are equal and worthy of respect. As a result, the battle for human rights has expanded to include many other areas of society in addition to religious communities.

As one of the very first suffragettes, Lucretia Mott of the Quaker sect was a staunch abolitionist who refused to use cotton fabric, cane sugar, or any other slavery-produced items in her ministry.

Towards the close of the Civil War, Mott assisted in bringing together the first American women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York, and was elected as the organization’s first president after it was reorganized as the American Equal Rights Association.

Susan B.

1. Through the twentieth century, the Quaker commitment to improving the lives of women remained unwavering.
2. The concept that all persons are deserving of respect was extended to criminals as well as to others.
3. Quakers were also instrumental in bringing about significant changes in the treatment of the mentally sick.
4. Quaker doctrine holds that violence and strife are contrary to God’s will, which is one of its fundamental tenants.

Underground Railroad

An informal network of secret passageways and safe homes used by fleeing slaves in the United States of America on their trip north to “Free States” or Canada has been known as the Underground Railroad since the 1840s, when the name was first used. In addition to twenty-nine states, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean were included in the territory. Along with many others, Quakers played an important role in the event. It was referred to as a “Underground Railroad” because it was kept hidden, and as a “Railroad” because it indicated the route taken by fleeing slaves on their way to freedom.

• “Stockholders” were those who made contributions of money or products to aid the cause.
• “Conductors” were people who planned the routes and who frequently assisted and accompanied the slaves in their quest for freedom on the Underground Railroad.
• Stations were typically between 10 and 20 miles apart, and the travelers either walked between them or hid in covered wagons or carts with false bottoms while traveling between stations.
• The exact date when the Underground Railroad got its inception is unknown.

According to Washington’s letter to Robert Morris, a slave had escaped from one of his neighbours, and “a society of Quakers, organized for such reasons, had sought to liberate him.acting in a manner abhorrent to justice.in my judgment highly impolitic with respect to the State.” Over 3,000 persons were employed by the Underground Railroad by 1850, according to historical records.

African Americans such as Harriet Tubman (a former slave who made 19 journeys to help first her own family and then other slaves) made the most significant contributions, but many others were also involved, including members of Methodist and other evangelical groups, as well as Quakers and other religious groups.

1. Among the other Underground Railroad Quaker strongholds were Salem, Iowa; Newport; Alum Creek; Cass County; Farmington; and New Bedford, Massachusetts.
2. Thomas Garrett (1789 – 1871), a Quaker, is credited with assisting almost 2,700 slaves in their escape from slavery and was known as the “station master” of the final Underground Railroad station, which was located in Wilmington, Delaware.
3. Quaker Levi Coffin (1798 – 1877), who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, was known as the “President of the Underground Railroad” because of his work on the Underground Railroad.
4. Some Quakers, however, did not believe that acting outside the law was justified, despite their empathy for the slaves’ condition.
5. By the middle of the nineteenth century, it is believed that over 50,000 slaves had escaped from the slave states of the South through the use of the Underground Railroad.
6. It is possible that federal marshals who failed to apprehend an accused runaway slave may be fined $1,000.

The Underground Railroad did not come to an end as a result of the Fugitive Slave Act. With the abolition of slavery at the conclusion of the American Civil War, it came to a logical conclusion (1861-65).

8 Key Contributors to the Underground Railroad

Isaac Hopper, an abolitionist, is shown in this image from the Kean Collection/Getty Images. As early as 1786, George Washington expressed dissatisfaction with a “organization of Quakers, founded for such reasons,” which had sought to free a neighbor’s slave. Quakers were instrumental in the establishment of the Underground Railroad. Slavery was opposed in especially in Philadelphia, where Isaac Hopper, a Quaker who converted to Christianity, created what has been described as “the first working cell of the abolitionist underground.” Hopper not only protected escaped slave hunters in his own house, but he also constructed a network of safe havens and recruited a web of spies in order to get insight into their plans.

Hopper, a friend of Joseph Bonaparte, the exiled brother of the former French emperor, went to New York City in 1829 and established himself as a successful businessman.

READ MORE: The Underground Railroad and Its Operation

2. John Brown

John Brown, an abolitionist, about 1846 GraphicaArtis/Getty Images courtesy of Similar to his father, John Brown actively participated in the Underground Railroad by hosting runaways at his home and warehouse and organizing an anti-slave catcher militia following the adoption of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, which he inherited from his father. The next year, he joined several of his sons in the so-called “Bleeding Kansas” war, leading one attack that resulted in the deaths of five pro-slavery settlers in 1856.

Brown’s radicalization continued to grow, and his ultimate act occurred in October 1859, when he and 21 supporters seized the government arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an effort to incite a large-scale slave uprising.

