University of South Carolina Press, published in cooperation with the Institute for Southern Studies and the South Caroliniana Society of the University of South Carolina,
Date of Publication
c1992.
Physical Description
xxvi, 398 p. : map ; 23 cm.
Series
Southern classics series
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 375-388) and index.
" The underground railroad—with its mysterious signals, secret depots, abolitionist heroes, and slave-hunting villains—has become part of American mythology. But legend has distorted much of this history. Larry Gara shows how pre-Civil War partisan propganda, postwar reminiscences by fame-hungry abolitionists, and oral tradition helped foster the popular belief that a powerful secret organization spirited floods of slaves away from the South. In contrast to much popular belief, however, the slaves themselves had active roles in their own escape. They carried out their runs, receiving aid only after they had reached territory where they still faced return. The Liberty Line puts slaves in their rightful position: the center of their struggle for freedom. "
Bibliographical footnotes.
African American resources at Lancaster County Historical Society
Contents
CONTENTS 1. The Legendary Railroad 3. The Road to the North 2. Slavery and Freedom 4. A Deep-Laid Scheme 5. Friends of the Fugitive 6. The Fugitive Issue 7. The Roots of a Legend 8. Reminiscence and Romance 164
The Steven and Janice Brose lectures in the Civil War era
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 103-116) and index.
Contents
Making their way to freedom -- The workings of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law -- Taking leave: fugitive slaves and the politics of slavery -- Conclusion: Counternarratives.
Summary
The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, which mandated action to aid in the recovery of runaway slaves and denied fugitives legal rights if they were apprehended, quickly became a focal point in the debate over the future of slavery and the nature of the union. In Making Freedom, R. J. M. Blackett uses the experiences of escaped slaves and those who aided them to explore the inner workings of the Underground Railroad and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, while shedding light on the political effects of slave escape in southern states, border states, and the North. Blackett highlights the lives of those who escaped, the impact of the fugitive slave cases, and the extent to which slaves planning to escape were aided by free blacks, fellow slaves, and outsiders who went south to entice them to escape. Using these stories of particular individuals, moments, and communities, Blackett shows how slave flight shaped national politics as the South witnessed slavery beginning to collapse and the North experienced a threat to its freedom. [from the publisher]
The underground railroad. A record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c., narrating the hardships, hair-breadth escapes and death struggles of the slaves in their efforts for freedom, as related by themselves and others, or witnessed by the author; together with sketches of some of the largest stockholders, and most liberal aiders and advisers, of the road
