1
African American Civil War Museum
SCRIPT FOR P3.1 through 3.7
Section Panel Text Notes
3
Introducti
on/
theater
wrap
P3.1 The Glorious March to Liberty
Civil War to Civil Rights
The African American Civil War Museum honors the Americans of African descent who
fought to save the Union and secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity.
The struggle for liberty and equality under the law has characterized the experiences of
Africans and their descendants in the United States. This is only a fraction of their story.
Image 3.2.1_Map7 (LOC)
P3.2 The American Colonies
Building a Nation
Skilled labor was desperately needed in the American colonies. The colonization of America
depended heavily on artisans brought from mostly West Africa. Enslaved Africans were
blacksmiths, metallurgists, toolmakers, sculptors and engravers, silversmiths and goldsmiths,
tanners, shoemakers, saddle-makers and soldiers. Their skills not only supported the fledgling
colonies, their cultures shaped the very character of America. [3.2.1_Map7]
A Portolan Chart (Navigational Map) of the Atlantic Ocean and
Adjacent Continents 1633
The transatlantic slave trade began on the West Coast of Africa.
This map was used by 17th century captains transporting their human
cargo from Africa to America.
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Africans Arrive in America
The first Africans brought to North America during the transatlantic slave trade arrived at
Jamestown in the Virginia colony in 1619. These Africans had initially been brought across
the Atlantic by a Spanish ship built in Japan, the San Juan Baptista. The legal status of these
Africans as slaves or indentured servants is ambiguous. However, the courts in Virginia
clearly recognized Africans and their children as “property” in the 1640s. Tobacco planters
discerned that slave labor was more profitable than indentured and free laborers. From 1645
to 1660, the African descent population increased from 5,000 to 20,000.
[3.2.3_SlaveShip]
Africans were crowded onto slave ships to maximize profits.
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Image 3.2.2_Jamestown
2
[3.2.2_Jamestown]
First Africans Arrive at Jamestown on the Dutch Man of War in 1619
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Ship Shackles
These shackles were used to secure African captives in the belly of ships
on their Middle Passage, from Africa to the Americas.
Merchants of Human Cargo Dutch ships were the primary suppliers of Africans to the British colonies until 1672 when the
British crown chartered the Royal African Company (RAC), which monopolized the African
slave trade until 1698.
Coffle Shackles
In shackles like these Africans were marched from inland kingdoms to the coast and sold to
European slave traders.
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005696251/
Image 3.2.3_SlaveShip
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98501624/
P3.3 Cargo for the Middle Passage
Laborers and Warriors
The slave trade often reflected the purchasing of African captives based on the skills required
in the colonial economy. Across the colonies, agrarian skills, industrial experience, and
domestic knowledge were highly valued. Africans from urban and rural areas were among the
human cargo brought to North America on the Middle Passage, across the Atlantic to the
Americas. They were sedentary farmers and nomadic herdsmen. They were peasants and
princes, high priests and warriors.
[3.3.1_Map8]
Map of Africa corrected based on the observations of the
Royal Society of London and Paris 1725
The map shows boundaries, rivers, forests, and principal
settlements, with tents symbolizing areas inhabited by
nomads, and notes.
Quote to use:
There are certain nations from the interior of Africa… such as Bornon, Houssa,
Zanfara, Zegzeg, Kapina, Tombootoo, all are near the river Niger… they do not
arrive in any considerable numbers and always confounded with other nations who
have made them prisoners.
William Dunbar, Natchez, Mississippi, Letter to Slave Traders, February 1, 1807
Image 3.3.1_Map8 (LOC)
3
P3.3 Prisoners of War
Warfare among African kingdoms and federations contributed significantly to the number of
Africans captured and sold to European traders. Fulbe (Fulani), Hausa, Wolof, Susu, and
Mandingo were among the soldiers and officers captured as prisoners of war and brought to
North America. In 1788, the headquarters element of a Fulani cavalry regiment was
ambushed and captured by a Susu army. Sold to Mandingo merchants, the Fulani cavalrymen,
including the regimental commander, Colonel Abd al Rahman Ibrihima, were subsequently
sold to the captain of the British ship Africa.