3. Harriet Tubman

John Brown, an abolitionist, about 1846. Image via Getty Images courtesy of GraphicaArtis Following the adoption of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, John Brown, like his father before him, actively participated in the Underground Railroad, sheltering runaways at his home and warehouse and forming an anti-slave catcher militia. The next year, he and many of his sons took part in the so-called “Bleeding Kansas” war, leading one raid that ended in the death of five pro-slavery settlers. The next month, in December 1858, Brown raided three Missouri plantations, freeing 11 enslaved individuals, after which he and his fugitive companions embarked on a roughly 1,500-mile trip across the continent to Canada.

The next December, Brown was apprehended and convicted, and he was executed.

4. Thomas Garrett

John Brown, an abolitionist who lived around the year 1846. Getty Images/GraphicaArtis Following the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, John Brown, like his father before him, actively participated in the Underground Railroad, hiding runaways at his home and warehouse and creating an anti-slave catcher militia. He later took part in the so-called “Bleeding Kansas” battle, commanding a raid in 1856 that resulted in the deaths of five pro-slavery settlers. Another attack in December 1858 resulted in the liberation of 11 enslaved individuals from three Missouri plantations, following which Brown and his fugitive companions embarked on a roughly 1,500-mile trip to Canada to avoid capture.

The next December, Brown was apprehended and convicted, and he was then executed.

5. William Still

William Still is a well-known author and poet. Photograph courtesy of the Hulton Archive/Getty Images Many runaways traveled from Wilmington, the final Underground Railroad station in the slave state of Delaware, to the office of William Still in adjacent Philadelphia, which was the last stop on their journey. The Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, which provided food and clothing, coordinated escapes, raised funds, and otherwise served as a one-stop social services shop for hundreds of fugitive slaves each year, was chaired by Still, who was a free-born African American.

Still ultimately produced a book in which he chronicled the personal histories of his guests, which offered valuable insight into the operation of the Underground Railroad as a whole.

His assistance to Osborne Anderson, the only African-American member of John Brown’s company to survive the Harpers Ferry raid, was another occasion when he was called upon.

6. Levi Coffin

Charles T. Webber’s painting The Underground Railroad depicts fleeing slaves Levi Coffin, his wife Catherine, and Hannah Haydock providing assistance to the group of fugitive slaves. Getty Images/Bettina Archive/Getty Images Levi Coffin, often known as the “president of the Underground Railroad,” is said to have been an abolitionist when he was seven years old after witnessing a column of chained slaves people being taken to an auction house. Following a humble beginning delivering food to fugitives holed up on his family’s North Carolina plantation, he rose through the ranks to become a successful trader and prolific “stationmaster,” first in Newport (now Fountain City), Indiana, and subsequently in Cincinnati, Kentucky.

In addition to hosting anti-slavery lectures and abolitionist sewing club meetings, Coffin, like his fellow Quaker Thomas Garrett, stood steadfast when hauled before a court of law.

His writings state that “the dictates of humanity came in direct conflict with the law of the land,” and that “we rejected the law.”

7. Elijah Anderson

The Ohio River, which formed the border between slave and free states, was referred to as the River Jordan in abolitionist circles because it represented the border between slave and free states. Madison, Indiana, was an especially appealing crossing point for enslaved persons on the run, because to an Underground Railroad cell established there by blacksmith Elijah Anderson and several other members of the town’s Black middle class in the 1850s. With his fair skin, Anderson might have passed for a white slave owner on his repeated travels into Kentucky, where would purportedly pick up 20 to 30 enslaved persons at a time and whisk them away to freedom, sometimes accompanying them as far as the Coffins’ mansion in Newport.

An anti-slavery mob devastated Madison in 1846, almost drowning an agent of the Underground Railroad, prompting Anderson to flee upriver to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he eventually settled.

8. Thaddeus Stevens

Mr. Thaddeus Stevens is an American lawyer and senator. Bettmann Archive courtesy of Getty Images; Matthew Brady/Bettmann Archive Thaddeus Stevens, a representative from Pennsylvania, was outspoken in his opposition to slavery. The 14th and 15th amendments, which guaranteed African-American citizens equal protection under the law and the right to vote, respectively, were among his many accomplishments, and he also advocated for a radical reconstruction of the South, which included the redistribution of land from white plantation owners to former enslaved people.

Despite this, it wasn’t until 2002 that his Underground Railroad activities were brought to light, when archeologists uncovered a hidden hiding hole in the courtyard of his Lancaster house.

Seward, also served as Underground Railroad “stationmasters” during the era.

