Preview

The Underground Railroad Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
664 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Underground Railroad Essay
message. These songs functioned as explicit expressions of resistance, encoding messages about the secret gatherings or carrying directions for escaped slaves. “The Underground Railroad (UGRR) helped slaves to run to free a country. A fugitive could use several ways. First, they had to walk at night, using hand lights and moonlight. When needed, they walked (“waded”) in water, so that dogs could not smell their tracks. Second, they jumped into chariot, where they could hide and ride away. These chariots stopped at some “stations”, but this word could mean any place where slaves had to go for being taken in charge” (Negro Spirituals). There are many who still ask the question, are we really free?
Slave Haven Underground
Going to Slave Haven
…show more content…
Some stayed on ships for 27 hours in a concealed box; some made it and some did not. Others went to Louisiana to join the army to free themselves. The Negro church organization was the most effective for bringing social control among the isolated social world for Negroes. In Ezekiel 22: 29, says, “The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.” We can still see injustice, when young black men are being killed and nothing is been done about it. Maybe there is a difference in white and black perspectives as to what is justice.
Diverse Cultures
What does the Bible say about slavery? The term slave is used frequently in the New Testament. When referring to slaves in the bible it is the ownership of them. In Paul’s letter to the Asian churches, some of the slaves and the slaveholders were Christians. The slaves were instructed to obey the masters while the masters were instructed to be nice to them.
The Bible involves diverse cultures like Persian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Canaanite, and Ethiopian. In all of these cultures some people had slaves or were slaveholders. Moreover slaves were treated more like commodities than humans. Some range of quality in the lifestyle of a slave in the Roman Empire depended upon their skill set and the treatment of their master. Slaves were not protected by the legal system

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Dbq Slave Trade Analysis

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The slaves were treated like objects not as humans. For example, on document three it shows the slaves being herded like animals. The slaves are wearing ropes around them to keep them inline. The first two slaves had a wooden head trap around…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thanks for the response. Yes, Philemon is a hard book to read. When I look at slavery in the New Testament (NT) and that of American slavery, NT slavery was a class system. Slaves in the NT were treated with decency. Smith states, “Harrill argues that Onesimus was an apprenticed slave. He identifies Paul's letter to Philemon as a "letter of recommendation" wherein Paul recommends Onesimus as an apprentice in gospel ministry.” Slaves in NT time were gathered as spoil after winning a victory or battle. Wallace shows us, “Roman slaves were either taken as the spoils of war or were such because they sold themselves into slavery (known as "bond-servant"). They were often well-educated.”…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Slavery has changed a lot since the Roman Empire, for example slavery was very normal almost everywhere in Rome in the Ancient Times but now it is only normal in very few…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Reverse Underground Railroad was the pre-American Civil War practice of kidnapping free black men in free states and transporting them to slave states to be sold. It was called the Reverse Underground Railroad because it’s purpose was the opposite of what the Underground Railroad tried to achieve, which was a network of abolitionists who smuggled black slaves into free land, generally in Canada. The kidnapping of blacks was considered a dirty business. Kidnappers physically abused and psychologically terrorized their captives into stating that they were slaves. Many were beaten repeatedly for the attempt to try and claim their free status. This was a large part of the reason that kidnapping accounts were not often told. Once kidnappers…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slave owners described their slaves as barbaric people who needed a guide during their life. The lives of black people equaled that of no white person. Christian Americans believed enslaving blacks continued the social spectrum of society which predated America. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians owned slaves. Americans were no different than any other society before them. Slaves were property and thus not entitled to their own salvation. Salvation came though their masters. David Walker’s Appeal created controversy for white Christians, challenged their motives for…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another claim made by the wealthy slave-owners was that God instituted slavery. These same men often reference the Bible, quoting many verses they deem supportive of their argument. While there were servants in biblical times, we can infer that this same God would not have encouraged the prejudice that took place in the pre-Civil War era. The peculiar institution of the…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When a slave escaped from his owner and when his owner went to look for him but could find no trace of him. He concluded that he took an underground railroad. That is how the term underground railroad came to life. The underground railroad was tons of safe houses and secret routes. It had many stations in the north where there was no slavery. It was about from 1800 to 1865. The underground railroad was a turning point in history for slaves.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In my American History classes I have always found the topic of slavery interesting because in my head and the way I was raised, the idea of slavery is unfathomable and I cannot believe it had ever been an issue. Through this topic I heard about Harriet Tubman the creator of the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in 1820 and escaped slavery in 1849. I admire Harriet Tubman because when she was free, she chose to risk here freedom in order to help her family and friends. It is a character like Harriet Tubman’s that makes a good leader. She was able to set up a network of safe houses and rescue hundreds from slavery. The fact that Harriet Tubman had the courage to risk her freedom in order to save others is hard to believe because during her time as a slave she had endure so much physical violence; one time she had been struck in the head by a two-pound weight which caused her to endure seizures, severe headaches and narcoleptic episodes for the rest of her life.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Now that the slaves were free they really didn’t know how to survive all alone without the help of whites. Many blacks had different interpretations for the meaning of freedom. As stated in the document “African Americans Talk About Their Personal Experiences of NewFound Freedom” (1865) it states “Soldiers, all of a sudden, was everywhere-coming in bunches, crossing and walking and riding. Everyone was a-singing. We was walking on golden clouds. Hallelujah” (1). This shows that the black people were so happy it felt as if they were walking over clouds and some people would leave to find freedom according to the document it mentions “but right off colored folks started on the move. They seemed to want to get closer to freedom, so they’d know what it was-like it was a place or a city” (1). Other blacks believed that they would become rich because they were free as it is stated “We thought we was going to get rich like the white folks. We thought we was going to be richer than the white folks” (1). Overall, a lot of black people didn’t know what to do afterward being free. Some were struggling to survive to support their families. They couldn’t find jobs, making some of them go back to their former masters and sharecrop. Sharecropping wasn’t good even though the black people were given a home and food by the whites, they were stuck in poverty. Many people saw that the…