Colonel Ibrahima was born and educated at Timbuktu. The son of the king of the Futa Jallon,
he was a graduate of the University at Sankore Mosque. Known as Prince in America, he
would spend forty years in captivity near Natchez, Mississippi. Prince was one of many
educated African soldiers brought to North America after being captured as prisoners of war.
Such Fulani warriors believed that liberty was a gift from God.
[3.3.2_Moor]
African Moor
After the fall of Andalusia (Moorish Spain) in 1492, African soldiers returned to the Africa. Over
the next three centuries, they and their descendants fought in the various wars that resulted in
thousands of Africans being captured as prisoners of war and brought to America as slaves.
[3.3.4_SlaveCoffle]
Slave Coffle, Sierra Leone, 1793
Africans captured as prisoners of war and by raids on villages were taken from the African interior
to the coast and sold to Europeans. Courtesy of the Caird Library, National Maritime Museum,
London
[3.3.5_FulaniVillage]
“A Fulani Village,” West Africa, 1809
The Fulani were principally nomadic herdsmen. A class known as the town Fulani provided
diplomatic relations for the herdsmen with their agrarian neighbors. The chief diplomat was the
Fulani blacksmith. The towns Fulani, also known as the Tourabe, were typically literate and
multilingual. Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University
[3.3.3_WestAfricanNative]
West African Native
This young man with spear in hand has the locks and the look of a Fulani warrior.
Courtesy of Library of Congress (Photo taken early 20th century)
Image 3.3.2_Moor
(Museum Collection (Note: Need print
scanned for high-resolution image.))
Image3.3.3_WestAfricanNative (LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001705541/
Image 3.3.4_SlaveCoffle
(Caird Library, National Maritime Museum,
London)
Image 3.3.5_FulaniVillage
(JCBLBU)
Quote: General, we come of a fighting race. Our fathers were brought here slaves because they
were captured in war, and in hand to hand fights, too. We are willing to fight.
Andre Cailloux, August 8, 1863
Fulani Sword, Spearhead and Shield
These weapons are from the northern region of modern day Nigeria. They come from the Fulbe
(Fulani) ethnic group.
Ghanaian Drum
This drum is from modern day Ghana. Drums were used to entertain and communicate.
4
P3.4 Freedom Fighters
The War for Independence
The British offered emancipation to slaves in exchange for military service shortly after the
American Revolution began. Lord Dunmore, the colonial governor of Virginia, issued a
proclamation in 1775 granting freedom to enslaved Africans who joined the British army.
Within a month, over 800 men had enlisted in Lord Dunmore’s Royal Ethiopian Regiment.
For the new American government, arming men of African descent was a contentious yet
strategic issue. Generals, preachers, and legislators weighed in on the issue, revealing deep
divisions within the new nation between North and South. By the end of the war, more than
5,000 men of African descent had fought for liberty.
[3.4.1_BostonMasacre]
First Fatality
On March 5, 1770, Crispus Attucks, led a group of young men against
British soldiers on King Street in Boston. Shouting, “The way to get rid of
these soldiers is to attack the main guard; strike the root; this is the nest,”
Attucks became the first fatality in what resulted in the War for
Independence. Attucks was memorialized in the Boston Gazette, March
12th, 1770.Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Image 3.4.1_BostonMasacre(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661777/
[3.4.2_ViewinAmerica]
Blind to the military necessity
“A View in America in 1778”
This cartoon addresses the question of enlisting men of African
descent into the Continental Army. It shows an African lying on
the ground, wounded by cannon shot. Standing over him are
several men; the one on the left is a congressman suffering from a
visual disorder, blind to the necessity of enlisting the African. An
officer gestures at the wounded soldier while looking towards the congressman. Courtesy
of the Library of Congress
An essential part of the plan is to give them their freedom with their muskets. This will secure
their fidelity, animate their courage, and, I believe, will have a good influence upon those who
remain by opening a door to their emancipation.
