Underground Railroad

• From the beginning of

class, the theme has been

and remains to thwart evil

good people must act.

• Regardless of indenture of

slavery, people have

sought to free themselves.

• We now see a concerted

effort to thwart the slave

owners.

Underground Railroad and Abolition

• As we have already seen, some good people did step up and voice concerns and outrage at the system.

• The Quakers, Mennonites, and German Dunkers were early prominent voices espousing emancipation.

• These were the first groups to actually organize and begin a process that would become the frontrunner to the abolition movement

Going Underground

• The actual term “Underground Railroad” probably began sometime in the early 19th

century.

• A slave owner was following closely on the heels of a runaway—as the slave David Tice came to the Ohio, he had no choice but to swim for it.

• Slave owner close behind on a skiff, upon approaching shore he could find evidence of Tice—”must’ve gone off underground …”

Underground Cont’d

• As the society became more organized and

efficient, there would appear rumors that there

was an underground railway system running

underground all the way to Boston.

• In fact the society organized itself based on

principles of the railroad system—using railroad

nomenclature, such as conductors, etc …

Cont’d

• As slave codes and Laws

became more harsh and

restrictive; more and more

good people, White and

Free black and ex-Slaves

joined the ranks of the

underground railroad.

Cont’d

• Once the “tracks” became laid and more

organized, many people joined the ranks.

• Some were government officials, others were

ordinary folks;

• Some members were more enthusiastic and

motivated than others;

• These guys desired immediate action and results.

John Fairfield

• Daring and apparently did not fear death;

• He possessed no compulsion to use violence to free slaves;

• He would go into the South disguised and abscond with slaves;

• Many times he returned with his charges with bullet holes in his clothes and even wounded several times.

John Brown

• A Ne’er do well who

committed his soul and

conscience to the

abolition of slavery;

• He did a great deal to

ignite the Civil War

because of his deeds at

Harpers Ferry Arsenal;

• He had hoped his actions

would ignite an

insurrection and lead to

violent abolition.

Laura Haviland

• Though daring,

aggressively action-

oriented, The John

Browns and John

Fairfield's were the

exception, Most

conductors and members

of the railroad were less

conspicuous and more

peaceful.

Laura Haviland

• Petite Michigan Quaker;

• Spent most of her energies raising money to

become a primary “stock holder” in underground

railroad stock;

• She helped ex-slaves to finance the purchasing of

family members.

William McKeever

• The most active railroad

worker in Pennsylvania;

• Gave money, led slaves to

freedom personally;

• His house and property

one of the mainstay

depots or stops on the

way North.

Levi Coffin

• Leading Early Abolitionist;

• Born in NC in 1789;

• As a child bought and sold produce from slaves;

• Heard their stories and resolved to act;

• He would be called the President of the railroad

Runaways and the Railroad

• Many fugitives, once free placed their freedom in

jeopardy to become very active members of the

railroad;

• John Mason, an ex-slave slipped back into

Kentucky many times eventually leading 265

slaves to freedom;

• Frederick Douglass, though very active in the

awareness phase of speaking, writing and raising

funds, never went back South until after the war.

Other Runaways

• Many runaways had to stay hidden or move on to

Canada because as the ‘Fugitive Clause’ became

more strict, many slave catchers would grab free

blacks off the streets and re-sell them into

slavery. Why the strong movement was so

important.

• Ermene Cain a runaway actively worked for 45

years covertly;

• Samuel Dorsey, barber, also worked covertly in

the network; more famously was “Old Naylor”

William Still and Josiah Henson.

Reverend Josiah Henson• He began a Black Community

to help assimilate ex-slaves to a free society;

• Formed Tobacco Co-ops to provide economy for ex-slaves;

• Personally made trips to secure freedom at risk of his own freedom;

• First ex-slave to have audience with Queen Victoria

William Still

• Became executive secretary of the Philadelphia Anti-Slave Society;

• He kept meticulous records giving us much of what we know now;

• Wrote Book, Underground Railroad in 1872.

