What Was Life Like On The Underground Railroad? (Professionals recommend)

African Americans fled slavery in the South for a variety of reasons. Brutal physical punishment, psychological abuse and endless hours of hard labor without compensation drove many slaves to risk their lives to escape plantation life.

What was the Underground Railroad and how did it work?

• During the era of slavery, the Underground Railroad was a network of routes, places, and people that helped enslaved people in the American South escape to the North. The name “Underground Railroad” was used metaphorically, not literally. It was not an actual railroad, but it served the same purpose—it transported people long distances.

How were slaves treated during the Underground Railroad?

Slaves were treated as property. Some masters required slaves to wear tags that identified them when they were away from the plantation. Thousands tried to escape to freedom over the secret routes known as the Underground Railroad.

What did passengers do in the Underground Railroad?

Slaves traveling on the Underground Railroad were called “passengers.” ” Conductors” helped guide slaves to freedom. “Agents” worked to free the slaves by making them new clothes, collecting money for food and medicine, teaching them to read and write or making speeches to convince people that slavery was wrong.

How the Underground Railroad worked for kids?

People who worked with the Underground Railroad cared about justice and wanted to end slavery. They risked their lives to help enslaved people escape from bondage, so they could remain safe on the route. Some people say that the Underground Railroad helped to guide 100.000 enslaved people to freedom.

Why did Harriet Tubman wear a bandana?

As was the custom on all plantations, when she turned eleven, she started wearing a bright cotton bandana around her head indicating she was no longer a child. She was also no longer known by her “basket name”, Araminta. Now she would be called Harriet, after her mother.

Does the Underground Railroad still exist?

It includes four buildings, two of which were used by Harriet Tubman. Ashtabula County had over thirty known Underground Railroad stations, or safehouses, and many more conductors. Nearly two-thirds of those sites still stand today.

What are runaway slaves?

In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe enslaved people who fled slavery. Most slave law tried to control slave travel by requiring them to carry official passes if traveling without a master with them.

How many slaves did Harriet Tubman save?

Fact: According to Tubman’s own words, and extensive documentation on her rescue missions, we know that she rescued about 70 people —family and friends—during approximately 13 trips to Maryland.

Where did the slaves go after the Underground Railroad?

They eventually escaped either further north or to Canada, where slavery had been abolished during the 1830s. To reduce the risk of infiltration, many people associated with the Underground Railroad knew only their part of the operation and not of the whole scheme.

How did slaves escape for kids?

The Underground Railroad was a term used for a network of people, homes, and hideouts that slaves in the southern United States used to escape to freedom in the Northern United States and Canada.

How many slaves did Levi Coffin help escape?

In 1826, he moved to Indiana and over the next 20 years he assisted more than 2,000 enslaved persons escape bondage, so many that his home was known as the “Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad.”

Why did slaves travel at night?

Traveling under cover of night often offered the best chances of escaping. For slaves that did not know how to read or write, “reading” the night sky provided important clues for survival. This information helped slaves to find their way without getting lost.

Is Gertie Davis died?

Sometime around 1844, she married John Tubman, a free Black man. Shortly after her marriage, Araminta, known as “Minty” to her family, changed her name to Harriet to honor her mother.

What happened to Harriet when she was thirteen that gave her dizzy spells the rest of her life?

At the age of thirteen Harriet received a horrible head injury. A slave owner tried to throw an iron weight at one of his slaves, but hit Harriet instead. The injury nearly killed her and caused her to have dizzy spells and blackouts for the rest of her life.

The Underground Railroad

At the time of slavery, the Underground Railroad was a network of routes, locations, and individuals that assisted enslaved persons in the American South in their attempts to flee to freedom in the northern states. Subjects History of the United States, Social StudiesImage

Home of Levi Coffin

Levi Coffin’s residence in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lived as an American Quaker and abolitionist. This was a station on the Underground Railroad, a network of routes, locations, and individuals that assisted enslaved persons in escaping to the North during the Civil War. Cincinnati Museum Center provided the photography. “> During the age of slavery, the Underground Railroad was a network of routes, locations, and individuals that assisted enslaved persons in the American South in escaping to the North, according to the Underground Railroad Museum.

Although it was not a real railroad, it fulfilled the same function as one: it carried passengers across large distances.

The people who worked for the Underground Railroad were driven by a passion for justice and a desire to see slavery abolished—a drive that was so strong that they risked their lives and jeopardized their own freedom in order to assist enslaved people in escaping from bondage and staying safe while traveling the Underground Railroad.

• As the network expanded, the railroad metaphor became more prevalent.
• In recent years, academic research has revealed that the vast majority of persons who engaged in the Underground Railroad did it on their own, rather than as part of a larger organization.
• According to historical tales of the railroad, conductors frequently pretended to be enslaved persons in order to smuggle runaways out of plantation prisons and train stations.
• Often, the conductors and passengers traveled 16–19 kilometers (10–20 miles) between each safehouse stop, which was a long distance in this day and age.
• Patrols on the lookout for enslaved persons were usually on their tails, chasing them down.
• Historians who study the railroad, on the other hand, find it difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction.
• Eric Foner is one of the historians that belongs to this group.
• Despite this, the Underground Railroad was at the center of the abolitionist struggle during the nineteenth century.
• Levi Coffin’s residence in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lived as an American Quaker and abolitionist.
• Cincinnati Museum Center provided the photography.
• Person who is owned by another person or group of people is referred to as an enslaved person.

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). Abolitionists utilized this nounsystem between 1800 and 1865 to aid enslaved African Americans in their attempts to flee to free states.

