I did my final project on the Underground Railroad and discussed Harriet Tubman significance in the operations of the Railroad. I used Wix to publish my website but for some reason but for some reason I have not been able to access my website. It states on the website that it may take a few minutes before I can view it, but I am not sure what the problem is. Here is the for my website:
http://koffi04jun.wix.com/undergroundrrhist390
Here is my essay for my projects:
The Underground Railroad was a loose network of “safe houses” and secret routes operated by white abolitionists and freed blacks who helped slaves escaping slavery in the south reach freedom in the north. Although the network of routes and safe houses that would become known as the Underground Railroad did not formally develop until the early 19th century, slaves had been using the same routes to escape slavery for decades. The Underground Railroad helped an estimated 100,000 blacks escape slavery as of 1850, and during its 20 year peak between 1840 and 1860, a reported 30,000 slaves escaped the south via the secret routes of the Railroad. The activities of the Underground Railroad continued through the Civil War until the passing of the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery in 1865.
Blacks hoping to escape the south put themselves at great risks when making the decision to run away from slave owners. Most slaves were tracked down by slave catchers hired by their slave masters and punished once they were returned. Captured slaves were beaten, suffered severe lashings, and even had body parts such as their feet amputated in order to ensure that escaping by foot would now be virtually impossible. Slaves escaping the south were often on their own until they reached Free states where they could stay with white abolitionists, freed slaves, and others in the anti-slavery movement who became known as “conductors” of the Underground Railroad. Slaves in those states considered part of the Deep South like Louisiana and Mississippi had an extremely slim chance of reaching a free state; these slaves had much further to go often had to travel solely by foot. Still, slaves that tried to escape often tried again; after coming close to freedom, being content as a slave was no longer possible.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 guaranteed slave holders the right to recover slaves in Free states and territories. A surge of bounty hunters employed to recover the slaves of plantation owners resulted from the passing of this law as slave holders attempted to reclaim their “property”. The actions of these bounty hunters, or slave catchers, were cruel and brutal using ravenous dogs to track escaped slaves and often allowing these dogs to attack their captives.
Changes to the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 as a result of the Compromise of 1850 made escaping the south an even more difficult task for slaves. The passage of the Compromise of 1850 defused many of the tension between northern and southern states at a time when topics such as slavery and new territory acquired in the west may have divided the country. As a part of the Compromise, California was made a free state and the slave trade was abolished in Washington D.C., but a new Fugitive Slave Act was passed to please politicians of slave holding states. Of all the bills of the Compromise, the new Fugitive Slave Act was the most controversial. The new law required that citizens and officials in the north assist in the recovery of fugitive slaves; those aiding a fugitive were at risk of imprisonment as well as a $1,000 fine. Freed slaves were also at risks with this new law, hundreds of freed blacks were captured by bounty hunters and taken to the south to be sold into slavery.
After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, many escaped slaves that had made their homes in northern states abandoned their homes for Canada which had abolished slavery in 1834. This became the new destination for those escaping slavery and the “stations” or “safe houses” of the Underground Railroad provided stops all the way to Canada.
Harriet Tubman is arguably the most instrument figure in the operations of the Underground Railroad. Because of her own experience escaping slavery, her extensive knowledge of escape routes, and a network which included abolitionists and free blacks such as John Brown, William Still, and Frederick Douglas it is estimated that she help 300 slaves reach freedom after her escape from Maryland in 1850. Tubman was serious about her rescue missions, carrying a gun with her at all times and threatening those who made attempts to return to their masters after beginning the journey to freedom. Tubman made around 20 trips to rescue blacks in the south and was never recaptured. As stated by Tubman herself “I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”
Despite the actions of abolitionist, most slaves were still met with racism once they reached the north and were not welcome in white communities where inhabitants feared that black residents would bring down the value of their property. Most escaped slaves lived in tight knit black communities where poor living conditions and sanitation led to disease and eventually death.
Although those who escaped the south were now free, they did not enjoy equal privileges and opportunities as their white neighbors. Finding work as a black man or woman was a difficult task and opportunities for education were slim. Blacks were forced to build their own churches, school, and community centers because they were not welcome in white communities. It was not uncommon for these centers to be looted and burned by pro-slavery activists. Most threatening of all, escaped slaves were not citizens and therefore did not have the right to vote or the right to testify in court in many northern states. This left them open to attacks by thieves and being captured and sold back into slavery. Still, the life that blacks lived in the north was more appealing than being treated as property in the south, the north may not have been able to provide equality, but it could provide freedom.
As for the security cautions for my website, I plan on updating it regularly and to become more knowledge necessary protect. I do believe that Wix has an app designed specifically to protect your webpage. I also plan on updating information on the routes that slaves actually took to escape the south and I would also like to do a section that focuses on myths versus facts of the Underground Railroad.
And here are a few items posted on the website just in case it does not load:
View Routes of the Underground Railroad in a larger map
View Safe Houses of the Underground Railroad in a larger map
http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=underground+railroad%2CHarriet+Tubman%2Cfree+slaves&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=
