by: rahaf alwattar and olivia carpenter. the underground railroad was a secretive network of...
TRANSCRIPT
By: rahaf alwattar and Olivia carpenter
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
The Underground Railroad was a secretive network of abolitionists
They guided run-away slaves across the Canadian border to safety during the years before the Civil War
Conductors would hide slaves at their houses or other secret places, known as stations on the railroad.
Fun Fact: The system was coded in railroad terminology for secrecy.
WHAT IS THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD?
The Underground Railroad was started after the Fugitive Slave Act (1850) was passed
Fugitive Slave Act made it illegal for an citizen to assist an escaped slave
It demanded that if an escaped slave was seen, they would be turned in to authorities and were sent back to their
owners in the South
Even if a slave successfully escaped their plantation, they still could be caught and returned to any United States citizen
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT (1850)
It was thought that this Act would deter slaves from escaping and from free citizens helping the escaped.
Even though The Fugitive Slave Act was being enforced, many abolitionists still helped slaves escape; thus The
Underground Railroad was formed.
THE FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT CONT.
Kentucky
Virginia
Indiana
Ohio
Maryland
Pennsylvania
New York
LOCATION OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
STATIONS
African Americans in the North lived in a strange state of semi-freedom
The North may had emancipated its slaves, but it was not ready to treat the blacks as citizens. . . or sometimes even
as human beings
African Americans and their white allies did not simply sit back and accept Northern racism; they responded to it in a
whole range of ways
Some northerners did not agree with the underground railroad because they viewed slaves as property and
believed the south should be compensated for their loss
VIEW OF THE NORTH
The south was against the Underground Railroad because they were the ones in need of slaves
The Fugitive Slave Act was passed before the Underground Railroad took place
This angered the south because the north was breaking federal law
VIEW OF THE SOUTH
William Still was an African American abolitionist who is known as the father of the Underground Railroad
Wrote a book called The Underground Railroad
Joined the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1847
Served as the head of the Underground Railroad in Philadelphia from 1852 to 1861
WILLIAM STILL
Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most well-known of all the Underground Railroad's "conductors.”
In 1849, in fear that she, along with the other slaves on the plantation, was to be sold, Tubman resolved to run away
With some assistance from a friendly white woman, Tubman was on her way. She followed the North Star by night, making
her way to Pennsylvania and soon after to Philadelphia
Undeterred, she found other slaves seeking freedom and escorted them to the North.
HARRIET TUBMAN
"I have never approved of the very public manner in which some of our western friends have conducted what they call the underground railroad, but which I think, by their open
declarations, has been made most emphatically the upperground railroad.”
He went on to say that, although he honors the movement, he feels that the efforts serve more to enlighten the slave-owners than the slaves, making them more watchful and making it more difficult for future slaves to escape.[21]
FREDERICK DOUGLASS:
Around 1893, American artist Charles T. Webber painted The Underground Railroad, as a tribute to the work of
abolitionists earlier in the century. The painting shows fugitive slaves arriving at the farm of Levi Coffin, a station master of the Underground Railroad who helped more than 3,000 slaves escape to freedom. It also shows Levi Coffin,
who is standing on the wagon, Coffin's wife, Catherine, and the noted abolitionist, Hannah Haydock.