Media Credits

With the exception of promotional graphics, which normally link to another page that carries the media credit, all audio, artwork, photos, and videos are attributed beneath the media asset they are associated with. In the case of media, the Rights Holder is the individual or group that gets credited.

Director

Tyson Brown is a member of the National Geographic Society.

Author

The National Geographic Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the exploration of the world’s natural wonders.

Production Managers

Gina Borgia is a member of the National Geographic Society. Jeanna Sullivan is a member of the National Geographic Society.

Program Specialists

According to National Geographic Society’s Sarah Appleton, Margot Willis is a National Geographic Society photographer.

Last Updated

• User Permissions are set to expire on June 21, 2019. 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

The text on this page is printable and may be used in accordance with our Terms of Service agreement.

Interactives

• Any interactives on this page can only be accessed and used while you are currently browsing our site. You will not be able to download interactives.

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.

By the 1840s, the phrase “Underground Railroad” had become part of the common lexicon in the United States. 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.

The Little-Known Underground Railroad That Ran South to Mexico.

Fugitive Slave Acts

The Fugitive Slave Acts were a major cause for many fugitive slaves to flee to Canada. This legislation, which was passed in 1793, authorized local governments to catch and extradite fugitive enslaved individuals from inside the borders of free states back to their places of origin, as well as to penalize anybody who assisted the fleeing enslaved people. Personal Liberty Laws were introduced in certain northern states to fight this, but they were overturned by the Supreme Court in 1842. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was intended to reinforce the preceding legislation, which was perceived by southern states to be insufficiently enforced at the time of passage.

The northern states were still considered a danger zone for fugitives who had managed to flee.

Some Underground Railroad operators chose to station themselves in Canada and sought to assist fugitives who were arriving to settle in the country.

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.

Tubman transported groups of fugitives to Canada on a regular basis, believing that the United States would not treat them favorably.

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.” He was a pivotal factor in escorting fugitives he discovered at the ports and train terminals back to safety.

He was also rumored to have made his way into Kentucky and into plantations in order to assist enslaved individuals in their escape.

An associate of Tubman’s, Still also kept a journal of his operations in the Underground Railroad and was able to keep it safely concealed until after theCivil War, when he released it, presenting one of the clearest accounts of Underground Railroad activity at the time.

Who Ran the Underground Railroad?

The vast majority of Underground Railroad operators were regular individuals, including farmers and business owners, as well as preachers and religious leaders. Some affluent individuals were active, including Gerrit Smith, a billionaire who stood for president on two separate occasions. Smith acquired a full family of enslaved people from Kentucky in 1841 and freed them from their captivity. Levi Coffin, a Quaker from North Carolina, is credited with being one of the first recorded individuals to assist escaped enslaved persons.

Coffin stated that he had discovered their hiding spots and had sought them out in order to assist them in moving forward.

Coffin eventually relocated to Indiana and then Ohio, where he continued to assist fugitive enslaved individuals no matter where he was.

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.

1. 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.
2. When Charles Torrey assisted an enslaved family fleeing through Virginia, he was sentenced to six years in jail in Maryland.
3. was his base of operations; earlier, he had served as an abolitionist newspaper editor in Albany, New York.
4. In addition to being fined and imprisoned for a year, Walker had the letters “SS” for Slave Stealer tattooed on his right hand.
5. As a slave trader, Fairfield’s strategy was to travel across the southern states.
6. 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.

Review

“The Underground Railroad,” directed by Barry Jenkins, explores two historical legacies. One is unsightly and horrifying, a ringing echo of an organization that stripped human people of their culture and identity and enslaved them for the sake of profiting from their labor. The other is beautiful and thrilling, and it is defined by strength and determination. Even while these two legacies have been entwined for 400 years, there have been few few films that have examined their unsettling intersection as carefully and cohesively as Jenkins’s adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

• Following Cora (Thuso Mbedu) and a protecting fellow slave named Caesar (Aaron Pierre) as they flee from a Georgia farm under the threat of a vengeful slave catcher, the narrative is told in flashback.
• The Amazon Prime series, which premieres on Friday and will be available for streaming thereafter, comes at a time when there is rising discussion over shows and films that concentrate on Black agony.
• I used the stop button a lot, both to collect my thoughts and to brace myself for what was about to happen.
• Cora suffers a series of setbacks as she makes her way to freedom, and her anguish is exacerbated by the death of her mother, Mabel (Sheila Atim), who emigrated from the plantation when Cora was a youngster and died there.
• Unlike any other drama on television, this one is unique in how it displays the resilience and tenacity of Black people who have withstood years of maltreatment in a society established on contradictory concepts of freedom.
• There, she becomes a part of the growing Black society there.
• In this community, however, there is also conflict between some of the once enslaved Black people who built the agricultural community and Cora, who is deemed to be a fugitive by the authorities.

The series takes on a nostalgically patriotic tone since it is set against the backdrop of the American heartland.

This is when Jenkins’s hallmark shot, in which actors maintain a lingering focus on the camera, is at its most impactful.

The urgent and scary horn of a train is skillfully incorporated into composerNicholas Britell’s eerie and at times comical soundtrack.

Even after finding safety in the West, Cora is still wary of Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), the slave hunter who is determined to track her down.

Despite the fact that “The Underground Railroad” delves into Ridgeway’s fears and personal shortcomings that drove him to his murderous vocation, it does not offer any excuses for his heinous behavior.

Dillon, who plays an outstanding part), a little Black child who is officially free but who acts as the slave catcher’s constant companion while being formally in his possession.