Alexander Hamilton, 1776
Image 3.4.2_ViewinAmerica(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004672627/
Additional quote:
The only way pointed out to prevent this
threatening evil is to set the blacks at liberty
ourselves by some public acts and laws, and
then give them proper encouragement to labor,
or take up arms in the defense of the American
cause.
Reverend Samuel Hopkins, 1775, “Dialogue
Concerning the slavery of the Africans”
Soldiers, Sailors and Marines
African Americans served in the Continental Navy and Marines. The navies of the
Chesapeake Bay, Maryland and Virginia, employed them as pilots. African American marines
served aboard the largest vessel in the Connecticut navy, the Oliver Cromwell, when she made
successful cruises off the Lesser Antilles and the Azores in quest of British vessels. [3.4.3_ADSoliderwithGWash]
A Continental soldier of African descent holds General George Washington’s Horse
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Not in the
Exhibit
5
[3.4.5_CrossingtheDelaware]
Soldiers of African descent were with General Washington on his
famed crossing of the Delaware
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
[3.4.6_Yorktown]
The surrender at Yorktown was made possible by an
African descent Spy
James Armistead, an enslaved Virginian, was a double agent.
British General Cornwallis assumed he was a spy for the
Crown when in fact he was a spy for the Continental Army.
Armistead’s information was critical in the victory at Yorktown. The Virginia General Assembly
emancipated him in recognition of his contribution. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
[3.4.7_NavalBattle]
Naval battle between John Paul Jones of the Bonhomme Richard and Captain Richard
Pearson of the British vessel Serapis, September 22, 1779
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Quote to use:
It has been represented to me that the free negroes who have
served in this army are much dissatisfied at being discarded. As
it is to be apprehended that they may seek employment in the
Ministerial army, I have presumed to depart from the resolution
respecting them, and have given license for their being enlisted.
General George Washington, December 1775
Image 3.4.3_ADSoliderwithGWash
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004666565/
Image 3.4.5_CrossingtheDelaware
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det19940230
76/PP/
Too small to use web file, needs ordering from
LOC
Image 3.4.6_Yorktown
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006678624/
Note: LOC has extremely high res version
available at this link; downloaded smaller
work file, but bigger is available.
Image 3.4.7_NavalBattle
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/89712610/
P3.5 Conceived in Liberty
The existence of slavery in a nation conceived in liberty was a glaring hypocrisy. Slavery was
sanctioned in all of the original thirteen states. However, soon after independence, seven
northern states abolished slavery or implemented a gradual compensated emancipation
program soon after independence. Pennsylvania and Massachusetts were the first to end
slavery in their respective states. Emancipation in Pennsylvania, however, was gradual, while
emancipation in Massachusetts came immediately after the state Supreme Court ruled the
institution of slavery illegal in 1785.
[3.5.1_Map13]
The United States of North America 1793
The Northwest Territory was the first territory added to the new nation for which slavery became a
major issue. The states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were
formed from the Northwest Territory. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Image 3.5.1_Map13 (LOC)
6
P3.5 Delicate Balance Slavery fostered tensions between free and slaveholding states as the nation expanded. After
the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory in1787, Thomas
Jefferson predicted civil conflict would result from the slavery issue as the nation expanded
into new territories. In September 1787, the Constitutional Convention convened in
Philadelphia. Compromises were sought to gain the support of both proslavery and
antislavery interests. One compromise led to a promise to prohibit the transatlantic slave trade
by 1808; and another, the Three-fifths Compromise, allowed slaveholding states to count three
of every five persons held as slaves for the purpose of representation. In spite of these
compromises, Virginia Governor Patrick Henry argued that the Constitution gave Congress
the authority to abolish slavery in time of war. [3.5.2_HenryonLiberty]
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
Patrick Henry delivering his great speech on the rights of the
colonies, before the Virginia Assembly, convened at
Richmond, March 23, 1775, concluding with the above
sentiment, which became the war cry of the revolution.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
[3.5.3_Constitution_p1] The Constitution of the United States, 1791
In 1791, over seventeen percent of the United States population was enslaved and referred to in the
Constitution as “all other persons” and “persons held for their labor.” Though the Preamble of the
Constitution established anti-slavery goals, the new Constitution protected the right of one man to
claim another as property, to hold him for his labor. The Constitution was ratified on December
15, 1791.Courtesy of the National Archives Records Administration
[3.5.7_SlaveTrade]
The Abolition of the Slave Trade
This 1792 cartoon depicts “the inhumanity of dealers in human flesh,” illustrating how Captain
Kimber treats a young girl of 15 and her virgin modesty.
