The Underground Railroad
Life as a slave was very harsh. Slaves could be beaten for not bringing in enough of a specified crop, or put into extra work if they brought in more than expected. Due to situations such as these, slaves were trying to escape from their lives on plantations very often. There are reasons upon reasons on why these slaves tried to runaway.
Slaves were not very well educated. They were not to be taught how to read nor write by their owners. If a slave owner was caught trying to teach a slave to read or write, he was subject to prosecution along with a fifty dollar fine and a jail sentence. Aside from not being able to read or write, slaves were not aloud to leave the plantation and go to town. John W. Fields said that he didn't even know until he ranaway that people sold anything other than slaves, tobacco, and whiskey.
Families of slaves were orn apart due to slave trade. Sarah Frances Shaw Graves is a prime witness to this type of treatment. She was never sold, but her mother was sold once, as was her father. Sarah did manage to stay under the same owner as her mom, but still lost her father. Sarah's mother was never told where her husband was by her owner, because she would never marry again as long as she knew where he was. Her owner did this so that she would marry again, and have children, hence more slaves for that slave owner.
Reasons such as these are why slaves were always trying to runaway. These slaves ranaway with very little, making their trip horrible even if they weren't caught. They normally used the North star to guide them to freedom. The risks these slaves took were great, should they be captured. If they were caught, they were sent immediately back to work as a slave, with possible death, severe beatings, or imprisonment. With help of the Fugitive Slave Bill, slave owners had "the right to organize a posse at any point in the United States to aid in recapturing runaway slaves. Courts and police everywhere in the United States were obligated to assist them". This bill came into effect as a provision to the Compromise of 1850.
The Underground Railroad was a system of escape routes to the North for runaway slaves. There were three important routes in this system. The most important of these routes was from Philadelphia to Jersey City and New York. The second route was from the Salem, and had 3 stops. This 3 stop route was approximately 60 miles long. The first stop was at Woodbury, 25 miles north of Salem. The second stop was Evesham and the third was at Bordertown. The third route had a name given to it, which was that Greenwich line. On this route, slaves were transported at night across the Delaware River from the vicinity of Dover, in boats marked by a yellow light hung below a blue one, and were met some distance out from the Jersey shore by boats with the same lights. One landed at Greenwich, the slaves were sent north 25 to Swedesboro, and then about the same distance to Evesham Mount. From this point they were taken to Mount Holly.
One of the main conductors of the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman. She escaped from slavery herself, from help of white neighbors and made her way to Philadelphia. She then returned to Maryland to free the rest of her family. Another person who was greatly involved in the works of the UGRR to free slaves, was Robert Purvis. He was a member of the convention held in 1833, which formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. He was of member of the society for as long as it was around. His work in the Underground Railroad was exceptional. He used his house a station for the UGRR, and his horses, carriages, and personal attendance were at the service of the travelers on the road.