For a few precious minutes, the youngster pretends to be the child he once was by holding the weapon and playing with it.

After Amazon commissioned a focus group in which they questioned Black Atlanta residents if they thought Whitehead’s novel should be adapted for the screen, the director informed the press that he made the decision to proceed.

It was like, ‘Tell it, but you have to demonstrate everything,'” says the author.

‘It has to be nasty,’ says the author “Jenkins spoke with the New York Times.

Over the course of the week that I spent viewing “The Underground Railroad,” I found myself becoming increasingly interested in the amateur genealogical research I’d done on my own family, which is descended in part from African American slaves.

However, some of my ancestors’ stories have made their way to me, including those of my great-great-great-grandmother, who returned to her family in Virginia after years of being sold to a plantation owner in Mississippi; and the male relatives in her line who defiantly changed their surnames so that their children wouldn’t bear the name of a man who owned people for profit.

Pain is abundant, and the series invites us to express our sorrow.

Wait, but don’t take your eyes off the prize. There’s a lot more to Cora’s tale than meets the eye. The Underground Railroad (ten episodes) will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime starting Friday. (Full disclosure: The Washington Post is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.)

The Secret History of the Underground Railroad

“The Underground Railroad,” directed by Barry Jenkins, explores two different legacies. One is unsightly and horrifying, a ringing echo of an organization that stripped human people of their culture and identity and enslaved them for the sake of profiting from their labors. Both are beautiful and moving, with a strong sense of perseverance and determination. Even while these two legacies have been entwined for 400 years, there have been few few films that have examined their unsettling junction as deliberately and cohesively as Jenkins’s adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

The picture is anchored by a true underground railroad that secretly transports fugitive slaves.

It is possible to go by railroad through the American South, with each stop confirming — in its own horrifying manner — the racist fantasy that lies at the core of our country’s most heinous history.

Because Jenkins depicts the atrocities of slavery in brutal and unrelenting detail, some viewers may naturally be apprehensive about watching “The Underground Railroad.” My favorite movies include: “Roots” (both the original and the 2016 remake), “12 Years a Slave,” and “12 Years a Slave II.” “Nothing compares to the savage violence shown in “The Underground Railroad,” which was produced by WGN and aired for a brief period on television.

1. In order to collect my thoughts and brace myself, I pressed the pause button a lot.
2. Cora suffers loss after loss as she struggles to make her way to freedom, and her sadness is exacerbated by the death of her mother, Mabel (Sheila Atim), who escaped from the plantation when Cora was a small kid.
3. Unlike any other drama on television, this one is unique in how it portrays the resilience and tenacity of Black people who have withstood years of maltreatment in a society established on contradictory concepts of freedom.
4. Cora describes Valentine Farm as “another planet,” one in which children are free to be children and where working in the farm’s vineyard is a collaborative endeavor that reaps advantages for everyone who lives on the property.
5. Two of Valentine’s founders deliver opposing sermons about the future of Black people in America as a result of the argument.

The story takes on a wistfully patriotic tone since it is set against the backdrop of the American heartland As in the films Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, Jenkins and his colleagues work with a palette that is as vibrant as the one used by the filmmaker, who is in charge of all ten episodes.

• This is when Jenkins’s hallmark shot, in which actors maintain a lingering focus on the camera, is at its most impactful: Cora’s journey to freedom is punctuated with bizarre aspects, much like the original material.
• The urgent and scary horn of a train is skillfully incorporated into composer Nicholas Britell’s mournful and at times comical soundtrack.
• Cora is still afraid of Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), the slave hunter who is trying to get her, even after she has taken safety in the West.
• However, although “The Underground Railroad” delves into Ridgeway’s fears and personal shortcomings that led to him becoming a ruthless professional killer, the film does not offer any justifications for his depravity.
• Dillon, who plays an outstanding part), a little Black child who is officially free but who acts as the slave catcher’s constant companion while being formally in his custody.
• For a few precious minutes, the youngster pretends to be the child he once was while holding the weapon.
• After Amazon commissioned a focus group in which they questioned Black Atlanta residents if they thought Whitehead’s novel should be adapted for the screen, the director informed the publication that he made the decision to proceed with the project.
• In contrast, the other 90 percent were like, ‘Tell it, but you have to illustrate everything.’ A difficult task must be accomplished.
• That is certainly the case!

Nonetheless, some of my relatives’ stories have made their way to me, such as the great-great-great-grandmother who found her way back to her family in Virginia after years of being sold to a plantation owner in Mississippi; and the male relatives in her line who defiantly changed their surnames so that their children would not bear the name of a man who owned people for the purpose of profiting from their labor.

Somehow, this made the experience of seeing “The Underground Railroad” all the more painful in certain respects.

Wait, but don’t take your eyes off the prize! A lot more of Cora’s tale is revealed as time progresses. It will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime on Friday, with a total of 10 episodes. Note that The Washington Post is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Underground Railroad

See how abolitionists in the United States, like as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Thomas Garrett, assisted enslaved people in their attempts to escape to freedom. Learn about the abolitionist movement in the United States, as well as the importance of the Underground Railroad in this historical period. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. is a publishing company that publishes encyclopedias. View all of the videos related to this topic. When escaped slaves from the South were secretly assisted by sympathetic Northerners, in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Acts, to reach safe havens in the North or Canada, this was referred to as the Underground Railroad in the United States.

Even though it was neither underground nor a railroad, it was given this name because its actions had to be carried out in secret, either via the use of darkness or disguise, and because railroad words were employed in relation to the system’s operation.