Faith In Action: Quakers and the Underground Railroad

• One such resource is a map of underground railroad routes, which may be found on a computer with Internet connection.

Preparation for Activity

• The National Geographic webpage on the Underground Railroad should be shown on the computer
• Make copies of Leader Resource 1 and distribute them to everyone for viewing. Optional: More information on Quakers and the Underground Railroad may be found at suite101.com and How Stuff Works.

Description of Activity

The relationship between the Quakers and the Underground Railroad is explained to the youth. Begin by inquiring of the participants about their knowledge of the Underground Railroad. Inform participants that Quakers played a significant role in the operation of the Underground Railroad, a system through which persons who were enslaved were assisted in their escape to the northern states and Canada during the American Civil War. The abolitionist movement – the effort to put an end to slavery – had its start with the ministry of the Quakers, who preached abolition throughout the United States and territories throughout the early nineteenth century.

The routes begin in the southern states of the United States and conclude in Canada or the northern states.

Allow people to take turns interacting with the interactive website. National Geographic produced the documentary The Underground Railroad: The Journey. Consider the following questions as you go through the activity:

• Despite the fact that Quakers were among the earliest members of the abolitionist movement and were engaged in the Underground Railroad throughout the country’s early history, many Quakers were also slave traffickers and owners during the country’s early history. Does this come as a surprise to you? According to the interactive site, the majority of slaves were urged to continue their journey into Canada. Why? Does this come as a surprise to you? Tell me about anything else you took away from the interactive site. What happened to Thomas Garrett, the Quaker who was jailed for assisting fugitive slaves in his quest for freedom? What happened to the fugitive slaves that were apprehended? Do you still believe that persons who assisted the Underground Railroad were courageous, despite the fact that the punishment for a white Quaker who assisted an African American slave was far less severe than the punishment for the slave himself? War, according to many Quakers, is sinful. In Africa, a large number of slaves perished as a result of battle. What, in your opinion, was the impact of this on Quaker attitudes on slavery? What impact did religious convictions play in persuading many Quakers to oppose slavery?

Download the whole Building Bridges (Word)(PDF) document to modify or print at your leisure.

Quakers in the abolition movement – Wikipedia

Abolitionists in both the United Kingdom and the United States of America, including members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), played a significant part in the abolitionist movement. In the American colonies and Europe, Quakers were among the first white people to denounce slavery, and the Society of Friends was the first organization to take a collective stand against both slavery and the slave trade, later spearheading the international and ecumenical campaigns against slavery in the nineteenth century.

Beginnings

Slavery in Barbados was initially questioned by Quaker colonists in the 1670s, and it was only in 1688 that slavery was publicly rejected. It was in that year that four German settlers (including the Lutheran Francis Daniel Pastorius and three Quakers) made a complaint from the settlement of Germantown, which was near to Philadelphia in the newly created American colony of Pennsylvania. The actions of William Southeby, John Hepburn, Ralph Sandiford, and Benjamin Lay ushered in nearly a century of vigorous debate about the morality of slavery among Pennsylvanian Quakers, which resulted in anti-slavery writing and direct action from several Quakers, including William Southeby, John Hepburn, Ralph Sandiford, and Benjamin Lay.

Slavery was opposed by a new generation of Quakers, including John Woolman, Anthony Benezet, David Cooper, and others, who urged that Quaker society break its connections with the slave trade.

The London Yearly Meetingsfollowed suit, declaring a’strong minute’ condemning slave trading in 1761, as a result of the slave trade.

Quakers on both sides of the Atlantic would be divided by the American Revolution.

United Kingdom

Throughout the United Kingdom, Quakers would be at the forefront of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which, despite a number of setbacks, would be responsible for forcing the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807 and the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire by 1838, among other accomplishments.

United States

Quakers would have less success if they tried to establish themselves in the United States. Often, it was simpler for Quakers to express their opposition to the slave trade and slave ownership in general terms than it was for them to express their opposition to the system of slavery as it expressed itself in their own local communities. As individuals spoke out against slavery after the United States gained freedom, local Quaker meetings were frequently split on how to respond to slavery; vocal Quaker abolitionists were occasionally harshly condemned by their fellow Quakers.

• The wording of a “minute taken at ‘that Quarterly Meeting held at Providence Meeting-house on the first day of the Sixth month, 1715′” may be found in The Friend, Vol.
• The text is as follows: “A serious concern was brought before the meeting regarding some Friends who were still engaged in the practice of importing, purchasing, and selling negroe slaves; after some time spent in discussion, it was decided to sign the document.
• Wright, Nico.
• Blunsten signed the document on behalf of the meeting.
• For example, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, which was established in 1775 and comprised mostly of Quakers; seven of the Society’s 10 founding white members were Quakers, and seventeen of the twenty-four people who attended the Society’s four sessions were Quakers.