Harriet Tubman

• The most acclaimed and

celebrated Railroad

member;

• Born in Maryland; was

subjected to a brutal attack

by an overseer, which

caused her to often fall

into a sudden swoon or

altered state of

consciousness; after her

escape, she helped her

sister and family escape.

Harriet Tubman

• She was a fervent and very successful

“Conductor.”

• She was no none sense; she carried a revolver for

any circumstance, which one time required her to

impress upon some slaves in her charge to keep

going or she would shoot them—freedom was to

important to everyone for a few to spoil it by

complaining—if she felt they were endangering

the group. “You go on or die.”

Harriet Tubman

• No one really knows how many trips she made South to Conduct slaves to freedom or how many she actually led, some say around 300—suffice it say it was a lot and often.

• She became to be called “General Tubman” and “Moses.” The higher the price on her head ($40,000), the more times she returned to the South;

• Sometimes lucky to get out without capture.

Tubman Cont’d

• William Still author of The

Underground Railroad stated

she was the most unassuming,

non-pretentious, and ordinary

specimen of humanity, to be

found among the farm hands

of the South … She blended

well and was seen as no threat

to anyone—

• She often disguised herself as

an old ‘Granny’ to hide her

athleticism and strong gait.

Tubman• She didn’t just simply ‘Conduct’ them to freedom,

she saw them all the way to Canada;

• At the Court House in Auburn New York there is a quote on her statue, “On my underground railroad, I never run my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.”

• Her famous quip to new slaves when entering free soil, “You done shook the Lion’s Paw.” He was free.

Reality of the Railroad

• Dangerous and

treacherous;

• Disputes about funding

and financing;

• Charges of corruption;

• Traitors and Money

Grubbers

Cont’d

• There was claims that these agents of the railroad

were leaving the slaves destitute without any

financial help and pocketing the money for

themselves;

• Was a direct cause of breaking up families, by

their presence slave owners were forced to sell

slaves deep into the interior to avoid escape;

• All money raised in these abolition societies

should be used for emancipation of all slaves, not

just freeing some through clandestine means.

Cont’d

• Largest complaint—was accountability and the

corruption of funds.

• Railroad workers suffered ridcule from others,

were shouted down at meetings, their children

were harassed; many were shunned at work and in

the community.

• Some were even asked to withdraw from their

church membership.

Social Effects

• The biggest assumed cause was the Civil War itself—the

losses of slave property escalated the chances of war;

• It was also argued that the railroad by aiding so many

runaways, it eliminated any chance for insurrection and

rebellion ending the institution earlier than the 1860s.

• George W. Williams, A Black scholar, argued that the

railroad provided a safety valve to the slave institution.

Many of the slaves prone to rebellion and and desiring to

throw off the yoke of slavery just absconded North,

rather than a Haiti type rebellion in the South.

Personal Cost

• Because of the harsher penalties for assisting fugitive

slaves, many railroad workers suffered terrible financial

hardship;

• They were incarcerated; had their businesses impounded;

forced to seek expensive legal counsel;

• In other cases when an underground worker saw an

advertisement in the paper for the sale of slaves, they

would use their own money to buy and then free the

slave—this caused financial hardship

Physical Hardship

• Black and White railroaders alike suffered

physical abuse, threats, and sometimes death;

• Rewards were offered for the capture of railroad

workers; Thomas Garrett had $20,000 placed on

his head—Tubman had $40,000 placed on her

head.

• Garrett responded in the paper that he was worth

twice that.

Hardship Cont’d

• Abolitionist Lewis Tappan barely escaped with his life as Slave Catchers tore down his house and destroyed his belongings;

• He was hanged in effigy and threatened with tar and Feathering.

• William Lloyd Garrison, editor of the abolitionist paper The Liberator, also barely escaped an angry Pro-Slavery mob with his life on several ocassions..

Elijah Lovejoy

• The first Whiteman to die in

the cause of Abolition,

polarizing the camps;

• Editor of the Observer;

• More and more Whites began

to put their life on the line for

abolition;

• It became a cause celebre’

and not just some local

community cause.

