The Underground Railroad Reconsidered Summary
The Underground Railroad was a secret network of safe houses that organized by people who helped runaway men, women and children slaves. From the years 1780 until the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 enslaved individuals would run away in hopes to receive help from the free and reach their way up into the northern part of the United States. Many historians have approached this topic in several perspectives. Daniel O. Sayers “The Underground Railroad Reconsidered” provides an overview of the Underground Railroad as a long-term of African-American defiance and marronage. It analyses the political economic impacts across the slave owning sectors, the slave’s culture and the influence of religion on the Underground Railroad. In another perspective, …show more content…
Lottie Jones Hood’s approach starts off by introducing herself to the International Congregational Journal and giving her reasons of interest in this topic. Hood begins by stating: “ There would have been no Underground Railroad in the United States had there been no Trans Atlantic Slave Trade in the global economy of the world”, (Hood, 48). Historical background on the Transatlantic Slave Trade is then provided by Hood in which she addresses that the Europeans and African nations engaged in an economic practice that enslaved many millions of Africans between the years 1441 through 1888 (Hood, 49). She also addresses that voyage for those enslaved and taken by the British; the famous Middle Passage took around six to eight weeks and slaved who survived the horribly described voyage were sold off in the markets as slaves (Hood, 50). More historical context is the provided by her in which she states that the first Africans were brought to North America to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. She addresses that resistance to enslavement began the moment of enslavement (Hood, 51). “Slaved were forbidden from carrying guns, taking food, striking their masters, and running away” states Hood as she mentions the slave codes that the government put in tack only for slaves. Such laws and harsh treatment, according to Hood, led for slaves to fight for freedom; “It is the nature of all living creatures to want to be free” (Hood,
Venture Smith Thesis
1599 Words | 7 PagesAmerican society before the Revolution was in many ways dependent on slavery. This institution would seem to contrast sharply with the aura of enlightenment and “unalienable rights” that surrounds our nation’s founding. However, slavery had an economic role that is impossible to ignore. The story of Venture Smith’s life, a man who was born free, then enslaved, and finally earned his freedom, reveals the financial opportunities behind slavery’s that encouraged white members of society to prolong its existence despite the rallying cries of freedom and independence that were the basis of the American Revolution. Venture, originally named Broteer, was the eldest child born to Saungm Furro, a “Prince of the Tribe of Dukandarra” in Guinea (para.
Selfishness In The Underground Railroad
159 Words | 1 PagesIn the beginning of the novel, The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, Mabel is constantly represented as an awful mother when described by her daughter, Cora. Mabel spends her whole life on the Randall Plantation before one day running away, leaving Cora behind. Cora perceives this as an act of selfishness and is furious that Mabel didn’t say goodbye. Cora thought “it was incomprehensible that Mabel had abandoned her to that hell” (Whitehead 98). If the plantation was bad enough for Mabel to leave, it must be just as bad for Cora
Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad
242 Words | 1 PagesWhat would it mean to shed light on a part of history that remains largely invisible because it was conducted in secret and under cover of night? This was the challenge faced by Colson Whitehead, for example, in his award-winning novel, “The Underground Railroad.” A clandestine and loosely organized network of activists, safe houses and secret routes, the actual Underground Railroad shepherded as many as 100,000 slaves to freedom in the six decades before the Civil War. Its route would eventually traverse free states from Maine to Iowa, extending as far north as Canada.
Harriet Tubman And The Underground Railroad
314 Words | 2 PagesThe Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century enslaved people of African descent in the United States. It was in efforts to escape to the Free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists that showed sympathy towards them. The Underground Railroad was not “underground” and it wasn’t actually a “railroad.” The reason it was called “underground” was because of how secretive it had to be and it was called a “railroad” because it was an evolving form of transportation.
Justified Response To The Underground Railroad
153 Words | 1 PagesAlthough it broke the law, and countered the ancient principle that slaves were considered property, the Underground Railroad was a morally justified response to the institution of slavery, considering it was an inhumane institution. As well as being inhumane, the institution violated the Declaration of Independence, by denying the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, while also defying the idea of divine right from the Bible. Due to the overall institution of slavery being immoral and inhumane, the Underground Railroad was a justified response to this problematic issue. Despite the Railroad having some illegal aspects, the overall institution of slavery defied the Declaration of Independence, justifying the actions of the
Underground Railroad Research Paper
486 Words | 2 PagesThe Underground Railroad of the United States of America was a complex system of knowledge and experience that made it possible for slaves to escape the harsh realities of laboring for the opportunistic region of the North. With this in mind, all fugitives faced tremendous odds, displaying unimaginable amounts of courage in order to bypass themselves from the conditions they lived under in the South. Similarly, there were many directly opposing ideas making their way through the minds of those in the legislature, in essence creating a social divide that would arguably continue until the end of the civil rights movement. Although today it is known as a singular concept, the Underground Railroad was composed of several independent organizations that in turn collectively had goals of abolishing slavery.
