THE UNDERGROUND RAILROADBy: Candasia Hyslop and Kayla Jones

ABOUT SLAVERY, COURAGE, AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Slavery began in our country when the Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Slavery was practiced in the 17th and 18th centuries. Normally the slave owners were very stricked. If you tried to escape and your owner saw you, you would be whipped or you would get a horrible punishment. The underground railroad was a program with people who helped slaves escape to Canada. It was anything but easy. First the slaves had to escape from their owner. They had to use their own resources. The slaves would travel at night from house to house. This took courage. It took courage because if they were caught, they would be in serious trouble. The definition of courage is: Strength of mind to carry on in spite of danger or difficulty.

The underground railroad wasn’t really a railroad, as in tracks for a train. The underground railroad was just a code name. The most famous conductor on the underground railroad was Harriet Tubman. They used code words in the underground railroad. This is because, they didn’t want someone to turn them in. One of these was the word lines. This meant the routes outlining where the people could go to escape to freedom. Another word was packages. This meant the slaves. And the places the slaves went was called the stations.

LIFE AS A SLAVE

Life as a slave was not easy. You work without being paid, your clothes are rags, and you are always hungry and beat with a whip. These are the reasons they ran away. In modern times, they would just walk out the door or quit, if the slave owner let them. They traveled in the underground railroad at night with conductors getting them out of the plantations. Slaves did things to remain undetected. Some soaked themselves in the nearby river so that dogs didn’t track their scent. Slaves didn’t really use a certain route. They relied on what they knew about geography. They also used tips from the conductors. The people who helped the slaves escape were the engineers.

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was a slave . She was born in Maryland in 1820 or 1821. Neither her mom or her dad could read or write, So they couldn’t record Harriet’s year of birth. Harriet’s nickname was minty. Harriet was born a slave. When she turned six years old, her life changed. Her owner, Mr. Brodas, hired her out. Harriet was taken away from her mom and dad. Harriet remembers how much they both cried. After many years of being a slave, Harriet fell in love with John Tubman. They got married. Harriet told John all about her dreams of freedom. She planned on escaping, but she wanted john to go with her. John said that if she tried to escape, he would tell her master. So, Harriet made a plan with her brothers. They waited until John was asleep. They tried to escape until her brothers made her come back. Harriet didn’t give up. The next night she waited until John was asleep. She packed some food, took her wedding quilt and left. She escaped on her own. After walking through many woods. Then she came to a Quaker woman’s house. The Quaker woman told Harriet that it wasn’t safe for her to stay at the house. The Quaker told her what to do next. Harriet wanted to thank her and so she gave her the wedding quilt. Harriet then followed the Choptank river. When it got light, she hid. She continued her escape in the dark. Then she followed a road to Camden, Delaware. The Quaker woman told Harriet to look for a white house with green shutters. The woman in this house was named Eliza Hunn. Harriet stayed there for three days. Eliza gave her clothes and food. Then Harriet was off. Now Harriet was a part in the underground railroad. Slave owners were everywhere. Harriet covered most of her body. Even her scare. She got her scare when a slave owner threw a two pound weight at a slave and it hit her in the head. Harriet Reached Pennsylvania!

Harriet Tubman (continued)

Pennsylvania was a free state. Now, Harriet was a free woman. After Harriet got old, and her house was made a church, she was diagnosed with pneumonia, and sadly died. Harriet Tubman will be remembered forever.

Harriet Tubman The book Who Was Harriet Tubman written by, Yona Zeldis McDonough and illustrated by, Nancy Harrison.

Harriet Tubman

Abby Foster

Abby Kelly Foster was born on January 15, 1811.She died on January 14, 1887.She was born in Pelham,Massachusetts.Her father, Wing Kelly, was a farmer of Irish ancestry. In 1840, Abby was appointed to the executive board of the American Anti-Slavery Society , an appointed that caused the society to split on the issue of women’s holding such a position. In February 27, 1858, letter from Sallie Erwin, one of Milo Townsend's young relatives, Sallie objected to the prejudice against women speaking in public. I should have liked to have heard Grace Greenwood's lectures. We are totally deprived of the benefits of lecturers. They scorn a woman who would dare to speak in public here in this "dark old Egypt." Oh the corrupting influence of prejudice and ignorance! Interestingly, Sallie did not believe that anything she wrote could be worth preserving for the future. She stated: Thee says thee will send some paper and ink, too, by Charlie and Evan. I can get good ink here, and even though the ink should fade out in time, what is the difference? I should prefer it so. They are not worth preserving-- such foolish, school-girl letters.

Abby Foster (continued)

At times Abby and Frederick Douglass worked together on the antislavery lecture tours, providing her firsthand experience of the prejudice against him. Douglass wrote of her that she "was perhaps the most successful of us. Her youth and simple Quaker beauty, combined with her wonderful earnestness, her large knowledge and great logical power bore down all opposition wherever she spoke, though she was pelted with foul eggs and no less foul words from the noisy mobs which attended us“.

