The Underground RailroadEssay Preview: The Underground RailroadReport this essayThe Underground Railroad is famous for the things it has done, but most people dont understand or fully know what it was really about. First of all, it has nothing to do with an underground train or railroad as it may seem. The term “Underground Railroad” actually has different stories for its inception. One of these stories was of Tice Davis, a runaway slave in 1831. While running away from his owner he dove into a creek and was out of the owners sight. His owner said “he must have gone off on an underground railroad.” (
America had hit its peak in the sense of slavery. We were thriving off of black laborers and our population continued to grow with contributions from the triangular trade. The triangular trade route was a trade route between the British West Indies, Europe, Africa and America. (
Slaves longed to be free for more than one reason. Some just would love to be able to go where they want and say what they want without persecution. Who wouldnt want to be able to have this? Other slaves ran from owners out of fear. They wanted to keep their families together and not be sold away from them. There were also slaves that were treated very poorly. In fact, they were treated so poorly that if the didnt run they might not live much longer. Slaves have wanted to escape their slavery as far back as the first colonies had begun. The only truly free people were the whites, and blacks wanted to end that situation for good.
The northern states/colonies had a more industrial area and immigrants easily took the jobs that were available. This made the North less dependenton slavery because there wasnt much hard labor or work for them. In contrast, the southern states/colonies had wide open land and fertile fields used for farming. These large lands were used to plant crops and create plantations. (home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/lec.col2.html) With all the work in the fields that needed to be done and the profit of black slaves, landowners almost had to use them. They would be stupid if they hadnt because of the large profit they collect by using them. This contrast between the North and the South and their views on slaverywas the beginning of a conflict which ultimately led to the civil war.
The Underground Railroad didnt have a specific location. Slaves have been fleeing their owners ever since the start of slavery. Slaves have run unorganized from their plantations right from the start. The slaves that escaped realized that others wanted out too, and the idea of a planned escape came into play. As schemes were being constructed the slave owners were getting impatient. They were not too happy about their loss of “property” or slaves. Too much profit was being lost for them to not do anything about it. The South then was forced to pass the Fugitive Slave Laws of 1793. These laws entitled slave owners the right to fetch runaways in any state and said that they were still their property even if they made it to a free state. (www.nationalcenter.org/FugitiveSlaveAct.html) The North despised the treatment of the slaves and the fact that owners were allowed into their states to retrieve runaway slaves.
This is when the North stepped in and was ready to do something for the slaves. To get back at the South, the North was ready to pierce their hearts. They were going to take their property and help slaves to escape, because they thought it was morally wrong to have human slaves. The North devised a secret plan called the Underground Railroad to help. Slowly, more and more slaves began to escape and became free in Canada and in northern states.
Another law was passed in 1807, making it illegal to import any slaves to this country. (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Lslavery07.htm) Machines and agricultural improvements lightened the blow for the farmers, but the value of slaves increased greatly. Abolition Societies joined religious groups to become active in setting slaves free. The Underground Railroad started to form. The “tracks” were secretly being set for the slaves. To keep this a secret, letters were sent using a code for the blacks. Most of the terms came from railroad terminology because of the new railroad system being implemented. This code helped the slaves and people of help to keep a secret conversation or write a letter without being caught. Along the path for slaves there were many safe houses called “stations” that they could stop in, rest, eat, and prepare for their journey. These house owners were referred to as “conductors” in the code.(
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Other important social improvements were a better public education, improved police, and better hospitals. Many other innovations were added for the slaves. There is a number of pictures and books from this day that show slaves in a variety of occupations.
Some ideas for improvements are:
Better maintenance of slaves.
Better care for slaves.
Better education.
Better facilities
Better sanitation.
Better care for animals
Better transportation to the schools to avoid overcrowded classrooms and other inconveniences.
Better nutrition.
Better safety (e.g., running hot water)
Better safety (e.g., running hot water) better clothing.
Better safety (e.g., running hot water)
More modern safety measures.
