The Railroad Under Ground

 The Railroad Under Ground

It appears that a people are most at their best sometimes when they are most oppressed.  And individuals who ran the Underground Railroad in the 19th century, while slavery was still legal in America, may very definitely be considered under that proverb.

Tens of thousands of slaves were able to flee their captors and travel north to free states and the possibility of freedom thanks to the Underground Railroad.  It was so covert that discussing it even implied finding out and horrible

penalty.  Even worse, thousands of African Americans who were subjected to the injustice of slavery would have lost hope if it had been found by those who would prevent slaves from escaping.

Since the actual means of transferring slaves to freedom was not a railroad at all, the phrase "The Underground Railroad" was a code in and of itself.  It was a network of stops connected by meandering, unmarked paths that meandered through the rural landscape.  It would be difficult for those looking to kidnap slaves and sell them back into slavery to decipher the convoluted and illogical routes taken by those attempting to liberate themselves.

The Underground Railroad had no official route.  "Passengers" traveled from safe house to safe house, seeking sanctuary in houses, churches, and other remote locales that insiders referred to as "stations."  The persons in charge of the stations along the way frequently had no idea how long the train was or any information about the entire trip.  All they had to know was how to take in their "passengers," take care of their health and welfare, and send them on their way to the next stop.

The paths were challenging and dangerous.  In order to escape, slaves typically walked

the paths between stations so as to steer clear of open areas where slave apex hunters could come across them and take them back to their southern owners.  Furthermore, the lines themselves were not truly underground, just as there was no true "railroad" connecting the Underground Railroad to the surface.  Nonetheless, the proprietors of the safe houses frequently conceal their visitors in tunnels beneath the home or a farm structure. 

One such safe home is located in Nebraska City, and it has a tunnel connecting it to

the barn in case slave hunters showed up unexpectedly and the farmer was feeding a hungry family. This way, they could immediately “disappear” if necessary.  Under such homes, there were also rudimentary sleeping quarters and bedrooms that had been roughly excavated to offer as much comfort and chances for rest and recuperation as was humanly feasible in such trying circumstances.

Without acknowledging the bravery of those who oversaw the "stations" to accept slaves, house them, provide for their basic needs, feed them, and support them while they attempted to retaliate against this cruel practice of human slavery, we cannot conclude our analysis of this amazing network.  Humanity is demonstrated by the fact that people would