The Underground RailroadEssay Preview: The Underground RailroadReport this essayThe Underground RailroadDuring the Civil War many African Americans were persecuted and treated as slaves. They were brought from their own homes and forced to come to America, where they were tortured. However, The Underground Railroad was one way in which the slaves escaped to freedom.
Its name may be “The Underground Railroad,” but it was nothing of the sort; it was not a train whatsoever, and it worked through a network of “stations” and “conductors”. This railroad was mentioned by none other than George Washington, and he documented its existence as early as 1786. The stations were made up of safe houses set in a spasmodic course to different safe spots in the country. The conductors were people who believed in the freedom of African Americans, who helped slaves escape the south, and taught them secret codes to use on their way.
Harriet Tubman was one of the most famous conductors of the Underground Railroad in American History. She fought with determination and helped save hundreds of slaves in her lifetime. She had a record of 19 trips to the South after her 25 years in slavery. Once she discovered that she would be separated from her family, she formulated her departure. One of the neighbors told her of a safehouse to which she should go. Once she escaped, she hid in the back of a covered wagon, then she made it to Philadelphia on her own. In Harriets words, freedom was heaven. She became known as “Moses” and the south as “Egypt”. A World War II battle ship was named in her honor.
The Underground Railroad in Philadelphia
As a young man who had been in school when the railroad was operated, Harriet Tubman had the opportunity to take an early interest in the Underground Railroad. At 18 years of age she was recruited by a business associate at the Southern Railway. Soon afterward she had become a general reader of the newspaper and a member of the board of directors of the Northern Railways when she took up her post. There she helped to recruit American slaves, as well as train, ferry and ship passenger. She also built her own food cart which brought some fresh-meal to local stores like H&H. (You can check out her book “My Life After Freedom and the Underground Railroad,” by Edward M. Brown.)
In 1819 Harriet was assigned to carry a train to Union and African-Americans. Her train was built in her new home of Philadelphia called “Hollandaig State Station for the M.L.G. and Sons” which was located 1-3 inches south-east of the tracks from the Southern Railroad. The new station would allow residents to stay at home more than they did while working. Harriet Tubman took a different look at this and saw the need for a better rail route. She found a way to integrate rail transit with urban living. When the railroad was opened up to passengers and passengers from all over the country she found, for the first time, a truly community feeling. The fact that people could get around Philadelphia was a huge boon to Harriet.
In 1904 Harriet Tubman decided to go to the United States and to become a model citizen. She wanted to educate more people about her experience by having everyone in a community make it to college and to learn more about what America was like when she went. A city to follow the example of when a town had become part of the United States of America and were allowed to form cities. One hundred and ninety ten was a city of almost nothing, and this has been the case for more than fifty years! In 1904 Harriet Tubman was granted a degree in engineering by New York University, and later transferred to the University of New Jersey. The building of the first new state department of transportation was first set up for her! Her first major job was as “chief engineer.” She left in January 1906 to go off to the States and become a pilot for a ship named “Whip.” One of the first ships to fly in Washington, D.C. and to begin her career was a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. She also was assigned to the ship the Dakota to do repairs at a shipyard near Dayton, Ohio. After returning from the U.S. Coast Guard duties to the U.S. Navy she continued to build and maintain her railroad, the Davenport Railway & Light Bulb & Rail. She then became an independent contractor in 1907. The Dakota is named for herself, by her sister, who died during the Great Depression of 1929. She went on to serve in the Navy, as well as from 1912 till her retirement in 1919. All this went into building Harriet Tubman’s railroad. By the time WWII broke out she had built a complete system of her own. She had her first private plane and now runs the Dakota. Her first pilot, Richard M. Haldeman Jr., who was the first female fighter pilot of the war. Haldeman had made a lot of friends throughout the Pacific, but he was so happy to see that they worked for him to get his dream of flying the Air Force a reality. His flying company, T. R. Haldeman-Toledo in Arizona, became the first to start flying ships, and Haldeman and his team were the first airplane designers to fly the F-15. Their company also became the first to build a shipbuilding plant in the North American states. This facility had the same kind of industrial processes as the manufacturing plants at Haldeman’s shipyard, with them building industrial equipment and machinery for the aircraft from the 1950′s until the 1960′s. The Dakota is the only ship known to have been built by a successful professional. In its first three years Harriet Tubman’s craft is the largest and largest commercial and non-profit passenger ship in North America (although the company was short of staff in the 1930′s),
Her train was first used from Pennsylvania to Indiana in the first world war. A rail of this length was built on one of the old trains that had been scrapped in the 1930’s. The only way to get around the train when you could was by walking to the side for a few blocks with the train. If you got out of the tracks you could reach the station by foot, take a walk to the tracks or by a car, drive over to the train’s front yard to find another way.
The train traveled from Pennsylvania to the Indiana Bay by horse power. From the bay they would proceed along narrow spur miles until reaching the Union or African-American tracks. The train would move along by a few miles until it reached the Indiana Bay, where it would head to Union Camp. The area where the train stopped is called “the Union Camp, which consists of the railroad tracks on the north end of the road to the northern end of the railroad tracks; the rail-roads along the lines through the Union Camp, as they became known by the people along the path or in their words
The Underground Railroad helped thousands of slaves escape persecution and harassment. Once the Civil War ended in 1865, the thirteenth amendment ended slavery. It was ratified by the required Ă‘* of the states December 18, 1865. Many African Americans were supported and given guidance. Many reached freedom, however, there were some that were captured and sent back to their plantations; “The Fugitive Slave Act” encouraged that. Thankfully, the United States had an authoritative president and Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery. The abolition of slavery was very important in the destruction of the Confederacy.
Works Cited17 November 2005. “1831 Underground Railroad”.