Freedom for Blacks

Slavery is a social relationship based on ownership and exploitation of one person by another. It existed in the United States from the early seventeenth century until 1865. Eight of the first twelve presidents owned slaves. The owners of slaves may demand work and other services without pay. The owner is responsible only for providing food, which is usually in very small amounts, shelter, and clothing. The owners can also seperate members of families and may allow or deny marriages. A slave is often considered as property and therefore can be sold or given away.

Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist leader who was born a slave in Dorchester County, Maryland. As she grew up, she worked in the fields and as a house servant on a Maryland plantation. In 1844, she married John Tubman, a free black. Around 1849, she escaped to the North, and before the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, she made nineteen journeys back to lead other slaves, including her parents, to freedom along the secret route known as the Underground Railroad. She personally guided nearly 300 slaves to Canada and became known as the "Moses" of her people.

The Underground Railroad was a system for helping Negro slaves escape to the northern states and Canada. It was neither underground nor a railroad but it was called that because of the quick, secret way in which slaves seemed to escape. A large part of the railroad's work was done by southern slaves, who though unable to escape themselves, helped the runaways with food, shelter, and directions. About 50,000 slaves escaped between 1830 and 1860. The Underground Railroad was mostly used in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Harriet Tubman was the most famous leader.