The Underground Railroad

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The Underground Railroad
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The Underground Railroad

• The Underground Railroad was actually an
  above-ground series of escape routes for slaves
  traveling from the South to the North trying to
  gain their freedom.
• Slaves traveled by foot, wagons, boats, and
  trains.
• Slave runaways would usually travel by the light
  of night and hide during the day in places known
  as stations. These were safe houses owned by
  abolitionists.

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Abolitionist

• Abolition-The movement to end slavery
• Slaves would hide in various places.
• Abolitionist a person who believed and worked
  for the abolishment of slavery.

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Henry Box Brown
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Henry Box Brown

• Henry Brown convinced Samuel A. Smith to pack him
  in a box and ship him to Philadelphia,
  Pennsylvania.
• Henry Box Browns trip to Philadelphia was
  grueling, in tight quarters.
• Brown was set free in Philadelphia and eventually
  made his way to Boston, where he helped fellow
  escapees on the Underground Railroad.

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Would you take the risk???

• If the slaves were caught, they were sold or
  beaten with a whip sometimes they were lynched.

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Conductors

• Conductors were the people who led the runaways
  to freedom.

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Harriett Tubman
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• Harriet Tubman was born a slave in Maryland.
• When she learned that her owner was going to sell
  her, she decided to escape.
• Tubman made 19 journeys from the South to the
  North as a Conductor on the Underground Railroad.

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Harriet Tubman

• Southern Plantation owners offered 40,000 for
  the capture of Harriet Tubman.
• Plantation Owners also offered rewards for the
  return of runaway slaves.

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Sojourner Truth

• Sojourner Truth was born a slave in New York, and
  she fled to live with Quakers.
• Truth spoke for abolition and womens rights.

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William Lloyd Garrison

• Abolitionist
• Published an antislavery newspaper The Liberator

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Jermain Loguen

• Abolitionist and Religious Leader
• Station master of Underground Railroad
• Estimated 1500 Fugitive slaves passed through his
  home

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Mary Ann Shadd

• Educated black children in free and slave states
• Fled to Canada
• Spoke out against Slavery
• Educated fugitive slave children in Canada

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Lucretia Mott

• Lucretia and her husband boycotted all goods
  produced by slave labor.
• Abolitionist
• Womens Rights
• Spoke at Quaker meetings against slavery
• Attended World Antislavery Convention in London
  in 1840

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Fredrick Douglass

• Abolitionist Speaker
• Published an autobiography

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William Still

• Member of the Pennsylvania Antislavery Society
• Established a number of safe houses

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Susan B. Anthony

• Fought for womens suffrage in the 20th Century
• She worked for temperance and anti-slavery
  movements

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John Whittier

• American Abolitionist Poet
• Quaker Poet of freedom

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Jonathan Walker

• Jonathan Walker became a national hero in 1844
  when he was tried and sentenced as a slave
  stealer following an attempt to assist seven
  runaway slaves find freedom.  He was branded on
  the right hand with the letters SS signifying
  "Slave Stealer".

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Josiah Henson

• Josiah Henson was one of the first slaves to
  write his memoirs after escaping to freedom.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe acknowledged that Henson's
  writings were the inspiration for her 1852 novel,
  Uncle Tom's Cabin

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Routes to Freedom
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THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
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THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
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Quilts

• During the time of the Underground Railroad
  fugitive slaves would use quilts as a means of
  communication.
• Quilts were used by conductors to help fugitive
  slaves flee the South and arrive safely in the
  North.

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Quilt Usage in the Underground Railroad

• This Quilt represented the NORTH STAR

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Quilts

• This quilt was the symbol for the wagon wheel

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Quilts

• This Quilt symbolized a log cabin

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Quilts

• This quilt symbolized a crossroads

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Spirituals
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Follow the Drinking Gourd

• Chorus
• Follow the Drinking Gourd
• Follow the Drinking Gourd
• For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to
  freedom
• Follow the Drinking Gourd
• The riverbank makes a very good road,
• The dead trees will show you the way
• Left foot, peg foot, traveling on
• Follow the Drinking Gourd

The river ends between two hills Follow the
Drinking Gourd Theres another river on the other
side Follow the Drinking Gourd When the great
big river meets the little river Follow the
Drinking Gourd For the old man is a-waiting for
to carry you to freedom If you follow the
Drinking Gourd
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Spirituals

• Spirituals like Wade in the Water, The Gospel
  Train and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot directly
  refer to the Underground Railroad.
• Spirituals gradually evolved to serve a variety
  of purposes in the fight for freedom
• 1) Singing as an expression of values
• 2) Singing as a source of inspiration or
  motivation
• 3) Singing as an expression of protest
• 4) Singing as a communication tool

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Task

• The year is 1854. You are on the Underground
  Railroad, as a conductor or as a passenger (your
  choice). Create a diary or journal entry which
  chronicles your journey.
• -Where are you from?
• -Where are you headed?
• -What problems are you facing?
• -What actions are you taking?

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The Underground Railroad