While state laws prohibited slaveowners from legally freeing their slaves, North Carolina’s Quakers frequently entrusted their slaves to local meetings in order to de factofree their slaves; this practice existed from 1808 to 1829, after which trusteeship declined and many Quakers left the state to free their slaves in “free states.” The Underground Railroad was also heavily influenced by Quakers, who played an important role.

• When Levi Coffin was a boy in North Carolina, he helped runaway slaves who had gotten away from their masters.
• Many households provided assistance to slaves as they traveled through the Underground Railroad system.
• The Bundy family managed a station that carried groups of slaves from Belmont, Kentucky, to Salem, Ohio, during the Civil War.
• When some Quakers were persecuted by slave owners in the nineteenth century, they were compelled to relocate to the western United States in order to prevent further persecution.
• Zephaniah Kingsley was a colorful Quaker and slave dealer who backed slavery when it was done benevolently.
• He was also a big supporter of letting free blacks to enter the country, claiming that they helped to make a country stronger.

However, once Florida became an independent United States territory in 1821, Kingsley was compelled to go to Haiti, where he acquired a farm and established a plantation school for children (today in the Dominican Republic).

Notes

• Kristen Block is the author of this piece (2012). Ordinary Lives in the Early Caribbean: Religion, Colonial Competition, and the Politics of Profit is a book on everyday life in the early Caribbean. University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, ISBN 9780820338675
• Brown University Press, Athens, GA, ISBN 9780820338675
• Christopher Leslie is a writer who lives in the United Kingdom (2006). British Abolitionism’s Moral Capital: Its Origins and Development. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, ISBN 9780807830345
• Carey, Brycchan (2012). From Peace to Freedom: Quaker Rhetoric and the Birth of American Antislavery, 1658-1761 is a book on the history of antislavery rhetoric in America. Brycchan Carey and Geoffrey Plank, eds., New Haven: Yale University Press, ISBN 9780300180770
• Carey, Brycchanand Geoffrey Plank (2014). Abolitionists and Quakers go hand in hand. The University of Illinois Press, Champaign, Illinois, ISBN 9780252038266. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) additional text: authors list (link)
• CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Davis, David Brion is a fictional character created by author David Brion in the 1990s (1966). The Issue of Slavery in Western Culture is a complex one. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, ISBN 9780195056396
• Drake, Thomas E. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, ISBN 9780195056396 (1950). Slavery and the Quakers in the United States. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut
• Frost, J. William (1980). The Quaker Roots of Anti-Slavery Movement Norwood Editions, Norwood, Pennsylvania
• Gragg, Larry (2009). The Quaker Community on Barbados: Challenging the Planter Class’s Cultural Traditions The University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri, ISBN 9780826218476
• Jordan, Ryan P. (2007). Slavery and the Meetinghouse: The Quakers and the Abolitionist Dilemma, 1820-1865 is a collection of essays on slavery and the meetinghouse. Donna McDaniel’s book, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, ISBN 9780253348609, is available online. Vanessa Julye’s full name is Vanessa Julye (2009). Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship: Quakers, African Americans, and the Myth of Racial Justice (Quakers, African Americans, and the Myth of Racial Justice) 9781888305791
• Jackson, Maurice
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Quaker Press (2009). This is the voice of Anthony Benezet, the Father of Atlantic Abolitionism, and it must be heard: The University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA, ISBN 9780812221268
• James, Sydney V., ed (1963). A People Among Peoples: Quaker Benevolence in Eighteenth-Century America is a book about the Quakers who lived in the eighteenth century. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Nash, Gary, and Jean Soderlund (1991). Emancipation in Pennsylvania and Its Aftermath: A Study in Gradual Liberation. The Oxford University Press is located in Oxford, England. Soderlund, Jean (CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Soderlund, Jean (CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• (1985). Friends and Slavery: A Conflicted Imagination Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1997.

External links

• Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery
• Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery Resources and Information about Quakers and Slavery
• The Underground Railroad and the Society of Friends
• Meetings and publications on the anti-slavery movement, including Quakers and Slavery
• Conferences and publications on the anti-slavery movement Africans in America/Part 3: The Founding of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society
• MSN Encarta: The Abolitionist Movement

Quakers and the Underground Railroad

Friends and the Abolition of Slavery; Quakers and the Abolition of Slavery. Resources and information about Quakers and Slavery. Meetings of the Society of Friends and the Underground Railroad Meetings and publications on the anti-slavery movement, including Quakers and Slavery. Africa in America/Part 3/The Founding of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society; MSN Encarta: The Abolitionist Movement; MSN Encarta: The Abolitionist Movement;

Merion Friends Meeting, a Quaker Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

“The Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia,” written by Jerome Barome, is available online. Pennsylvannia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 92, Number 1, January 1968, pages 320-351 Theodore Bean is a fictional character created by author Charles Dickens. Montgomery County has a rich history. Everts and Peck published a book in Philadelphia in 1884. Chas L. Blockson is the author of this work. The Underground Railroad is a term used to describe a network of tunnels and passageways that transport people and goods from one place to another.