Sojourner Truth toured with Abby in 1851 and again many times in later years to lecture against slavery. Abby wanted to have black speakers with her who could describe the horrors of slavery from personal experience.

Even those opposed to abolition of slavery often spoke glowingly of her beauty and lecturing powers. In May of 1845, for example, the New York Herald , an anti-reform paper, printed a favorable account of her talk at the American Anti-Slavery Society meeting, describing her as "the lovely, intellectual, enchanting, fascinating Abby Kelley“.As a Garrisonian abolitionist, she believed that as the problem of slavery was a moral one, only moral weapons would succeed in freeing the slaves. She also predicted that if the slaves were freed for the sole purpose of keeping the Union safe, hatred of the black race would continue; and the poison of it would eventually destroy the nation.In 1845 she married Stephen Symonds Foster (November 17, 1809- September 8, 1881) of Canterbury, New Hampshire. Stephen was the son of Sarah and Asia Foster, decedents of English colonists who had lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s. His father, a member of the Congregational Church, was treasurer of the local antislavery society. After elementary school, Stephen was apprenticed to a carpenter. When twenty-two years of age he entered Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, taking a classical course and studying rhetoric for four years, a course that emphasized public speaking. In 1838 he was graduated third in his class. This is my story about Abby Foster. I hope you enjoyed it.

Abby Foster (continued)

Abby Kelley FosterThe Book AHEAD OF HER TIME ABBY KELLEY AND THE POLITICS OF ANTISLAVERY Was written by , Dorothy Sterling.

Slave Routes

The New York State route to Freedom

Most of the Revolutionary leaders who came to power in New York in 1777 had anti-slavery sentiments, yet, as elsewhere in the North, the urgency of the war with Britain made them delay, and they restricted their activity to a policy statement and an appeal to future legislatures "to take the most effective measures consistent with public safety for abolishing domestic slavery

My Story!Hi! I'm Joanne Jefferson. This is my story about the Underground Railroad..

Being a slave was terrible, but I hade no choice to be a slave or not. I was forced to work very hard for the family that owned me. At harvest time the other slaves and I would pick corn late at night. I was taken away from my family. While we worked, we would often sing songs about freedom. We sung songs about freedom. We usually did it on our days off, which were usually Sundays. We put secret codes in them so when we sung them the slave owners wouldn’t know that we were trying to escape all together. I heard everyone talk about freedom but I didn’t know what it mean. Since I didn’t like slavery , I decided to run away from slavery. I went to a Quaker woman’s house because Quakers are against slavery. She told me that it wasn’t safe to stay there with her. She told me what to do afterwards. She told me to look for a white house with green shutters. Once I got there, the lady inside let me stay with her for three days. She gave me food and new clothes, then I was out. I went to go help other slaves escape from their owners. They were happy and excited. We traveled during the night so that the owners wouldn’t see us. The abolitionists helped us escape most of all. It wasn’t all my idea. Once we were free, I helped over 300 slaves escape. This is my Underground Railroad Story. I hope you enjoyed it!

Hi! My name is Kayla Jones. This is my story about me on the Underground Railroad. The year is 1849. I have been a slave my whole life. I hate it. I have always wanted to be a free girl. So I escaped. I went to a Quaker woman’s house, because Quakers are against slavery. The Quaker woman told me that it wasn’t safe to stay with her. She told me what to do next. I did exactly what she said to do. She said to look for a white house with green shutters. Once I got to that house, the lady inside let me stay with her for three days. Then she gave me food and new clothes. Then I was off. I traveled at night so nobody would see me. Once I got to New York, I went back to Maryland. I helped my family escape, and I helped strangers too. Soon After, the slave owners started to look for me. There were immense rewards for someone who gave information about me or if they found me. The rewards went up to 40,000 dollars! I started to get old. So I stopped traveling back to Maryland. I stayed in New York. My house was turned into a church in New York. Sadly, I never learned how to read or write. Every morning someone would read me the paper. Then I got really old. I got a bad case of pneumonia, and died.

My Story

Slave Pictures!

Slaves

Slaves Working

Slave pictures (continued)

Slaves getting sold and separated

Slaves hard work graph

When the Sun comes back And the first quail calls Follow the Drinking Gourd, For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to

freedom If you follow the Drinking Gourd The riverbank makes a very good road. The dead trees will

show you the way. Left foot, peg foot, travelling on, Follow the Drinking Gourd.

The river ends between two hills Follow the Drinking Gourd. There’s another river on the other side Follow the Drinking

Gourd. When the great big river meets the little river Follow the

Drinking Gourd. For the old man is a-waiting for to carry to freedom If you follow the Drinking Gourd!

Follow the Drinking Gourd

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Credits

We wanted to give thanks to the book, Who Was Harriet Tubman by, Yona Zeldis McDonough. The book was illustrated by, Nancy Harrison.

Thanks For Watching!From, Candasia Hyslop

and Kayla Jones!

Memories