Early Civil Rights Leaders
Americans of African descent established mutual aid societies in the late 18th
century to
counter the neglect of and assault on their rights by the federal and state governments. The
African Union Society established in November 1780 in Newport, Rhode Island, was among
the first. In April 1787, the Free African Society was established in Philadelphia under the
leadership of Absalom Jones and Richard Allen. Through the efforts of Prince Hall, an active
member of the Boston Free African Society, a Masonic lodge, African Lodge No. 459, was
established in Boston in 1787. Such organizations as well as churches were important in the
struggle for self-improvement and liberation. [3.5.4_Preacher]
The African Descent Preacher
From the pulpits of African churches, preachers encouraged the people to endure, and they also
helped organize the people in their efforts to secure their rights as citizens. Courtesy of the Library
of Congress
Image 3.5.2_HenryonLiberty
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001700209/
Image 3.5.3_Constitution_p1
(NARA) (Note: only want the “Preamble”)
Image 3.5.4_Preacher
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001695528/
Image 3.5.5_PaulCuffee
(LOC)
Image 3.5.6_Prince
(NYPL)
Are men rational or mortal beings, possessed
of feelings and rights and hopes and souls?
Shall we remain unmoved while they are
reckoned up as the beasts of the field?
Reverend John Kennedy, July 4, 1828, Sixth
Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia
Not in the
Exhibit
7
To Secure the Blessings of Liberty
At African Churches, services were held on January 1, 1808, “on account of the abolition of
the African slave trade.” In the African Church of New York, Peter Williams described the
author of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the Constitution as “instruments
of divine goodness.” Absalom Jones speaking in Philadelphia’s African Episcopal Church
referred to the Constitution as an instrument of God’s deliverance. Jones said that God had
come down to Philadelphia when the framers of the US Constitution came together. African
descent leaders such as Jones and Williams argued that slavery would be brought to an end in
league with the Constitution in accordance with God’s will.
This government founded on the principle of liberty and equality, and declaring them to be the free
gift of God, if not ignorant of their declaration, must enforce it...
George Lawrence, January 1, 1813
[3.5.5_PaulCuffee]
Captain Paul Cuffee, 1812
Revolutionary soldiers and sailors such as Prince Hall and Paul Cuffee led the effort to abolish
slavery and secure the right to vote in Massachusetts. Through their activism, “the Bay State” was
the first state to grant men of African descent the right to vote in 1783. Courtesy of the Library of
Congress
[3.5.6_Prince]
The Prince makes a Northern speaking tour
In 1808, on the streets of Natchez, Mississippi, Dr. John Cox recognized the son of a West African
king whom the Irish surgeon had known while in West Africa. Held as a slave, the Prince had
become the manager of a successful plantation. Cox offered to assist Prince in securing his liberty. Prince turned down the offer. Yet, in 1828, Prince, a senior military officer when captured as a
prisoner of war, was liberated with the assistance of President John Quincy Adams. This known
African royal in the United States gained public attention, but his presence had always been of
importance in the African knowledge circles formed by educated Africans of faith like Prince.