1. “The Bowmans are a family.” Ancestry.com ** Densmore, Christopher, “Aim for a Free State and Settle Among Quakers” (Aim for a Free State and Settle Among Quakers).
2. Quakers and Abolition, 2nd ed., Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2014.
3. “Quakers and the Underground Railroad: Myths and Reality,” by Christopher Densmore, is available online.
4. Eric Foner is the author of this work.
5. Norton & Company, New York, 2015.
6. The Autobiography of Samuel J.
7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Pile Sons, 1896.

Larry Gara is the author of this work.

51, No.

(Spring, 1962).

The UGRR’s Liberty Line is a legend in its own right.

“Who Really Ran the Underground Railroad?” asks Henry Louis Jr.

Broadcasting Corporation of the United States.

“Harriet Shepard” is a fictional character created by author Harriet Shepard.

Hudson, James Blaine (James Blaine Hudson). The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia McFarland & Company, Jefferson, North Carolina, 2006. “Jane Johnson,” says the narrator. The Library Corporation of America

Revealing Upstate New York’s Key Role in the Underground Railroad

As we go along the Underground Railroad, we’ll be bringing you along for the ride. There were no tickets necessary for passengers or conductors during that time period. This is due to the fact that the Underground Railroad constituted a symbolic network of abolitionists – both Black and white – who provided sanctuary to enslaved persons who were fleeing the Southern Confederacy. The John Kane House, which was erected in the 1700s, is our first destination. During the Revolutionary War, the structure was utilized by the then-General George Washington.

It had an important part in the beginnings of the anti-slavery movement in the state of North Carolina, according to historians.

Peter Bunten, head of the Mid-Hudson Anti-Slavery History Project, talks us about the people who sought freedom during the American Revolutionary War era.

“By fleeing, they were demonstrating their own agency,” he explained.

What You Need To Know

• As part of the Underground Railroad, we’ll be taking you on a journey with us. There were no tickets necessary for passengers or conductors at that era. This is due to the fact that the Underground Railroad constituted a symbolic network of abolitionists – both Black and white – who provided sanctuary to enslaved persons who were fleeing the Southern Confederate states. The John Kane House, which was erected in the 1700s, is our first destination on this tour. At one point during the Revolutionary War, the structure was utilized by then-General George Washington. During the 1800s, Dutchess County was once again involved in history, although this time in a different way than in the previous centuries. It had an important part in the beginnings of the anti-slavery campaign in the state of North Carolina in the nineteenth century. We go 10 minutes east from the historic Kane House to the Oblong Quaker Meeting House in Pawling, which is home to the Oblong Friends Meeting. Peter Bunten, head of the Mid-Hudson Anti-Slavery History Project, talks us about the people who sought freedom during the American Revolutionary War period. It was their own freedom that they were working for.” The fact that they fled demonstrated their own agency, he explained.

After that, they received assistance. The Religious Society of Friends, generally known as Quakers, had a significant part in the events of the Revolutionary War. Their anti-slavery activities predate the establishment of the Underground Railroad. As early as the 1760s, a growing number of Quakers began to question whether or not it was morally acceptable for them to continue to own slaves. They were successful in freeing the enslaved people among them a decade later. Quakers are often regarded as the first organized organization to actively assist enslaved persons in their efforts to emancipate themselves.

• The Quakers met in this structure, which was built in 1764, for silent worship, which they termed meetings.
• A Quaker gathering was traditionally characterized by silence.
• With the Quakers, quiet ideas were transformed into written actions.
• “It was against the law to assist runaways, and a lot of individuals did not want to draw attention to the fact that they were actually assisting slaves in their escape to freedom,” Bunten explained.
• For example, “we have a lot more knowledge about certain specific individuals who are engaged than we have about discovering specific locations like buildings where an enslaved person would have lived overnight or for a couple of days,” Bunten explained.
• Our program, which will air tonight on Spectrum News throughout upstate New York, will serve to conclude BHM and a month-long cooperation with @MercedesTVnews.
• — dominic mckenzie (@DominicM_) on Twitter.

“You had the option of taking a boat from New York City across to Niagara Falls,” he explained.

