Organization and Operations of the Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was perhaps the most dramatic
protest action against slavery in United States history. The operations
of clandestine escape networks began in the 1500s, and was later connected
with organized abolitionist activity of the 1800s. Neither an "underground"
nor a "railroad," this informal system arose as a loosely constructed
network of escape routes that originated in the South, intertwined throughout
the North, and eventually ended in Canada. Escape routes were not just
restricted to the North, but also extended into western territories, Mexico,
and the Caribbean. From 1830 to 1865, the Underground Railroad reached
its peak as abolitionists and sympathizers who condemned human bondage
aided large numbers of bondsmen to freedom. They not only called for slavery
destruction, but also acted to assist its victims.
Although the Underground Railroad is linked with abolitionism
of the antebellum period, it stands out primarily for its amorphous nature
and mysterious character. Unlike other organized activities of the abolition
movement that primarily denounced human bondage, the Underground Railroad
secretly resisted slavery by abetting runaways to freedom. It confronted
human bondage without any direct demands or intended violence; yet, its
efforts played a prominent role in the destruction of the institution of
slavery. The work of the underground was so effective that its action intimidated
slaveowners. Most regarded the underground as "organized theft"
and a threat to their livelihood.
The most intriguing feature of the Underground Railroad
was its lack of formal organization. Its existence often relied on concerted
efforts of cooperating individuals of various ethnic and religious groups
who helped bondsmen escape from slavery. To add to its mysterious doings,
accounts are scarce for individuals who actually participated in its activities.
Usually agents hid or destroyed their personal journals to protect themselves
and the runaways. Only recently researchers have learned of the work rendered
by courageous agents such as David Ruggles, Calvin Fairbank, Josiah Henson,
and Erastus Hussey. The identity of others who also contributed to this
effort will never be fully recognized. Though scholars estimate that Underground
Railroad conductors assisted thousands of refugees, the total number of
runaways whom they aided to freedom will never be known simply because
of the movement's secrecy. Conductors usually did not attempt to record
these figures, and those who did only calculated the number of runaways
whom they personally helped. Moreover, these estimations should consider
that some runaways never took part in the underground system and therefore
used other creative methods to attain liberty. The shortage of evidence
indicates that scholars probably will never fully learn the real significance
of the Underground Railroad. Indeed, the few journals that have survived
over the years suggest that the true heroes of the underground were not
the abolitionists or sympathizers, but those runaway bondsmen who were
willing to risk their lives to gain freedom.
The notorious trans-Atlantic slave trade, also known as
the triangular trade," was primarily responsible for the dispersal
of Africans into the Western Hemisphere. This lucrative enterprise reached
its peak during the 1600s and lasted well into the late 1880s. Millions
of peoples from East, Southwest, and West Africa were enslaved and transported
to the European colonies in the New World. European landowners forced Africans
and some Amerindians to toil on sugar, tobacco, and coffee plantations
established in the New World (Azevedo 1993; Shillington 1989: 198-201).
By the early 1600s, Western Europeans extended their plantation
system into North America. Slave traders frequently shipped surplus African
laborers from the West Indies into North America to cultivate the tobacco,
sugar, rice, and indigo plantations. The first Africans arrived in Jamestown,
Virginia, in 1619. Scholars contend that British colonists first recognized
these African laborers as indentured servants. Their status, however, soon
changed when in 1641 the Massachusetts colony sanctioned the enslavement
of African workers. Similarly, Maryland and Virginia authorized legal servitude
in 1660. Their laws specified that Africans would serve in bondage for
life, and that a child born into the colony inherited the status of its
mother. By 1755, all 13 colonies had legally recognized chattel slavery
(Higginbotham 1978: 35-36, 252; Stamp 1956: 22).
Legal bondage varied in colonial North America due to
the diverse climates and geographic conditions of the region. In the North,
most Africans labored on small farms. Those who lived in cities worked
as personal servants or were hired out as domestics and skilled workers.
Although northern colonists had little use for slave labor, they accumulated
substantial profits from the lucrative slave trading industry. Conversely,
southern colonies grew quite dependent on human bondage. Landowners often
purchased African laborers to toil their tobacco, sugar, cotton, rice,
and indigo plantations. By the 1770s, bonded labor became increasingly
vital to the southern economy, and the demand for African workers contributed
greatly to the steady increase of their population. This growth coupled
with the threat of insurrections induced colonial legislatures to pass
"slave" codes that restricted the movement of enslaved Africans
and Native Americans. While White colonists petitioned for independence
from Great Britain, antislavery advocates also demanded human rights and
liberty for all people, including bondsmen.
Shortly after the War of Independence, a call to abolish
slavery and the slave trade generated widespread support for the antislavery
movement. Led by liberated African Americans and Quakers, the antislavery
movement swayed northern state legislatures to grant immediate manumissions
to soldier-slaves and gradual emancipation to other enslaved Africans.
Northern slaveholders allowed some bondsmen to purchase their freedom,
while others petitioned for liberation through the courts. Legal bondage
still remained a vital element of the southern society despite attempts
to end the institution there.
As the nation grew divided on the slavery question, the
opportunity to eliminate the institution completely was stalled in 1787
when the United States Constitution permitted the slave trade to continue
until 1808 and protected involuntary servitude where it then existed. More
importantly, in 1793 federal law allowed for a Fugitive Slave Law, which
not only called for the return of bonded and indentured runaways, but also
threatened the protection of freed African Americans.
The historical evolution of slavery in the Western Hemisphere
is essential to understanding the importance of the underground phenomenon.
The first large-scale enslavement of African peoples by Western Europeans
began in the 1440s when Portugal engaged in slave trading with West Africa,
probably to service sugar plantations in the Atlantic Islands. By the early
16th century, Western European nations had developed an organized slavery
system in the Caribbean and the Americas. European landowners first used
enslaved Amerindians and indentured Whites to cultivate plantations in
the New World. Labor problems increased significantly among these groups
as Amerindians consistently fought and escaped from their captors. Their
populations moreover decreased into almost nonexistence as thousands of
them perished from European-contracted diseases and exhaustion. The near
decimation of the Amerindians prompted Bishop Bartolome de las Casas to
take up their cause in protecting the remaining populations. Appointed
by the Spanish government as "Protector of the Indians," Las
Cas demanded that Spain liberate the Amerindians and to recognize their
rights as a people. This decree led to a shortage of field hands that compelled
Spain to seek bonded labor elsewhere. Las Casas humanitarian sentiment,
however, did not extend to Africans whom he endorsed their enslavement
to meet the growing demand for labor in the territories. As a result, Spain
issued an asiento (or contract) to Portugal who supplied the Spanish colonies
with enslaved Africans (Williams 1984: 33-37; Shillington 1989: 173-78).
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