In all directions, the network of channels stretched over 14 northern states and into “the promised land” of Canada, where fugitive-slave hunters were unable to track them down or capture them.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, best known for her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, obtained firsthand experience of escaped slaves via her association with the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she lived for a time during the Civil War.

The existence of the Underground Railroad, despite the fact that it was only a small minority of Northerners who took part in it, did much to arouse Northern sympathy for the plight of slaves during the antebellum period, while also convincing many Southerners that the North as a whole would never peacefully allow the institution of slavery to remain unchallenged.

When was the first time a sitting president of the United States appeared on television?

Amy Tikkanen has made the most current revisions and updates to this page.

Fact and fiction in ‘The Underground Railroad’

In preparation for Colson Whitehead’s visit to campus, three Lesley professors convened a symposium in Washburn Lounge to discuss the intersection of fact, fiction, and fantasy in the author’s acclaimed novel, “The Underground Railroad.” The symposium was open to the public. A total of 40 students, instructors, and staff members took part in the event. Please see below for a brief summary if you haven’t already done so. A young woman named Cora is captured in Georgia and sold into slavery, with her only hope of escaping through the Underground Railroad.

His description of the railroad, in particular, is that of a physical, underground mode of transportation that transports Cora from one state to another.

Despite the fact that Whitehead uses creative license to great effect, Assistant Professor Tatiana Cruz believes that it can also lead to some confusion.

Cruz described the true underground railroad, which was primarily run by “everyday black folks,” not white abolitionists, and which was primarily operated in states bordering free states, because it was too dangerous to run such an operation in more southern states, as outlined in the book Underground Railroad: A History.

A significant number of slaves were illiterate, and their inability to decipher maps and road signs added an additional layer of danger to an already perilous journey.

The story of Cora, on the other hand, depicts a woman who is on a journey.

It is the journey of a man toward self-knowledge that defines his journey.” Dockray-Miller noted that “The Underground Railroad” draws on literary influences such as Frederick Douglass’ autobiography and “Gulliver’s Travels,” but added that “he’s remixing it and making it his own.” In her opinion, Whitehead has created a literary trope for which there is no existing term.

While many have referred to the novel as magical realism, Ronderos disagreed, claiming that it was too realistic to fall into that category.

As a result, even in the novel’s fantastical elements, the essence of the story — from the brutality heaped on enslaved people to the ruthless hunting of escaped slaves — is depicted accurately.

Moreover, according to Dockray-Miller, while the novel is primarily concerned with the past, it also has a message for readers today and in the future.

“I believe Colson Whitehead is brilliant in a variety of ways,” she stated. “He’s an artist who understands the beauty of the English language and knows how to use it to great effect,” says the author.

The Little-Known History of the Underground Railroad in New York

Cyrus Gates House, located in Broome County, New York, was formerly a major station on the Underground Railroad’s route through the country. Commons image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons There was a time when New York City wasn’t the liberal Yankee bastion that it is now. When it came to abolitionists and abolitionist politics in the decades preceding up to the Civil War, the city was everything but an epicenter of abolitionism. Banking and shipping interests in the city were tightly related to the cotton and sugar businesses, both of which relied on slave labor to produce their products.

However, even at that time, the Underground Railroad, a network of hidden safe houses and escape routes used by fugitive slaves seeking freedom in the North, passed through the city and into the surrounding countryside.

In New York, however, the full extent of the Underground Railroad’s reach has remained largely unknown, owing to the city’s anti-abolitionist passion.

“This was a community that was strongly pro-Southern, and the Underground Railroad was working in much greater secrecy here than in many other parts of the North, so it was much more difficult to track down the Underground Railroad.”

Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad

runaway slaves and antislavery campaigners who disobeyed the law to aid them in their quest for freedom are the subjects of this gripping documentary. Eric Foner, more than any other researcher, has had a significant impact on our knowledge of American history. The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian has reconfigured the national tale of American slavery and liberation once more, this time with the help of astounding material that has come to light through his research. Foner’s latest book, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, describes how New York was a vital way station on the Underground Railroad’s journey from the Upper South to Pennsylvania and on to upstate New York, the New England states and Canada.

• Their narrative represents a phase in the history of resistance to slavery that has gotten only sporadic attention from historians up to this point.
• The existence of the Record of Fugitives, which was collected by abolitionist newspaperman Sydney Howard Gay in New York City, was unknown to researchers until a student informed Foner of its existence.
• A runaway long forgotten, James Jones of Alexandria, according to Gay’s account, “had not been treated cruelly but was bored of being a slave,” according to the records.
• Foner reports that many fugitives ran away because they were being physically abused as much as they did out of a yearning for freedom, using terms such as “huge violence,” “badly treated,” “rough times,” and “hard master” to describe their experiences.
• During the late 1840s, he had risen to the position of the city’s foremost lawyer in runaway slave cases, frequently donating his services without charge, “at tremendous peril to his social and professional status,” according to Gay.
• Agent,” a title that would become synonymous with the Underground Railroad.
• He was an illiterate African-American.
• A number of letters and writs of habeas corpus bearing his name appear later on, as well as some of the most important court cases emerging from the disputed Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.
• “He was the important person on the streets of New York, bringing in fugitives, combing the docks, looking for individuals at the train station,” Foner said.

that he had ever been the liberator of 3,000 individuals from bondage.” The author, who used theRecordas a jumping off point to delve deeper into New York’s fugitive slave network, also traces the origins of the New York Vigilance Committee, a small group of white abolitionists and free blacks who formed in 1835 and would go on to form the core of the city’s underground network until the eve of the Civil War.