This river was formerly home to a boat captain by the name of John Johnson, who used to labor there.

The Johnson residence may be found about an hour north of New York City on the Hudson River waterfront.

They were well-known in Albany for their organizing activities on behalf of freedom seekers, and they worked well together.

For abolitionists and tired fugitives alike, the Stephen Myers residence served as a base of operations.

Historical researchers Paul and Mary Liz Stewart are currently in charge of the Myers home, which serves as an instructional center for the Underground Railroad.

According to Paul Stewart, historian of the Underground Railroad Education Center, 287 fugitives passed through Albany during their journey.

As soon as the flier was placed in our hands, I remember thinking to myself, ‘Maybe there is a structure still there,'” said Mary Liz Stewart, a historian at the center.

A structure was present, but it would take the Stewarts more than two decades and almost $1 million to repair it.

“Even through the contraction and all that we had to do to the house, all we truly cared about was the Myers story,” she said.

It was via this letter, sent to personally thank supporters for contributions that helped to keep the Underground Railroad movement on track, that her voice came to life.

It reveals to us the activist role she had in the Underground Railroad effort throughout the nineteenth century.

According to additional records that have been discovered, Harriet Myers was not the only writer in the Myers household.

Stephen Myers added journalism to his list of professions when he accepted a position as an editor at a local newspaper.

The combination of these artifacts with other paper documents and other persons of color associated with this historical period yields the following results: Harriet and Stephen’s pickle, like this church, becomes a tremendously re-usable object,” observed Paul Stewart of the pickle’s re-usability in their day.

“It wasn’t like they were just lounging about at home, going to work, or entertaining guests.

” “They were attempting to make a positive difference in their neighborhood,” he explained. Other people can feel emboldened to say, ‘If they can do it, then so can I.’ This is made possible by connecting the voices of the past and present.”

Underground Railroad – Ohio History Central

According to Ohio History Central This snapshot depicts the “Freedom Stairway,” which consists of one hundred stairs going from the Ohio River to the John Rankin House in Ripley, which served as a station on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Presbyterian clergyman and educator John Rankin (1793-1886) spent most of his time working for the abolitionist anti-slavery struggle. The home features various secret rooms, some of which were used to hide freedom fighters. An illuminated sign was erected in front of the home to signal that it was safe for anyone seeking freedom to approach it.

• An underground railroad system of safe homes and hiding places that assisted freedom seekers on their journeys to freedom in Canada, Mexico, and other countries outside of the United States was known as the Underground Railroad (UR).
• Although it is unknown when the Underground Railroad had its start, members of the Society of Friends, often known as the Quakers, were actively supporting freedom seekers as early as the 1780s, according to historical records.
• As early as the late 1700s, slavery was outlawed in the vast majority of Northern states.
• African Americans were forced to flee the United States in order to genuinely achieve their freedom.
• Despite the fact that slavery was outlawed in Ohio, some individuals were still opposed to the abolition of the institution.
• Many of these individuals were adamantly opposed to the Underground Railroad.
• Other people attempted to restore freedom seekers to their rightful owners in the aim of receiving prizes for their efforts.

Over three thousand slaves were rescued from their captors and granted freedom in Canada thanks to the efforts of Levi Coffin, a Cincinnati man who lived in the late 1840s and early 1850s.

His house was perched on a three hundred-foot-high hill with a panoramic view of the Ohio River.

He gave the freedom seekers with sanctuary and kept them hidden until it was safe for them to proceed farther north in their quest for independence.

These individuals, as well as a large number of others, put their lives in danger to aid African Americans in their journey to freedom.

They typically chose to live in communities where there were other African Americans.

A total of eight communities along the Lake Erie shoreline served as embarkation locations for the freedom seekers’ journey to Canada, including Ashtabula, Painesville, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Huron, Lorain, Conneaut, and Conneaut.

It is still unknown exactly how the Underground Railroad came to be known by that moniker.

In 1831, a freedom seeker called Tice Davids fled from his slave owners in Kentucky, where he had been held since birth.

Davids had arrived at the coast only a few minutes before him. Following the arrival of his boat, the holder was unable to locate Davids and concluded that he “must have gone off on a subterranean path.”