Imprisonment

• Others were imprisoned such as Charles Torren. He was caught assisting fugitive slaves. He died in prison.

• Seth Concklin traveled to Alabama to rescue Peter Sill’s family. Sill a free ex-slave solicited assistance. Concklin rescued the family but was overtaken in Indiana. He was found later, drowned and still in chains.

• Regardless of the hazards, white and black alike continued to fill the ranks of the railroad.

Underground Railroad

• To establish a link in the

railroad system, two

factors were necessary:

• 1) Geographical location

• 2) Availability of

Underground workers and

sympathizers

Cont’d

• One of the most well

known and largest staging

areas of the Underground

Railroad was in New York

City located at the 42nd St

Station—We know it as

Grand Central Station.

• The trip could take days,

months, even up to a year.

Cont’d

• The name of the game

was surreptition and

concealment—getting

to “Shake the Lion’s

Paw” Not in how fast

it could be achieved.

• Haste makes waste.

Cont’d

• One Alabama runaway took a year to get to Ohio;

• Another runaway traveled some 1200 miles

before arriving in Pennsylvania;

• Factors to a successful flight: Proximity of slave

owner and catcher, the route taken, Weather,

mode of transportation (water, foot, or actual

railroad).

Specific Routes and Modes of Escape

• Waterway was the

conventional choice; it was the

fastest, but also the most

guarded and watched;

• Unfortunately many runaways

would be recaptured wasting

time looking for a boat, skiff,

log any flotation device.

• Many slaves were not raised

around or near water and could

not swim, or knew nothing

about navigation.

Escape Modes Cont’d

• Many slaves with the help of

abolitionist used Steamboats,

Roads and canals to avoid

slave catchers.

• Levi Coffin would receive a

telegram suggesting he go to

box 72 (berth), at P.O.(dock),

take charge of letters

(fugitives), and pay postage of

$43 (stateroom) to a Mr.

Peck(usually Ship captain)—

this was code.

Betrayal

• Many times, if the

Captain was offered more

money by slave catchers,

they betrayed their

fugitives and kept both

parties money;

• But, Northerners were the

owners of most of the

River Boat lines—plus

freedom was worth it.

Betrayal

• Any kind or mode of absconding, the slave was

dependent on the morality and veracity of the

Underground workers.

• The greatest tragedy was when Free blacks (some ex-

slaves) accepted money and bribes betraying the

fugitives.

• Slaves were ignorant of the geography and had little

choice but to believe when told about a certain route—

the end could be freedom or a return to bondage.

Deception

• To aid in deception and avoid capture, the Railroad used secret codes and signs. They also used disguises and subterfuge.

• They used code numbers signifying friendly houses and communities—10 was Philadelphia, 20 for Seville, Ohio, and 27 for Medina, Ohio.

• The Good Ship Zion meant rescue was soon.

• A Quilt hanging on a clothesline with an embroidery of a Chimney with white smoke meant friendly confines …etc …

Code Word Explanation

Freedom Train Code name for Underground Railroad

Heaven or Promised Land Canada

Agent One who plotted the course or made contacts

Preachers Leaders/speakers of the underground railroad

Stockholders Donor of money, clothing or food

Shepherds or Conductors People who escorted slaves

Station A safe house

Station Master Keeper of a safe house

“The wind blows from the south

today”

Slave bounty hunters are nearby

“A friend of a friend” Arrival of fugitives with a conductor

A package, parcel, bundle, etc Fugitives to be expected

Drinking Gourd Big Dipper and the north star, marker at night

Emancipation Proclamation

• Ended the need for the Underground Railroad.

• The railroad was more than a Society of high moral fiber, it was a belief and an act that all men white and black could join together in common cause to right a dreadful wrong.

• “It was an opportunity for the bold and adventurous, it had the excitement of piracy, burglary, the daring of insurrection … and the added triumph of snapping one’s fingers in the face of the slave owner …