Abolitionism and the Underground Railroad

Some important abolitionists of the 1850s:
(Full list of American abolitionists and Abolitionism Groups)



Frederick Douglass' Autobiography  (1845)

On July 5th, 1852, Douglas gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, held at Rochester's Corinthian Hall. It was biting oratory, in which the speaker told his audience, "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn." And he asked them, "Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?" (full text)


Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin  (1852) 
Southern anti-Tom literature.  8 novels in 1852.


Theodore Parker - Transcendentalist and reform minister, led Boston's resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. 

William Parker - Former slave and black self defense group leader, protector of the fugitive slaves in the 1851 Christiana, PA Riot.

Thaddeus Stephens - U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania and Radical Republican House Speaker during the Civil War.  Defended the accused Christiana Riot defendants and helped Lincoln push the 13th amendment abolishing slavery through the House in 1865. 

Charles Sumner -  Radical Republican Senator from Massachusetts. 

Salmon P. Chase - Ohio governor, Congressman, anti-Nebraska movement leader.  Secretary of the Treasury in the Lincoln administration, and post-war Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

William Seward - New York governor and U.S. Senator, before joining the Republican Party, and Lincoln's Secretary of State during the war.
 
Friedrich Hecker -  Was a 48er (a German who fought on the losing side of the failed 1848 German democratic revolution.  like many 48ers, Hecker migrated to the U.S. and joined the abolitionist movement.  He was a commander of a brigade of other 48ers in the American Civil War, was badly wounded at Chancellorsville at age 52, but returned to the army and fought in several more battles before resigning in 1864. 

 

The Underground Railroad

An organized system to assist runaway slaves seems to have begun towards the end of the 18th century. In 1786 George Washington complained about how one of his runaway slaves was helped by a "society of Quakers, formed for such purposes." The system grew, and around 1831 it was dubbed "The Underground Railroad," after the then emerging steam railroads. The system even used terms used in railroading: the homes and businesses where fugitives would rest and eat were called "stations" and "depots" and were run by "stationmasters," those who contributed money or goods were "stockholders," and the "conductor" was responsible for moving the "cargo" (fugitives) from one station to the next. 

U.R. operators included northerners and southerners, men and women, blacks and whites.
A few of the many notable participants are: 

John Fairfield in Ohio, the son of a slaveholding family, who made many daring rescues. 

Levi Coffin, a Quaker who assisted more than 3,000 slaves in Ohio and Indiana. 

William Still, a son of freed slaves who kept detailed records of the U.R.'s activities.  

Harriet Tubman, an Escaped slave who made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom.


Interactive Map of the Underground Railroad