• The New York Vigilance Committee was a small group of white abolitionists and “Over the course of its life,” Foner said, “it brought the predicament of fugitives to the forefront of abolitionist awareness in New York and earned sympathy from those beyond the movement’s ranks.
• His previous book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and was published in 2012.
• What was the inspiration for this book?
• Everything started with one document, the Record of Fugitives, which was accidentally pointed up to me by a Columbia University student who was writing a senior thesis on Sydney Howard Gay and his journalistic career and happened to mention it to me.
• She was in the manuscript library at Columbia when she mentioned it.
• It was essentially unknown due to the fact that it had not been catalogued in any manner.
• What was New York like during this time?

As a result of their tight relationships with cotton plantation owners, this city’s merchants effectively controlled the cotton trade in the region.

The shipbuilding industry, insurance firms, and banks all had a role in the financialization of slavery.

They came to conduct business, but they also came to enjoy themselves.

The free black community and the very tiny band of abolitionists did exist, but it was a challenging setting in which to do their important job.

Routes were available in Ohio and Kentucky.

It was part of a larger network that provided assistance to a large number of fugitives.

It is incorrect to think of the Underground Railroad as a fixed collection of paths.

It wasn’t as if there were a succession of stations and people could just go from one to the next.

It was even more unorganized – or at least less organized – than before.

And after they moved farther north, to Albany and Syracuse, they were in the heart of anti-slavery area, and the terrain became much more amenable to their way of life.

People advertised in the newspaper about assisting escaped slaves, which was a radically different milieu from that of New York City at the time.

The phrase “Underground Railroad” should be interpreted relatively literally, at least toward the conclusion of the book.

Frederick Douglas had just recently boarded a train in Baltimore and traveled to New York.

Ship captains demanded money from slaves in exchange for hiding them and transporting them to the North.

The book also looks at the broader influence that escaped slaves had on national politics in the nineteenth century.

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was a particularly severe piece of legislation that drew a great deal of controversy in the northern states.

So that’s something else I wanted to emphasize: not only the story of these individuals, but also the way in which their acts had a significant impact on national politics and the outbreak of the Civil War. Activism History of African Americans Videos about American History that are recommended

Underground Railroad

runaway slaves and antislavery activists who disobeyed the law to assist them in their quest for freedom are the subjects of this gripping documentary. Eric Foner has had a greater impact on our knowledge of American history than any other researcher. The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian has reconfigured the national tale of American slavery and liberation once more, this time with the help of astounding material that has been brilliantly uncovered. Foner’s latest book, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, describes how New York was a vital way station on the Underground Railroad’s journey from the Upper South through Pennsylvania and on to upstate New York, the New England coast and Canada.

• Until recently, historians paid little attention to this chapter of anti-slavery struggle, which is now receiving more attention.
• Before a student alerted Foner to the existence of the Record of Fugitives, which was collected by abolitionist newspaperman Sydney Howard Gay in New York City, it was unknown to academics.
• A runaway long forgotten, James Jones of Alexandria, according to Gay’s account, “had not been treated cruelly but was bored of being a slave” is mentioned in the records.
• Foner reports that many fugitives went away because they were being physically abused as much as they did out of a yearning for freedom, using terms such as “huge violence,” “badly treated,” “rough times,” and “hard master” to describe their experiences in prison.
• The late 1840s saw him rise to prominence as the city’s top lawyer in runaway slave cases, frequently donating his services without payment, “at tremendous peril to his social and professional status,” according to Gay.
• Lucian Napoleon was an African-American furniture polisher and porter who may have been born a slave in either New York or Virginia.
• He appears on the very first page of the Record, escorting a fugitive to the railway station, which is where the story begins.
• A few blocks away from Gay’s office in lower Manhattan, Napoleon resided in a house near the ferry dock, where travellers arriving from Philadelphia and other parts of the country debarked.
• A reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle wrote in 1875 about the then-elderly man that “few would have imagined.

For the duration of its existence, Foner writes, “it drove runaway slaves to the forefront of abolitionist awareness in New York and earned sympathy from many people beyond the movement’s ranks.” In doing so, it brought the intertwined concerns of kidnapping and escaped slaves into the greater public eye.” The publication of Gateway to Freedom raises the total number of volumes authored by Foner on antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction America to twenty-two publications.

• His previous book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and won the award.
• What led to the publication of this book?
• This all began with a single document, the Record of Fugitives, which was accidentally pointed out to me by a Columbia University student who was researching Sydney Howard Gay and his journalistic career for his final thesis.
• She was in the manuscript library when I asked her about it.
• Because it was not catalogued in any form, it was practically unknown.
• What was the atmosphere like in New York at the time?
• As a result of their tight relationships with cotton plantation owners, the merchants in this city effectively dominated the cotton trade.

Industry players including as the shipbuilding industry, insurance corporations, and financial institutions that assisted in the financing of slavery All of the time, there were Southerners in the area.

No matter how many times Lincoln ran for president, he never won New York City.

What if there were many Underground Railroads?

This was an important collection of roads that I refer to as the metropolitan corridor since it connected cities all along the East Coast from Boston to Washington, D.C.

How many there are is a mystery.

‘Oh, you could draw a map,’ someone thought.

As much as we want to think we were well-prepared, it was not exactly so.

Rather, it was haphazardly put together.

However, there were these little networks of people who kept in touch with one another and were willing to aid fugitives in their pursuit of justice.

No one appeared to be doing anything about it since it was so widely publicized.

How did fleeing slaves make their way to New York City’s Ellis Island?