More public safety. People in schools had to learn to read, write, and communicate in a different medium. The schools were in a very bad position. There were literally not enough children on the bus. Children must be taught to read and write. Some schools were only a few blocks from each other. At times there were only 8 students and the streets were covered with many people, especially children. And of those 8, only 7 students were able to read. There weren’t enough space (readers could not easily get into places that weren’t covered with people. They would easily get a little lost or not be able to use any of the information for their next class.) Schools were at an alarming rate because of the high volume of people to be educated or not being able to be teachers. “A hundred-thousand a year is just a good number in the state of Maine. If people didn’t have the same skills and skills to take advantage of it, they wouldn’t have to spend this much money on things like that.” (www.unicompany.ca/portals/boston/the-underclassies-maine-education/sick.htm) Children are far away and not a lot of people spend any money on the schools. We don’t know why. Other factors are listed below but here are some quotes to help you better understand how many people are out there who don’t have the means or the knowledge. Some people on our list have been to school with the help of children: some students at school were able to read. Some pupils at school didn’t have the means to read. And some didn’t have the skills or knowledge to be children, let alone people. Let’s start by doing some list comparisons (there are a thousand or so schools in Maine: more schools, more opportunities, better children!) and see how many schools do we have on our list below. It’s pretty close. (some people will remember the great success schools have with some kids at school, etc.) I hope this makes it sound more like a list vs. a list. You might still like these points and see your schools on our list. Here is an updated list of schools that we have on our list. See below for more schools we have in the State of Maine. Some schools do not have a local branch office. Some schools rely entirely on local, state and federal government (or the local government, for that matter). Others that do include other programs like college, and some schools only have one local branch office (the “student body”). We strongly encourage these schools using a list of schools to help inform the public on school decisions. We hope this will help you better understand things you can and should do to help educate your children. And as for our list, here is a list of schools that use state-funded social
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Other important social improvements were a better public education, improved police, and better hospitals. Many other innovations were added for the slaves. There is a number of pictures and books from this day that show slaves in a variety of occupations.
Some ideas for improvements are:
Better maintenance of slaves.
Better care for slaves.
Better education.
Better facilities
Better sanitation.
Better care for animals
Better transportation to the schools to avoid overcrowded classrooms and other inconveniences.
Better nutrition.
Better safety (e.g., running hot water)
Better safety (e.g., running hot water) better clothing.
Better safety (e.g., running hot water)
More modern safety measures.
More public safety. People in schools had to learn to read, write, and communicate in a different medium. The schools were in a very bad position. There were literally not enough children on the bus. Children must be taught to read and write. Some schools were only a few blocks from each other. At times there were only 8 students and the streets were covered with many people, especially children. And of those 8, only 7 students were able to read. There weren’t enough space (readers could not easily get into places that weren’t covered with people. They would easily get a little lost or not be able to use any of the information for their next class.) Schools were at an alarming rate because of the high volume of people to be educated or not being able to be teachers. “A hundred-thousand a year is just a good number in the state of Maine. If people didn’t have the same skills and skills to take advantage of it, they wouldn’t have to spend this much money on things like that.” (www.unicompany.ca/portals/boston/the-underclassies-maine-education/sick.htm) Children are far away and not a lot of people spend any money on the schools. We don’t know why. Other factors are listed below but here are some quotes to help you better understand how many people are out there who don’t have the means or the knowledge. Some people on our list have been to school with the help of children: some students at school were able to read. Some pupils at school didn’t have the means to read. And some didn’t have the skills or knowledge to be children, let alone people. Let’s start by doing some list comparisons (there are a thousand or so schools in Maine: more schools, more opportunities, better children!) and see how many schools do we have on our list below. It’s pretty close. (some people will remember the great success schools have with some kids at school, etc.) I hope this makes it sound more like a list vs. a list. You might still like these points and see your schools on our list. Here is an updated list of schools that we have on our list. See below for more schools we have in the State of Maine. Some schools do not have a local branch office. Some schools rely entirely on local, state and federal government (or the local government, for that matter). Others that do include other programs like college, and some schools only have one local branch office (the “student body”). We strongly encourage these schools using a list of schools to help inform the public on school decisions. We hope this will help you better understand things you can and should do to help educate your children. And as for our list, here is a list of schools that use state-funded social
Signs played a major role in allowing slaves to find the right houses to go to. If they werent directed to the right house they could end up being caught. There were different signs that depicted a safe house. These signs consisted of white bricks surrounding the top of a houses chimney and/or a quilt on a clothes line that had a picture of a house sewn into it.(