See Also

1. “The Hippocrene Guide to the Underground Railroad,” by Charles L. Blockson, et al. Hippocrene Books, New York, NY, 1994
2. Levi Coffin, Hippocrene Books, New York, NY, 1994. Levi Coffin’s recollections of his time as the rumored President of the Underground Railroad. Arno Press, New York, NY, 1968
3. Dee, Christine, ed., Ohio’s War: The Civil War in Documents, New York, NY, 1968. Ohio: A Four-Volume Reference Library on the History of a Great State (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2007)
4. Fess, Simeon D., ed. Ohio: A Four-Volume Reference Library on the History of a Great State (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2007). Gara, Larry, and Lewis Publishing Company, 1937
5. Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Company. The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad is a documentary film about the Underground Railroad. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press, 1961
6. Ann Hagedorn, ed., Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1961. Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad is a book about the heroes of the Underground Railroad. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002
7. Roseboom, Eugene H. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002
8. The period from 1850 to 1873 is known as the Civil War Era. The Underground Railroad: From Slavery to Freedom (Columbus, OH: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1944)
9. Siebert, Wibur H. “The Underground Railroad: From Slavery to Freedom.” RussellRussell, New York, 1898
10. Siebert, Wilbur Henry, New York, 1898. Ohio was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Lesick, Lawrence Thomas
11. Arthur W. McGraw, 1993
12. McGraw, Arthur W. The Lane Rebels: Evangelicalism and Antislavery in Antebellum America is a book about the Lane family who were antislavery activists in the antebellum era. Roland M. Baumann’s book, The Scarecrow Press, was published in 1980 in Metuchen, NJ. The Rescue of the Oberlin-Wellington Train in 1858: A Reappraisal Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College Press, 2003
13. Levi Coffin and William Still, editors. Fleeing for Freedom: Stories of the Underground Railroad is a collection of short stories about people fleeing for freedom. Ivan R. Dee Publishers, Chicago, Illinois, 2004.

How Black Quakers Influenced History

Quakers are well-known for their opposition to slavery, and Black Quakers played a major role in this movement. Many people are unaware that Quakers were frequently found to be the owners of slaves prior to the American Revolution. However, by the early to mid-1700s, a number of Friends had come to the conclusion that the situation was untenable. It was because of their activism that the Friends organization became abolitionist. In reality, four Pennsylvania Friends from Germantown, Pennsylvania, wrote the world’s first anti-slavery petition in 1688.

The Continental Congress was presented with a petition to abolish slavery after the conclusion of the American Revolution by one of the Meetings.

A few years later, the Society of Friends filed a petition with the United States Congress to stop slave trade.

The role performed by Black Quakers in the abolitionist movement is of particular interest to historians.

Paul Cuffe (1759-1817)

Quaker from the color black Paul Cuffe was a free slave who taught himself mathematics and seamanship abilities, amassing a substantial fortune in the process. He was involved in the abolitionist movement and believed that education might be used to assist slaves in gaining their freedom. Cuffe also became active in a movement that advocated for the repatriation of freed slaves to Africa. Cuffe informed his Quaker meeting in the middle of September 1810 that he had been prompted to create a trade community in Sierra Leone by the Holy Spirit.

He began making efforts to create colonies on Africa’s west coast and to construct commercial routes into the region, which he was successful in doing.

Cuffe and 38 black immigrants embarked on a voyage to Sierra Leone in December 1815, arriving there in February 1816.

His health, on the other hand, quickly deteriorated, and he passed away the following year.

Cyrus Bustill 1732—1806

Cyrus Bustill was a formerly enslaved African who was emancipated. For many years, he was the owner and operator of a thriving baking business. Later, he relocated to Philadelphia, where he rose to prominence as a leader of the city’s black population. As a result of his influence, he was one of the founding members of the Free African Society of Philadelphia. This organization advocated for the education of their own children as well as for the care of the impoverished and the protection of fugitive slaves from arrest.

• Cyrus Bustill is a writer and musician from the United States.
• They were in reality subterranean train conductors, as were two of their companions.
• David Bustill imagined himself as Harriet Tubman, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, when he was a youngster.
• Gertrude Bustill Mossell was an American writer and journal editor who was one of the country’s first black women journalists and editors.
• Professors at Barclay believe that each individual adds something unique to the community, and as a consequence, they will assist you in discovering your purpose and your abilities.
• All inhabitants of the dorms are eligible for a full tuition scholarship.

Find out more about our Full Tuition Scholarship for dorm dwellers by visiting our website. Check out our online program for more information. See what degree programs are available on campus. See what Master’s Degrees we have available.

Underground Railroad

In the 18th century, Cyrus Bustill was a liberated African enslaved in the United States. A profitable baking company was his main source of income for many years. Afterwards, he relocated to Philadelphia, where he rose to prominence as a leader of the black population in the city. He was one of the founding members of the Free African Society of Philadelphia, thanks to his influence. This organization advocated for the education of their own children as well as for the destitute and the protection of fugitive slaves from arrest.