We tend to think of runaway slaves as people who go through the woods, and that was certainly true in the past, but from the 1840s through the 1850s, many of them arrived in New York via railroad.

A large number of people arrived in New York via boat.

When I was growing up, there were many black people working on ships.

They are mostly nameless, but their actions contributed to bringing the issue of slavery to the forefront of public debate.

Activists on the ground, as well as local opposition, had an impact that echoed all the way up to the national level.

In addition to the biographies of these individuals, I wanted to draw attention to the fact that their activities had a significant impact on national politics and the outbreak of the American Civil War. Activism Historiography of African Americans Recommended Videos about American History

Underground Railroad “Stations” Develop in Iowa

Story of fleeing slaves and antislavery activists who disobeyed the law in order to assist them on their journey to freedom. Eric Foner, more than any other researcher, has had a significant impact on our knowledge of the history of the United States. The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian rewrites the epic tale of American slavery and liberation once more, this time making masterful use of remarkable evidence. Foner’s latest book, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, describes how New York was a vital way station on the Underground Railroad’s journey from the Upper South to Pennsylvania and on to upstate New York, the New England states and Canada.

• Their narrative represents a phase in the history of resistance against slavery that has gotten only sporadic attention from historians up until recently.
• The existence of the Record of Fugitives, which was collected by abolitionist newspaperman Sydney Howard Gay in New York City, had been unknown to researchers until a student informed Foner of its existence.
• A runaway long forgotten, James Jones of Alexandria, according to Gay’s account, “had not been treated cruelly but was bored of being a slave.” According to the interviews Gay and his colleagues did, he was an anomaly.
• TheRecord also includes an appearance by John Jay II, the grandson of the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
• The book contains instances of escapes facilitated not just by Harriet Tubman, the most renowned conductor on the Underground Railroad, but also by a little-known and strikingly named man whose death certificate would eventually state his employment as “Underground R.R.
• Louis Napoleon was an illiterate African-American furniture polisher and porter who may have been born a slave in either New York or Virginia.
• His name appears in letters, writs of habeas corpus, and some of the most important court cases growing out of the disputed Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.
• In Foner’s words, he was “the most important person on the streets of New York” who “brought in fugitives, scoured the ports, and looked for individuals at the train station.” “Few would have believed.

The author, who used theRecordas a jumping off point to delve deeper into New York’s fugitive slave network, also traces the origins of the New York Vigilance Committee, a small group of white abolitionists and free blacks who formed in 1835 and would go on to form the core of the city’s underground network until the eve of the Civil War.

1. His previous book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
2. What was the inspiration for this book?
3. This all began with a single document, the Record of Fugitives, which was accidentally pointed out to me by a Columbia University student who was doing a senior thesis on Sydney Howard Gay and his journalistic career at the time.
4. She was in the manuscript library at Columbia when she mentioned it.
5. It was essentially unknown due to the fact that it had not been catalogued in any form.
6. In this period, what was it like in New York?
7. In this city, merchants essentially dominated the cotton trade and maintained tight relationships with cotton plantation proprietors.

Slavery was supported by the shipbuilding industry, insurance firms, and banks.

They came to do business, and they came to have a holiday in the mountains.

There was, of course, a free black community, as well as this very tiny group of abolitionists, but it was a tough environment in which to operate.

Routes ran across Ohio and Kentucky.

It was one of a handful of networks that provided assistance to a significant number of fugitives.

One should not conceive of the Underground Railroad as a collection of paths that may be followed.

No, there wasn’t a chain of stations where people could just go from one to the next.

It was even more disorderly – or at the very least, less organized.

And once they moved farther north, to Albany and Syracuse, they were in the heart of anti-slavery area, and the terrain became much more open to their arrival.

There were newspaper advertisements for fugitive slave relief, which was a stark contrast to the atmosphere in New York City.

The phrase “Underground Railroad” should be interpreted relatively literally, at least toward the end of the novel.

Frederick Douglas had just boarded a train in Baltimore and was on his way to New York City.

Ship captains collected money from slaves in order to hide them and transport them to the North.

The book also looks at the broader influence that escaped slaves had on national politics in the United States.

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was a severe piece of legislation that drew a great deal of resistance in the North.

So that’s something else I wanted to emphasize: not only the story of these people, but also the way in which their acts had a significant impact on national politics and the outbreak of the Civil War.

Activism History of the African-American People Videos about American History that should be watched

Iowa: A Free State Willing to Let Slavery Exist

The epic story of fleeing slaves and the antislavery activists who violated the law in order to assist them on their journey to freedom. Eric Foner, maybe more than any other researcher, has had a significant impact on our understanding of American history. Now, making masterful use of remarkable material, the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian reconfigures the epic tale of American slavery and liberation for a second time. As Foner explains in his new book,Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, New York was a critical stop on the Underground Railroad’s journey from the Upper South to Pennsylvania and on to upstate New York, New England, and Canada.

• Their narrative represents a phase in the history of resistance to slavery that has gotten little attention from historians until recently.
• The existence of the Record of Fugitives, which was collected by New York City abolitionist newspaperman Sydney Howard Gay, was unknown to researchers until a student informed Foner of its existence.
• TheRecordstells of fugitives long forgotten, “such as James Jones of Alexandria, who, according to Gay, ‘had not been treated cruelly, but was bored of being a slave.'” According to the interviews Gay and his colleagues did, he was an exception.
• John Jay II, the grandson of the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is also mentioned in the Record.
• The book contains descriptions of escapes facilitated not just by Harriet Tubman, the most renowned conductor on the Underground Railroad, but also by a little-known and strikingly named man whose death certificate would later describe his vocation as “Underground R.R.
• He appears on the very first page of the Record, escorting a fugitive to the railway station.
• Napoleon resided around the corner from Gay’s office in lower Manhattan, not far from the ferry station where passengers from Philadelphia and other cities farther south disembarked.

that he had ever been the savior of 3,000 individuals from bondage.” The author, who used the Record as a starting point to delve deeper into New York’s fugitive slave network, also traces the origins of the New York Vigilance Committee, a small group of white abolitionists and free blacks who formed in 1835 and would go on to form the core of the city’s underground network until the eve of the Civil War.

