The Underground Railroad was a network which was established and used by the enslaved African-Americans to escape into free states and Canada. The railroad included dozens of secret and safe houses and routes originated in the slave holding states and the way to Canada boarder which could assure their freedom. The Underground Railroad also included the smuggling of slaves onto the different ships that carried them outside the United States. The various routes led the slave to the places where the slavery had abolished and by 1850, about 100,000 enslaved persons had escaped via the network.
Routes
In order to reduce the risk of being caught and the risk of attack, most of the persons associated with the Underground Railroad knew very less or knew only their part of the operation. The ‘Conductors’ used to transport the fugitives from different stations to different depots. There were even times when the conductor had to pretend as the enslaved person in order to complete the plantation. The enslaved persons used to travel about 16-32 km at night and when they wanted to rest, a message was sent to the next station master so that he gets to know that the escapees were on their way.
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Utilization of Secret Codes
The major supporters of the Underground Railroad used to create their own codes as a secret language so that the slaves can easily be escaped. The language of the railroad was chosen as by that time the railroad was the emerging form of transportation and its communication language was not widespread. The codes were sung by the slaves in order to communicate in a manner that the masters do not get any idea about it. Some of the most commonly used codes are mentioned below:
- Agent (a coordinator, who plotted the courses for escape and made contacts);
- Canaan (Canada);
- Forwarding (taking slaves from station to station);
- Baggage (transportation of fugitive slaves carried by the workers of the Underground Railroad);
- Heaven (freedom);
- Parcel (fugitives that were expected);
- Conductor (person who directly transported slaves).
Importance of the Underground Railroad
The importance of the Underground Railroad lies primarily in the way in which it consistently exposed the realities of slavery and the evidences that it gave about the African American capabilities. Also, it gave the opportunity for sympathetic white Americans to play the major role in resisting slavery.
Impact of the Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network organized by the stock holders in order to help men, women and children escape from the slavery to freedom. The engineers were the leaders of the Underground Railroad who helped enslaved persons in running away by providing them shelter, food and sometimes even with job.
Rationale Behind Success
The success of the Underground Railroad was mainly based on the cooperation of the conductors, station masters, agents and the stock holders. The conductors acted as a guide, the agents used to help the slaves to find their way to the different routes of the Underground Railroad, the station masters used to usually hide the slaves at their homes and the stock holders used to donate money in order to keep the Underground Railroad running.
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Essay about Underground Railroad in American History.
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