After liberation, Prince Abraham made a northern speaking tour. David Walker of the Prince Hall
Lodge in Boston was his personal escort during the tour. While in Philadelphia, Prince spoke at the
Sixth Presbyterian Church on the Fourth of July 1828. That night in the city of brotherly love,
Prince Abraham shared the story of his African life, his captivity, his desire to redeem his family,
and his belief that God had endowed all men with the gift of liberty. Courtesy of the New York
Public Library
P3.6 The War of 1812
A Military Necessity
Thousands of men of African descent earned their freedom fighting for American
independence. Yet Congress banned the enlistment of men of African descent into the army
with the United States Volunteer Militia Act of 1792. President George Washington signed
the legislation into law. When Congress declared war on Great Britain on June 17, 1812, they
could not legally serve in the federal army. Most free men of African descent were residents
of the North, and they enthusiastically volunteered to defend their country. Excluded from
enlisting in the army, many enlisted in the navy. Naval commanders such as Commodore
Image 3.6.1_LakeErie(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003673074/
I have nearly fifty blacks on board of this
ship, and many of them are among my
best men…
Commodore Isaac Chauncey
Not in the
Exhibit
8
Isaac Chauncey believed that the color of a man’s skin did not determine “a man’s
qualifications or usefulness.”
[3.6.1_LakeErie]
The Battle of Lake Erie, Commodore O. H. Perry’s Victory
In the Battle of Lake Erie, sailors and marines of African descent contributed significantly to
the victory. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Quote to use:
Sure this was not the conduct of the late war; for then they marched shoulder to shoulder,
brother soldier and brother soldier, to the field of battle; let who will answer; he that despises
a black man for sake of colour, reproacheth his Maker.
Prince Hall
Jackson’s Colored Soldiers
Military necessity influenced the states of New York and Louisiana to pass legislation in 1814
to authorize the arming of men of African descent. When Britain’s war with France came to a
close with the capture of Napoleon, the war in America became the focus. The British army
won victory after victory, and military necessity resulted in General Andrew Jackson’s appeal
to free men of color in Louisiana. As the British prepared to attack New Orleans with a
superior force, General Jackson called men of African descent to arms on September 21, 1814:
“Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived of a participation in the
glorious struggle for national rights in which our country is engaged, this shall no longer
exist.” On October 24, 1814, the Louisiana state legislature passed an act authorizing the
raising of two regiments of free men of color. Quote to use:
I expected much from you... But you surpass my hopes. I have found in you, united to these
qualities, that noble enthusiasm which impels to great deeds.
General Andrew Jackson, to the men of color at the Battle of New Orleans, 1815
[3.6.2_JacksonatBattleofNO]
Battle of New Orleans (printed 1922)
This print of General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans includes African descent
soldiers. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
[3.6.3_BattleofNO]
Scene of the Battle of New Orleans, with the Mississippi River in the foreground
The victory made General Jackson a national hero, and the African descent soldiers of Louisiana
were recognized nationally as courageous soldiers. One of the most famed members of the African
descent battalions was Jordon B. Noble, a fourteen-year-old drummer boy who played the long
drum roll as the battle came to a conclusion. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
[3.6.4_Auction]
Still auctioned to the highest bidder
In spite of the service of persons of African descent during the War of 1812, slavery became more
Image 3.6.2_JacksonatBattleofNO
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98510134/
Image 3.6.3_BattleofNO
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/92504355/
Image 3.6.4_Auction
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006687271/
Image 3.6.5_CottonGin
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91784966/
Image 3.6.6_KingCotton
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2009617745/
9
entrenched and rights of free persons of African descent became more restricted.
[3.6.5_CottonGin]
Enslaved Americans using the first cotton gin
Though some of the framers of the Constitution thought that slavery would not be profitable in the
decades following the 1787 convention, the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 resulted in slavery
becoming far more profitable. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
[3.6.6_KingCotton]
Cotton became King
Cotton planters became the most powerful slaveholders in the Republic in the early 19th century.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
P3.7 Life, Liberty and Slavery
Awakened by Fear
Thomas Jefferson wrote that the conviction in the minds of the people that liberty is a gift
from God had been removed by the continued existence of slavery. Jefferson wrote: “can the
liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed the only firm basis, a conviction
in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be
violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just;
and his justice cannot sleep forever.” Jefferson feared that the conflict over the disposition of
new territories as either slave or free would lead to a civil war. He wrote in 1820 after
receiving news of the Missouri Compromise that he was gripped by terror, as if “awoken by a
firebell in the night.”