“Over the course of its existence,” Foner said, “it brought the predicament of fugitives to the forefront of abolitionist awareness in New York and garnered sympathy from many people beyond the movement’s ranks.” It brought the interrelated concerns of kidnapping and fleeing slaves into the greater public arena.” Gateway to Freedom raises the total number of works authored by Foner on antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction America to twenty-two.

• His previous book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
• How did this book come to be?
• This all started with a single document, the Record of Fugitives, which was accidentally handed out to me by a Columbia University student who was doing a senior thesis on Sydney Howard Gay and his journalistic career at the time.
• It was something I put away in the recesses of my memory.
• In order to locate it, you had to be aware that it was there.
• The wealth of New York City in the half-century leading up to the Civil War was directly linked to slavery and the cotton industry in the South.
• A large number of the employment on the docks were related to this.

Southerners were in town all of the time.

Lincoln failed to win the state of New York in either of his presidential campaigns.

Was there only one Underground Railroad or were there several?

This was one significant group of lines that I refer to as the metropolitan corridor since it connected cities all along the East Coast.

Nobody knows exactly how many.

‘Oh, you could build a map,’ people thought.

It wasn’t like there was a sequence of stops and people could just go from one to the other.

It was even more disorderly – or, at the very least, less organized.

And after they moved farther north, to Albany and Syracuse, they were in the heart of anti-slavery area, and the terrain became much more open.

People advertised in the newspaper about assisting escape slaves, which was a quite different milieu from the one found in New York City.

The phrase “Underground Railroad” should be taken relatively literally, at least toward the end of the story.

Frederick Douglas had just boarded a train in Baltimore and was on his way to New York.

Ship captains demanded money from slaves in exchange for hiding them and transporting them to the northern hemisphere.

The book also focuses at the broader influence that fleeing slaves had on national politics in general.

The Fugitive Slave Statute of 1850 was a fairly severe law that drew a great deal of controversy in the northern states.

So that’s something else I wanted to emphasize: not just the story of these people, but the fact that their acts had a significant impact on national politics and the outbreak of the Civil War. Activism History of African-Americans Videos about American History that have been recommended

Supporting Questions

• $200 Reward: Poster for the Return of Formerly-Enslaved People, October 1, 1847 (Document)
• “Effects of the Fugitive-Slave-Law” Print, 1850 (Image)
• Fugitive Slave Law, 1850 (Document)
• Poster for the Return of Formerly-Enslaved People, October 1, 1847 (Document)
• Poster for the Return of Formerly-Enslaved People, October 1, 1847 (Do

How did runaway slaves rely on the help of abolitionists to escape to freedom?

• Article from the Anti-Slavery Bugle titled “William and Ellen Craft,” published on February 23, 1849 (Document)
• Anti-Slavery Bugle Article titled “Underground Railroad,” published on September 16, 1854 (Document)
• “A Presbyterian Clergyman Suspended for Being Connected with the Underground Railroad” Article published on November 8, 1855 (Document)
• William Maxson Home in West Liberty, Iowa, circa 1890 (Image)
• “Fugitive

How did some runaway slaves create their own opportunities to escape?

• A newspaper article entitled “The ‘Running of Slaves’ – The Extraordinary Escape of Henry Box Brown” published on June 23, 1849 (Document)
• The Henry “Box” Brown Song and the Engraved Box, published in 1850 (Image, Document)
• “The Resurrection of Henry ‘Box’ Brown at Philadelphia” illustration published in 1850 (Image)
• Robert Smalls: “The Steamer ‘Planter’ and Her Captor,” published on June 14, 1862 (Do

$200 Reward: Poster for the Return of Formerly-Enslaved People, October 1, 1847

After escaping enslavement, many people depended on northern whites to guide them securely to the northern free states and eventually to Canadian territory. For someone who had previously been forced into slavery, life may be quite perilous. There were incentives for capturing them, as well as adverts such as the one seen below for a prize. More information may be found here.

“Effects of the Fugitive-Slave-Law” Illustration, 1850

Written in strong opposition to the Runaway Slave Act, which was approved by Congress in September 1850 and expanded federal and free-state duty for the return of fugitive slaves, this letter is full of anger. The bill called for the appointment of federal commissioners who would have the authority to enact regulations. More information may be found here.

Fugitive Slave Law, 1850

As a result of the Fleeing Slave Law of 1850, it became unlawful for anybody in the northern United States to aid fugitive slaves in their quest for freedom. This statute supplemented the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act with additional clauses addressing runaways, and it imposed even harsher sanctions for interfering with their escape. More information may be found here.

Anti-Slavery Bugle Article – “William and Ellen Craft,” February 23, 1849

In this article from the abolitionist journal, The Anti-Slavery Bugle, the narrative of Ellen and William Craft’s emancipation from slavery is described in detail. Ellen disguised herself as a male in order to pass as the master, while her husband, William, claimed to be her servant as they made their way out of the building. More information may be found here.