    • 1871 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Growing up in the United States it is a requirement to learn about the history of our nation. One of the biggest events of our history would be the slave trade. In the events of slavery there have been many names of important heroes that ended slavery which include one of the most significant, Fredrick Bailey (Douglass). In his story “Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass”, Douglass explains in great details his horrors and accomplishments living as an African American during that time.…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Underground Railroad was crucial to the Reconstruction era and in supporting the Union side of the Civil War. The Railroad was a system of routes and safe houses that helped slaves escape from slavery to a better life. Runaway slaves were led by “conductors” such as the famous Harriet Tubman to free territories, the most popular destination of these being Canada, or the “promised land”. Many slaves also escaped to Northern states, Mexico, or even the Caribbean.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Underground Railroad was a secret network of roads used to lead slaves to the “free” states in the north and Canada. For the abolitionists and the slaves themselves, this was a dangerous and long trek which could last up to two years. Thanks to the outstanding efforts made by the “train masters”, or people who orchestrated the passage of slaves to freedom (particularly Harriet Tubman, a former slave, and Levi Coffin, the reputed president of the Underground Railroad) and the owners of safe houses, many slaves escaped to freedom.…

    • 2000 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Railroad essay

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages

    At approximately 7:50 p.m., bells at the train station rang and red lights flashed, signaling an express train’s approach. David Harris walked onto the tracks, ignoring a yellow line painted on the platform instructing people to stand back. Two men shouted to Harris, warning him to get off the tracks. The train’s engineer saw him too late to stop the train, which was traveling at approximately 66 mph. The train struck and killed Harris as it passed through the station. Harris’s widow sued the railroad, arguing that the railroad’s negligence caused her husband’s death. Evaluate the widow’s argument.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For example, many slaves first stop on the Underground Railroad was a meeting with the Vigilance Committee in that area. Slaves would tell these committees information about themselves and their escape so that the committee could make sure they weren’t an imposter trying to expose the Underground Railroad operations. I had always assumed that all African-Americans were on the same side-against slavery, but learned that slaves weren’t supposed to trust anyone in new cities. Some African-Americans in free states would report fugitive slaves to slave catchers for the reward. The Underground Railroad was very careful to avoid detection; members had the system mastered with signals and code words. Station masters of the railroad often housed slaves in secret rooms of their house so that they were extremely unnoticeable. Levi Coffin, whose home is often referred to as “The Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad” said the following in his narrative, “Our house was large and well adapted for secreting fugitives. Very often slaves would lie concealed in upper chambers for weeks without the boarders or frequent visitors at the house knowing anything about it” (page 186). The book also talked about how there were whole communities that were opposed to slavery. These communities openly accepted fugitive slaves, some even had signs telling fugitive slaves they were safe and welcome there. Slave catchers had a difficult time capturing slaves in these communities because none of the slaves would give up the location where the slaves were…

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Did you know the underground railroad was not underground or a railroad?! It got its name by its activities to carry out secret, in darkness or disguise. Because the railway terms used those involved in the system to tell how it worked.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays