Underground Railroad

http://cdn1.newsone.com/files/2009/11/escapeslavery.JPG

By: Kyle Risser

I came across this picture when searching for a topic to blog about. It shows some of the slaves traveling across the underground railroad. Men, women, and even children are on the hopeful pathway to a seemingly hopeless escape attempt. To some people, this picture depicts their desperation, however, to me this picture is a sign of promise for these slaves. I take a great liking to the idea of this underground railroad. The engineering and distribution of this plan is overly sophisticated. I mean to say that they didn't have help from northern abolitionist would be a lie, yet the majority of this plan was executed and carried out by African-American slaves. When reading about the underground railroad, I love how passion and devotion are almost always in the mix of each story. It sometimes makes me wonder if I would have been an abolitionist or not back during that time. Keeping in mind that times were different back then, I still think I would have stuck my neck out for the slaves, given that my neck wouldn't have been cut off for doing it. The longer I ponder on this subject, the more respect I gain for those abolitionist who did exactly that. Abolitionists must have stuck out like a sore thumb, especially in the South.

From slavery to freedom - Fredrick Douglass

Douglass first unsuccessfully tried to escape from Freeland. In 1836, he tried to escape from his new owner Covey, but failed again.

On September 3, 1838, Douglass successfully escaped by boarding a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland. Dressed in a sailor's uniform, he carried identification papers provided by a free black seaman. He crossed the Susquehanna River by ferry at Havre de Grace, then continued by train to Wilmington, Delaware. From there he went by steamboat to "Quaker City" (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and continued to New York; the whole journey took less than 24 hours.

Frederick Douglass later wrote of his arrival in New York City:

I have often been asked, how I felt when first I found myself on free soil. And my readers may share the same curiosity. There is scarcely anything in my experience about which I could not give a more satisfactory answer. A new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath, and the 'quick round of blood,' I lived more in one day than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely describe. In a letter written to a friend soon after reaching New York, I said: 'I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions.' Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil.

Levi Coffin (1798-1877)

One of the important names that come out when talking about abolitionism is Levi Coffin. He helped thousands of slaves to escape and was one the leaders of the Underground Railroad network.

His home was often referred to as the "Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad", and he was also assigned the nickname of "President of the Underground Railroad". He is originally from the South, which made him witness slavery. Very young, he manifested his opposition against this practice, and had to move to Indiana not to be prosecuted by slave holders.

In Indiana, he developped a high sense of business, and he soon became wealthy, fact that will be decisive in his action in the underground railroad. Indeed, the money that he gathered from his businesses and investments would be a main source of funding for the survival of the slaves during their escape (clothes, food, etc...). Coffin later moved to Ohio, where he would give shelter to many runaway slaves in his own house, and keep increasing the anti-slavery network in this area. He also opened businesses that produced clothes for slaves. All his life was oriented toward helping against slavery.

During the Civil War, he went around hospitals to provide help to the wonded. Then, he helped the freed slaves who needed shelter and food in the South, as slaveholders would shoot or abandon them. Even after the war, he pursued his action by raising money for former slaves. His dedication for abolitionism was remarkable, and his funeral in 1877 was a good proof of it. Hundreds of African Americans were present, and in 1902, they built a statue of Coffin that they put on his grave in his honnor.

By: Jake Robinson

In my eyes, this piece of art stood out more than any other work I have seen. In this picture, you can clearly see white slave owners beating African slaves, and even throwing one of them over the side of the ship. This reminded me of the in-class presentation on “The Zong” slave ship because this picture not only depicts what events occurred on one slave ship, but on most if not all of them. As you can see, the African slaves are being beaten by white slave owners with whips. Other African slaves who are not being beaten are on the ground, trembling in fear. I found this picture to be interesting and highly informative, because this picture shows the absolute horror of what life was like on a slave ship. If you look at this picture, you can see that these African slaves are not on the lower decks of the slave ship, so one can assume that they will be thrown overboard. The life on the slave ship was most definitely a harsh one, and we can only imagine the terror of watching someone close to us being murdered. Although we cannot see it, the worst part about these slave ships was the lower levels. In these lower decks, many African slaves were chained together with little food and water, and no restrooms. Many died down there due to starvation, and diseases. I feel that this picture, although it does not show horrors of the lower levels of the slave ship, does a very good job of depicting what actually occurred on the slave ships in the triangle trade.

in reference to the discussion we had in class concerning the AA seminar or discussion held on campus last week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P48r7Fyfd8

The door of no return is one of the most powerful symbols of the Atlantic slave trade. There was one place that I took note of when I went for a tour in Cape coast Castle in Ghana this was the “door of no return”. After the slave master put the slave in such miserable condition example dungeons, at some point they will be lead to a ship. These dungeons did not even have as much space for air as possible. The door was a way of saying bye-bye to Africa. At Cape Coast Castle, this door was always the last place to be seen. Also, when visitors get there they are asked to pray for the soul of those that passed through this door. They also watch in quiet anticipation as the guide opens the door to reveal the expanse of angry sea where enslaved Africans would have been led to awaiting ships.

Harriet Tubman was an african american slave that was born around 1820 in Maryland. At an early age, tried to escape, in vain though. After having been working hard and having been beatten by her masters for years, she decided to escape for good and take the underground railroad in order to go north and gain freedom. She knew some white people that were part of the underground rail road and that would help her escape. As soon as she got to the North and was free, she felt like she had to go back to get her family. She didn’t stop with just her family and went back in the South a great number of times. Eventhough there was a huge reward for her capture, she kept going back and forth from south to North. Harriet Tubman is said to have been helping about 300 hundreds slaves to escape. She is at this day the most well known conductor of the underground railroad. As soon as the Civil war began she was asked to help the union army and became a scout and a spy. During the war, she led an armed expedition that freeded 700 slaves. Later in life she commited herself in the struggle for women's suffrage movement.

We could relate this figure to Frederic Douglass, both of them having escaped slavery thanks to the help of the people of the underground railroad. Tubman is the only one to explain in depth how the underground railroad was organized, Douglass mentionning it very briefly.

Strange Fruit

By: Megan Tillman

There was a part in Frederick Douglass Narrative when he expressed that sometimes, slaves would be lynched for their wrong-doings. He even later wrote another book titled, "Why is The Negro Lynched". Long after slavery, the acts of lynching still existed. When racism came about, stemming from slavery, blacks were lynched in multiple situations, mostly for no reason at all, just because they were black.

Posted above is a song performed by Billie Holiday, titled Strange Fruit. The song is a metaphor for the acts of racism, in particular, lynching. She sings that "strange fruit hangs from the trees" and in actuality, the strange fruit are blacks. They are considered "strange" fruit because humans aren't normally what you see hanging from a tree; it would be considered very bizarre for humans to be swinging from a tree. With racism prevalent in the day and age of which she performed this song in, lynching was common, though. She goes in-depth with her description, even describing their eyes as "bulging" and their skin "rotting" from the sun. It is a clever metaphor and a very moving song, moving enough to stir great emotions and bring many to tears due to the harsh realities of things such as unnecessary racism and intolerable slavery.

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