Anti-Slavery Bugle Article – “Underground Railroad,” September 16, 1854

The Anti-Slavery Bugle article indicates the number of runaway slaves in northern cities in 1854, based on a survey conducted by the organization. This group included nine slaves from Boone County, Kentucky, who were seeking refuge in the United States. Their captors were said to be on the lookout for them in Cincinnati, and they were found. More information may be found here.

“A Presbyterian Clergyman Suspended for Being Connected with the Underground Railroad” Article, November 8, 1855

This newspaper story was written in Fayettville, Tennessee, in 1855 and is a good example of historical journalism. When Rev. T. B. McCormick, a priest in Indiana, was suspended for his membership in the Underground Railroad, the article details his ordeal in detail. In the narrative, he is accused of supporting escaped slaves on their way to freedom. More information may be found here.

William Maxson Home in West Liberty, Iowa, 1890

It was published in the Fayetteville, Tennessee, newspaper in 1855, and is a good example of historical journalism. When Rev. T. B. McCormick, a clergyman in Indiana, was suspended for his membership in the Underground Railroad, the article tells what happened. In the narrative, he is accused of supporting fugitive slaves on their way out of the country. More information may be found at.

“Fugitive Slave Case Was Tried” – A Daily Gate City Article, April 13, 1915

This story, which was published in the Keokuk, Iowa, newspaper The Daily Gate City in 1915, is about a trial that took place in Burlington in 1850. Buel Daggs, the plaintiff, sought $10,000 in damages as recompense for the services of nine slaves who had fled from Missouri and had worked for him as slaves. More information may be found here.

“The ‘Running of Slaves’ – The Extraordinary Escape of Henry ‘Box’ Brown” Article, June 23, 1849

It was published in the Keokuk, Iowa newspaper The Daily Gate City in 1915 and is about a trial that took place in Burlington, Iowa, in 1850 and was published in The Daily Gate City.

Buel Daggs, the plaintiff, sought $10,000 in damages as recompense for the services of nine slaves who had escaped from Missouri and had been working for him. More information may be found at.

Henry “Box” Brown Song and the Engraved Box, 1850

Image of the engraving on the box that Henry “Box” Brown built and used to send himself to freedom in Virginia. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. ‘Right side up with care’ is written on the box, and the associated song was performed by Henry “Box” Brown when he emerged from the box in Philadelphia in ‘.Read more

“The Resurrection of Henry ‘Box’ Brown at Philadelphia” Illustration, 1850

Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who escaped from Richmond, Virginia, in a box measuring three feet long, two and a half feet deep, and two and a half feet broad, is depicted in a somewhat comical but sympathetic manner in this artwork. In the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society’s administrative offices. More information may be found here.

Robert Smalls: “The Steamer ‘Planter’ and Her Captor,” June 14, 1862

Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who escaped from Richmond, Virginia, in a box measuring three feet long, two and a half feet deep, and two and a half feet broad, is depicted in a humorous but sympathetic manner in this image. In the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society’s administrative offices, More information may be found at.

“A Bold Stroke for Freedom” Illustration, 1872

The image from 1872 depicts African Americans, most likely fleeing slaves, standing in front of a wagon and brandishing firearms towards slave-catchers. A group of young enslaved persons who had escaped from Loudon by wagon are said to be shown in the cartoon on Christmas Eve in 1855, when patrollers caught up with them. More information may be found here.

Additional Resources:

• Harriet Tubman Day is observed annually on March 31. The statement issued by the State of Delaware on the observance of Harriet Ross Tubman Day on March 10, 2017 may be seen on the website. Governor John Carney and Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long both signed the statement. Harriet Tubman – A Guide to Online Resources A wide range of material linked with Harriet Tubman may be found in these digital collections from the Library of Congress, which include manuscripts, pictures, and publications. It is the goal of this guide to consolidate connections to digital materials about Harriet Tubman that are available throughout the Library of Congress website. Scenes from Harriet Tubman’s Life and Times The website, which is accessible through the Digital Public Library of America, contains portions from the novel Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, written by Sarah Bradford in 1869 and published by the American Library Association.

Maryland’s Pathways to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in the State of Maryland On this page, you can find primary materials pertaining to Maryland and the Underground Railroad. This includes information from three former slaves, Samuel Green, Phoebe Myers, and their descendants today. “The Underground Railroad: A Secret History” by Eric Foner is a book on the history of the Underground Railroad. Among the topics covered in this piece from The Atlantic is the Underground Railroad’s “secret history,” which includes the reality that the network was not nearly as covert as many people believed.

Iowa Core Social Studies Standards (8th Grade)

The content anchor requirements for Iowa Core Social Studies that are most accurately reflected in this source collection are listed below. The subject requirements that have been implemented to this set are appropriate for middle school pupils and cover the major areas that make up social studies for eighth grade students in the United States.

• S.8.13.Explain the rights and obligations of people, political parties, and the media in the context of a range of governmental and nonprofit organizations and institutions. (Skills for the twenty-first century)
• SS.8.19.Explain how immigration and migration were influenced by push and pull influences in early American history. SS.8.21.Examine the relationships and linkages between early American historical events and developments in the context of wider historical settings
• In your explanation of how and why prevalent social, cultural, and political viewpoints altered over early American history, please include the following information: SS.8.23.Explain the numerous causes, impacts, and changes that occurred in early American history
• And The Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, Washington’s Farewell Address, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty with France, the Monroe Doctrine, the Indian Removal Act, the Missouri Compromise, Dred Scott v. Sanford, and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo are examples of primary and secondary sources of information that should be critiqued with consideration for the source of the document, its context, accuracy, and usefulness.