Which of the following describes the underground railroad?
How "underground" was the Underground Railroad?People who had escaped their enslavement headed north to gain their freedom and to escape intolerable situations. They needed courage and resourcefulness to evade law enforcement officers and professional slave catchers who earned rewards for returning them to their masters. Southerners bitterly resented those in the North who assisted the slaves. They coined the term “Underground Railroad” to mean an organized network devoted to keep slaves away from their masters, sometimes even crossing the border into Canada. There was no actual physical “railroad” with engines and tracks, but the term stuck. In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Law that levied heavy fines on anyone guilty of helping slaves to escape. Many in the north resented the law that forced them to help sustain a system that they opposed. Show
Underground Railroad "Stations" Develop in IowaIowa shares a southern border with Missouri, which was a slave state. In the 1840s and 1850s, abolitionists (those who wanted to abolish slavery) developed a system of “stations” that could move runaways toward the Mississippi River to Illinois on their way to freedom. Members of two religious groups, the Congregationalists and Quakers, played leading roles in abolitionist activities. They were also active in the Underground Railroad in the state. Because it had to be secret, we have few written records about the Underground Railroad in Iowa. One source has identified more than 100 Iowans involved in the effort. A main route across the state started in southwest Iowa near Council Bluffs where a free black, John Williamson, helped those fleeing slavery on their road to freedom. Hitchcock House in Cass County near Lewis is another known stop in one way or another with the Underground Railroad. Rev. George Hitchcock, a Congregationalist minister, passed along "passengers" to the next stop. James Jordan in West Des Moines and Josiah Grinnell in Grinnell were also leaders of the effort. Several of these sites are now museums open to the public. It is impossible to know the numbers of blacks the Underground Railroad assisted. Individual families also responded when asked for help. Free blacks living in the state, particularly in southeast Iowa, were often involved. When the Civil War started and the Fugitive Slave Law could no longer be enforced in the north, many blacks escaped into the state and became permanent residents. In 1868, Iowa granted black men the right to vote. The Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools and discrimination in public accommodations were illegal in Iowa. Iowa: A Free State Willing to Let Slavery ExistSlavery was a divisive issue for the United States from its very creation. The early conflicts were not about slavery in the South but its extension as new states joined the Union. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 established an east-west line along the southern border of Missouri that would forever divide free/slave settlement. States to the south could allow slavery; states to the north (with the exception of slave state Missouri) could not. Settlers knew that Iowa would be a free state. Most Iowans were willing to let slavery exist in the South. Like most white Americans of the time period, they believed in the superiority of the white race and opposed granting equal rights or opportunities to African Americans. They passed laws attempting to discourage blacks from coming to the state. On the national level, they wanted most of all to find compromises that would keep the Union together. Iowa did have a small population of abolitionists who wanted to abolish slavery everywhere as a moral evil. In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act that allowed the settlers in any new territory to decide the slavery issue there for themselves. This opened the possibility that Nebraska on Iowa’s western border could become a slave state. Most Iowans opposed that prospect. The Republican Party emerged strongly opposed to any further extension of slavery into western territories. Supporting QuestionsHow dangerous was the Underground Railroad?
How did runaway slaves rely on the help of abolitionists to escape to freedom?
How did some runaway slaves create their own opportunities to escape?
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Iowa Core Social Studies Standards (8th Grade)Listed below are the Iowa Core Social Studies content anchor standards that are best reflected in this source set. The content standards applied to this set are middle school-age level and encompass the key disciplines that make up social studies for eighth grade students.
Why was it called the Underground Railroad?(The first literal underground railroad did not exist until 1863.) According to John Rankin, "It was so called because they who took passage on it disappeared from public view as really as if they had gone into the ground. After the fugitive slaves entered a depot on that road no trace of them could be found.
What is important about the Underground Railroad?They helped African Americans escape from enslavement in the American South to free Northern states or to Canada. The Underground Railroad was the largest anti-slavery freedom movement in North America. It brought between 30,000 and 40,000 fugitives to British North America (now Canada).
Which best describes the Underground Railroad?During the era of slavery, the Underground Railroad was a network of routes, places, and people that helped enslaved people in the American South escape to the North.
Who started the Underground Railroad and why?In the early 1800s, Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper set up a network in Philadelphia that helped enslaved people on the run. At the same time, Quakers in North Carolina established abolitionist groups that laid the groundwork for routes and shelters for escapees.
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