1. Cyrus Bustill is a writer and musician from the United Kingdom.
2. They were in reality subterranean train conductors, as were two of their fellow passengers.
3. A conductor on the subterranean train, David Bustill aspired to be like Harriet Tubman as a youth.
4. Among the earliest black women journalists and journal editors in the United States was Gertrude Bustill Mossell, who was born in 1867 in New York City.
5. Faculty at Barclay believe that each individual adds something unique to the community, and as a consequence, they will assist you in discovering your purpose and innate abilities.
6. Barclay Institution is an accredited four-year college with a strong biblical foundation for students of evangelical religious traditions.
7. A Master of Arts degree in ministry specializations is available via the School of Graduate Studies.
8. See our online program for more information.
9. Learn more about the Masters’ Degrees we have available to you.

Facts, information and articles about the Underground Railroad

Aproximate year of birth: 1780

Ended

1780 is a rough estimate.

Slaves Freed

Estimates range between 6,000 and 10,000.

Prominent Figures

Harriet Tubman is a historical figure. William Still is a well-known author and poet. Levi Coffin is a fictional character created by author Levi Coffin. John Fairfield is a well-known author.

Related Reading:

The Story of How Canada Became the Final Station on the Underground Railroad Harriet Tubman’s Legacy as a Freedom Fighter and a Spion is well documented.

The Beginnings Of the Underground Railroad

Canada’s Role as the Final Station of the Underground Railroad Harriet Tubman’s Legacy as a Freedom Fighter and as a Spione

The Underground Railroad Gets Its Name

Owen Brown, the father of radical abolitionist John Brown, was a member of the Underground Railroad in the state of New York during the Civil War. An unconfirmed narrative suggests that “Mammy Sally” designated the house where Abraham Lincoln’s future wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, grew up and served as a safe house where fugitives could receive food, but the account is doubtful. Routes of the Underground Railroad It was not until the early 1830s that the phrase “Underground Railroad” was first used.

Fugitives going by water or on genuine trains were occasionally provided with clothing so that they wouldn’t give themselves away by wearing their worn-out job attire.

Many of them continued on to Canada, where they could not be lawfully reclaimed by their rightful owners.

The slave or slaves were forced to flee from their masters, which was frequently done at night. It was imperative that the runaways maintain their eyes on the North Star at all times; only by keeping that star in front of them could they be certain that they were on their trip north.

Conductors On The Railroad

A “conductor,” who pretended to be a slave, would sometimes accompany fugitives to a plantation in order to lead them on their journey. Harriet Tubman, a former slave who traveled to slave states 19 times and liberated more than 300 people, is one of the most well-known “conductors.” She used her shotgun to threaten death to any captives who lost heart and sought to return to slavery. The Underground Railroad’s operators faced their own set of risks as well. If someone living in the North was convicted of assisting fugitives in their escape, he or she could face fines of hundreds or even thousands of dollars, which was a significant sum at the time; however, in areas where abolitionism was strong, the “secret” railroad was openly operated, and no one was arrested.

His position as the most significant commander of the Underground Railroad in and around Albany grew as time went on.

However, in previous times of American history, the phrase “vigilance committee” generally refers to citizen organizations that took the law into their own hands, prosecuting and hanging those suspected of crimes when there was no local government or when they considered the local authority was corrupt or weak.

White males who were found assisting slaves in their escape were subjected to heavier punishments than white women, but both were likely to face at the very least incarceration.

The Civil War On The Horizon

Events such as the Missouri Compromise and the Dred Scott decision compelled more anti-slavery activists to take an active part in the effort to liberate slaves in the United States. After Abraham Lincoln was elected president, Southern states began to secede in December 1860, putting an end to the Union’s hopes of achieving independence from the United States. Abolitionist newspapers and even some loud abolitionists warned against giving the remaining Southern states an excuse to separate. Lucia Bagbe (later known as Sara Lucy Bagby Johnson) is considered to be the final slave who was returned to bondage as a result of the Fugitive Slave Law.

Her owner hunted her down and arrested her in December 1860.

Even the Cleveland Leader, a Republican weekly that was traditionally anti-slavery and pro-the Fugitive Slave Legislation, warned its readers that allowing the law to run its course “may be oil thrown upon the seas of our nation’s difficulties,” according to the newspaper.

Following her capture, Lucy was carried back to Ohio County, Virginia, and punished, but she was released at some time when Union soldiers took control of the region. In her honor, a Grand Jubilee was celebrated on May 6, 1863, in the city of Cleveland.

The Reverse Underground Railroad

A “reverse Underground Railroad” arose in the northern states surrounding the Ohio River during the Civil War. The black men and women of those states, whether or not they had previously been slaves, were occasionally kidnapped and concealed in homes, barns, and other structures until they could be transported to the South and sold as slaves.