A Lesson Before Dying Personification Analysis
807 Words | 4 PagesBy using this reference, it illustrated the severity of the alienation of blacks in the Southern United States. In 1619, a Dutch ship “introduced the first captured Africans to America, planting the seeds of a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would ultimately divide the nation”. The Africans were not treated humanely, but were treated as workers with no rights. Originally, they were to work for poor white families for seven years and receive land and freedom in return. As the colonies prospered, the colonists did not want to give up their workers and in 1641, slavery was legalized.
Impact Of Slavery On African American Culture
1353 Words | 6 PagesThe Underground Railroad gave Africans the ability to run away from the distress of slavery. Becoming free allowed slaves to build their own institutions. They began building churches, schools and mutual aids. “In the antebellum decades, the black institutions that had appeared during the revolutionary era in urban areas of North, Upper South, and – to a lesser extent – the Deep South grew in strength, numbers, and variety. This was the result of growing black populations, the exertions of the African American elite, and the persistence of racial exclusion and segregation.”
The Underground Railroad Essay
1358 Words | 6 PagesThe Underground Railroad. A metaphor as it was, it was neither a railroad nor was it even underground. In the time where slavery became a divided issue with the status of legality in various parts of the country, the underground railroad found its beginnings through collective organized efforts from abolitionists and allies alike to help enslaved African americans to escape to territories and states where they could be free from slavery. It was a loosely-developed system that also included series of routes led by “conductors” such as Harriet Tubman, for escaping slaves, or “passengers”.
Frederick Douglass Slave Speech Rhetorical Analysis
249 Words | 1 PagesDouglass’s descriptions of the slave trade were extremely vivid, from the details of how American’s viewed slaves, to the sounds of whips cracking and how a woman was encumbered by the weight of the child she carried and the chains that she wore. These details would bring readers to know what it was like to be in a slaves shoes at that time. His speech is driven by first had accounts of the degradations of slavery and would not be credible if it wasn’t for this fact. I believe that Douglass’s tone throughout the speech was hopeful, he enforced the cause of the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society with the hopes of making the United States more complete when slavery ended.
Literary Devices In The Underground Railroad
1642 Words | 7 PagesLiterature is often credited with the ability to enhance one’s understanding of history by providing a view of a former conflict. In doing so, the reader is able to gain both an emotional and logistical understanding of a historically significant event. Additionally, literature provides context that can help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the political climate of a time period. Within the text of The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead’s, the use of literary elements such as imagery, metaphor, and paradox amplifies the reader’s understanding of early 19th century slavery and its role in the South of the United States of America. Throughout the novel, Whitehead utilizes a girl named Cora to navigate the political and personal consequences of escaping slavery, the Underground Railroad, and her transition
Frederick Douglass Rebunk The Myth Of Slavery
814 Words | 4 PagesIn the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.
Ahistorical Elements In The Underground Railroad
1621 Words | 7 PagesThe novel The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is full of ahistorical elements. In a book about slavery in America, his use of ahistorical elements results in a commentary on racial discrimination and abuse in a unique, narrative way. He portrays every state differently, using each of them as an example of a different type of discrimination. South Carolina is represented as a “progressive” and modern state, with new and innovative ideas on how to treat slaves. It even has the Griffin Building to represent its modernism, even though that wasn 't built historically until 1910.
Inhuman Traffick
933 Words | 4 PagesThe detailed descriptions included in primary sources, along with the descriptive and emotional illustrations included in graphic history are crucial elements in studying and understanding the process and history of the transatlantic slave trade. Rafe Blaufarb and Liz Clarke tie both of these together to help readers truly understand this historic tragedy in the book, Inhuman Traffick: The International Struggle Against the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Although different than the standard book that may be used, that simply spews information out in an uncreative and somewhat boring way, this book is a tool that can be chosen in classrooms to teach different aspects of the slave trade. Working together, the primary sources and graphic history
Reflection On A Trip To The Underground Railroad Museum And Freedom Center
837 Words | 4 PagesI attended the trip to the Underground Railroad Museum and Freedom Center. This trip took place on Thursday, March 1st, 2018. The location of this trip was Cincinnati, Ohio. This trip was for us to learn about the stories of those courageous heroes who were apart of the era of slavery. I choose to attend this particular event because this event lines up with the requirements needed for my Experiential Learning Assessments for my humanities course.
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