[3.7.1_Map16]
Map of Mexico, Louisiana, and Missouri Territory
The conflict over slavery in the Missouri Territory was met with compromise. Parts of Northern
Mexico were annexed by the United States in 1846 after the Mexican American War. And eight
years later, the conflict over slavery in territories acquired in the Louisiana Purchase would result in
Bloody Kansas.
Image 3.7.1_Map16(LOC)
Rights Secured in Providence
In 1792, Prince Hall admonished his followers to “have no hand in any plots or conspiracies or
rebellions.” Hall argued that liberty would be secured with the awakening of God’s justice. A
member of the Prince Hall Lodge in Boston David Walker wrote in 1829: “Never make an
attempt to gain our freedom or natural right, from under cruel our oppressors and murderers,
until you see your way clear.” He believed that God would deliver the “afflicted” from their
oppressors in the United States just as God had delivered the Israelites from the hands of the
Egyptians. Like Hall, Walker argued that freedom, their natural right, would be gained by
positive actions in God’s Providence.
[3.7.3_DomesticTrade]
United States Slave Trade, 1830
After the transatlantic slave trade was outlawed in 1808, domestic slave traders provided slaves for
the cotton, rice and sugar plantations in the lower South and West. Humans were bought and sold
Image 3.7.2_WalkersAppeal
(LOC) (Note: small file available, ordered)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/92513183/
Second edition of
David Walker’s
Appeal to the
Colored Citizens of
the World
Southern planters
went to great lengths
to prevent the circulation of this pamphlet,
which they label an “insurrectionist pamphlet.”
It was often smuggled into the South sewn into
the coats of sailors. Courtesy of the Library of
Congress
Not in the
Exhibit
10
by “Negro speculators” or “soul-drivers,” and thousands of families were separated. In this
illustration, this human traffic is being conducted in the shadow of the United States Capitol.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
[3.7.5_NatTurner]
Nat Turner’s Demonstration
Martin R. Delany described Nathaniel Turner’s actions in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831,
as a “demonstration” that warned the Great Houses, which means Pharaohs. God was certain to
visit them with the curse of bloodshed if the Great Houses did not set their captives free. Turner
was executed in Jerusalem, Virginia, becoming a martyr in the struggle for freedom. Courtesy of
the Library of Congress
[3.7.4_SouthandLiberty]
Southern Ideas of Liberty
“Sentence passed upon one for supporting that clause of our Declaration viz. All men are born
free & equal.” This illustration portrays the violent suppression of abolitionist activities in the
South. Free speech, trial by jury, the right to assembly, freedom of the press and of worship
was all severely curtailed. Liberty and equality became contrary to Southern society.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Image 3.7.3_DomesticTrade
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661746/
Image 3.7.4_SouthandLiberty
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661271/
Image 3.7.5_NatTurner
(LOC) (Note: small file available, ordered)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98510363/
Organizing the Underground Railroad
As Southern society became more repressive, Americans of African descent in the North organized
Negro Conventions. In these conventions, they coordinated their efforts to assist those seeking to escape
from slave states into free states. They also sought the assistance of sympathetic Americans of European
descent. The combined activities of Americans of African and European descent as escorts to liberty
became the known as the Underground Railroad, and thousands were led to freedom by this secret
network of routes and safe houses.
[3.7.6_UndergroudRR]
The Underground Railroad: Enslaved Americans in wagon and on
foot escaping slavery
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Image 3.7.6_UndergroudRR
(LOC)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98510370/
3.8 Header Quote:
But the time shall yet come, when the name of the despised, neglected American patriot, in spite of
American prejudice, shall rise superior to the spirit that would degrade it and take its place on the
records of merit and fame. – Martin R. Delany, the North Star, December 8, 1848
Not in the
Exhibit
11
The Anti-Slavery Movement
Crimes Against God and Man
Men, women, and children escaped from the “prison-house of bondage” via the Underground Railroad.
They came from cities and plantations, rice swamps and cotton fields, kitchens and machine shops, cruel
masters and mild masters, Border States and Gulf States,. Some were guided only by the North Star,
some braved the perils of sea, some eluded howling bloodhounds, and some hid away for months and
years in caves and swamps waiting for a chance to escape to the North. William Still noted that due to
the secrecy of the network, it is not possible to recognize all those who labored suffered to aid the
oppressed.
Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman became one of the most prolific conductors on the Underground Railroad. Born on a
slave-breeding plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland, in 1823, she escaped from the plantation in
1849 with two of her brothers. Afraid of being recaptured, the two brothers returned while Harriet
continued. Traveling by night and using the North Star as a guide, she finally arrived in Philadelphia.
She returned many times to Maryland to bring her family members and many others to the North and
freedom. Harriet Tubman never lost a passenger.
Photo of Harriet Tubman
Courtesy of the Tennessee State Library & Archives – Image has been altered from original
Organizing the Underground Railroad
As Southern society became more repressive, Americans of African descent in the North organized
Negro Conventions. In these conventions, they coordinated their efforts to assist those seeking to escape
from slave states into free states. They also sought the assistance of sympathetic Americans of European
descent. The combined activities of Americans of African and European descent as escorts to liberty
became known as the Underground Railroad, and thousands were led to freedom by this secret network
of routes and safe houses.
Image: The Underground Railroad: Enslaved Americans in wagon and on foot escaping slavery.
Courtesy of LOC
The Mystery
Dr. Martin R. Delaney of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a part of the anti-slavery conventions that
coordinated the efforts of Americans of African and European descent to form what became known as
the Underground Railroad. In 1843, he began publishing the abolitionist newspaper The Mystery. The
paper ceased publication in 1847 when Delany collaborated with Frederick Douglass to establish The
North Star.
The paper shall be free, independent and untrammeled, and while it shall aim at the Moral Elevation of
the Arico-American and African race, civilly, politically and religiously, yet, it shall support no
distinctive principles of race- no sectional distinctions, otherwise than such as be necessary, for the
establishment of true and correct principles pertaining to the universal benefit of man, since whatever is
essentially necessary for the promotion and elevation of one class of society…” –Martin R. Delany, The
Mystery, December 16, 1846
Image: The North Star was co-founded by Martin R. Delaney and Frederick Douglass. Courtesy of
LOC
Image: Anti Annexation Procession in opposition to the annexation of Texas as a slaveholding
12
state: This 1844 cartoon has William Lloyd Garrison (far left) leading a group of “Abolitionist Martyrs”
who have been tarred and feathered for their activism. In 1831, Garrison began publication of an anti-
slavery document and was considered a radical abolitionist. Courtesy of LOC
Image: James G. Birney_ a former slaveholder from Kentucky: James G. Birney emerged as the
leading conservative abolitionist after emancipating his human property in 1834. Birney argued that the
Constitution was an anti-slavery document. He was a candidate for president on the Liberty Party ticket
twice, in 1840 and 1844. Courtesy of LOC
In Their Own Words
Slave narratives were major recruiting tools for the anti-slavery movement. Harriet Jacobs’ Inncidents in
the Life of a Slave Girl was a shocking example of the cruelty of cruelty and sexual perversion endemic
to chattel slavery. Frederick Douglass’ narrative propelled the author into the national spotlight and
launched his career as a spokesmen and recruiter for the abolitionist movement. The Narrative of
William W. Brown: A Fugitive Slave chronicled the cruelty of slavery in Missouri, which was reported to
be one of the most humane environments for the enslaved. While planters and their spokesmen argued
that slavery was a benign paternalistic institution, the slave narratives provided firsthand accounts of the
tyranny and cruelty of slavery.
My escape to a land of freedom now appeared certain, and the prospects of the future occupied a great
part of my thoughts. What should be my occupation, was a subject of much anxiety to me; and the next
thing what should be my name?- From The Narrative of William W. Brown: A Fugitive Slave
Image: William Wells Brown_(1814-1884; William Wells Brown was born enslaved in Lexington
Kentucky. He escaped from slavery in 1834 and became a novelist and playwright as well as an agent
and orator for the anti-slavery movement.
Image: “The author pursued by bloodhounds,” From the Narrative of William Wells Brown: Courtesy of the University Library, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill