Slave Narratives of the Underground Railroad

Given To Me for An Honest Review

This book is about the slaves who were fortunate enough to be able to use the Underground Railroad. It tells their story whether it be good or bad. If you like history this is for you. It will make you think of not long ago what happened in our country. It is a great read and I highly recommend it to all.

My goodreads review (4 stars):

When I was a child I had a record that told the story of Uncle Tom's Cabin. At the time I was too young to really understand it all, but one thing I have never forgotten was the part about Eliza who crossed a river by jumping from ice floe to ice floe ("en Eliza sprong van schots op schots" as my record said), all of that with a baby in her arms. I had never realised there was a real-life Eliza who escaped slavery in this way.
Slave Narratives of the Underground tells Eliza's story together with many others who managed to escape and make their way north. One woman remained hidden in some sort of attic for seven years, a man had himself nailed into a box, a woman dressed herself as a planter with her husband as faithful sevant, a man hid himself underneath a hotel for weeks. Story after incredible story, some heartbreaking. For example the woman who killed her young child rather than have it return to slavery.

Recently I have been surprised by how little I know about this very black page in history, and how few books I've come across over the years who deal with this subject. Therefore I was very interested in reading these narratives, and I wasn't disappointed. There were several very interesting stories in the book, however, I felt there were just too many that didn't really add anything to stories I had already read. Also, quite a few stories were very short; I would have preferred fewer but longer and with more depth. I realise the focus of this book is the narratives but I would have liked some more background information about slavery in general and the underground railroad (and the people involved) in specific. Since most of the stories were written down at the time by William Still, the language used was sometimes archaic and hard to understand. Still, I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

It is hard to imagine that it was only 150 years or so ago that the institution of slavery existed in this country. That history is a testament to the depths of evil to which mankind can descend—and it is a tale that applies to most of history in most of the world. Thus, it is an even greater testament when mankind struggles its way forward. The battle ahead in this country was taken on when the eyes of those of the larger community were opened to the truth. Once done, they sought change and prepared to pay with their lives if necessary to achieve it.
While concentrating on sins of the past does not change nor correct things, a study of those events can serve to see that such evils are not repeated. Thus, I have spent some time over the years reading the stories of freed slaves and of those who assisted them. My favorite of all time is Booker T. Washington’s account in Up From Slavery. One of the items on my “bucket list” is to go to Tuskegee Institute one day. Washington’s insight all those years ago, still serves us well today. Indeed, I think it should be on everyone’s required reading list. But for the present, I address those stories in Slave Narratives of the Under Ground Railroad.
The editors did a nice job of collecting a variety of stories, in some cases told by the former slaves themselves, and in others, by those who assisted them in their fight for freedom. It is shocking to read an account of a man willing to have himself shipped to a port in the free north, of a woman who carried her child across broken chunks of ice on a river toward freedom, and more. It is also important to understand the power of government, of statues and court rulings—power that when exercised imposes the will of elected officials on the lives of all. (Remember that on election day.) Such was the case with the The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, well discussed in the text. But what I took out of these stories that I wish to carry with me goes beyond the terrors slaves experienced. It goes to the kindness they found in others. Many risked their lives and fortunes to escape their chains, and many others to end the institution of slavery in this country. Their investments were well made and we honor them when we learn of their exploits.

Slave Narratives of the Underground Railroad is definitely worth a read for those who want to know about the underground railroad history. I cannot imagine what slaves had to go through as slaves. I admire their courage and bravery to survive and their fight for freedom. I also admire those who help them gain their freedom. I enjoy the compiled stories from former slaves in this book. There are stories from several refugees, including Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas and other former slaves that were not as famous. The stories were so captivating to me. I can't believe people had to live this way not so long ago in US history. I found the book interesting and I must-read. Five stars.

Loved this, and I'm not a big history buff. This was an eye-opener. I found myself worried and scared with the slaves. This will make you have an even deeper respect for those who went through slavery and all they endured.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

This was a f as favorite topic in high school. I really enjoyed this book.

I have to admit that I don't know nearly as much as I should about the struggle of slaves in America and their flight to freedom and emancipation, despite the fact that there's an slavery underground house just a few blocks from my home. Certainly I've read about it in history classes, but it was always just a concept that we read about, to me.

What this collection did was make it much more personal, because the essays included are told by the slaves who have escaped to freedom. Here, the horrors of slavery become real ("I think slavery is the next thing to hell. If a person would send another into bondage, he would, it appears to me, be bad enough to send him into hell, if he could" says Harriet Tubman). To endure what these people did; to be hunted; to hide at day and move at night in unfamiliar territory; to leave behind family (if they weren't already sold and sent away) ... the conditions for these people had to be absolutely horrific.

I think this came clearest for me in the very simple "Letter from His Old Mistress and His Reply" by Reverend J. W. Loguen. A woman (clearly down on her luck after her husband has passed away) writes a letter to her runaway, former slave, trying to convince him to buy his freedom for $1000 and appeals to his Christian charity. His response is tremendous.

All of the essays and recollections here are really great (in an educational way for those of us who can never imagine this sort of life). I was also moved by "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs and "Born on a Slave Ship" by Margaret. But truly, everything here is powerful and reminds the reader how strong these people had to be to do what they did ... and of course these are only some of the stories from those who successfully made the escape to freedom.

This book contains the following essays:

"Arrived by Adams' Express" (Henry Box Brown) by William Sill
"Narrative of William Wells Brown, a Fugitive Slave (excerpt)" by William Wells Brown
"Ex-President Tyler's Household Loses an Aristocratic "Article"" (James Hambleton Christian) by William Still
"Arrival from Delaware, 1858: A Desperate, Bloody Struggle - Gun, Knife and Fire Shovel, Used by an Infuriated Master" (Theophilus Collins) by William Still
"An Abolitionist in the Underground" (Seth Concklin) by William Still
"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas" by Frederick Douglas
"Blood Flowed Freely: Two Passengers Secreted in a Vessel Loaded with Spirits of Turpentine p Shrouds Prepared t Prevent Being Smoked to Death" (Abram Galloway and Richard Eden) by William Still
"The Slave Mother Who Killed Her Child Rather Than See It Taken Back to Slavery" (Margaret Garner) by Levi Coffin
"Fleeing from Davis, a Negro Trader, Secreted Under a Hotel, Up a Tree, Under a Floor, in a Thicket, on a Steamer" (Charles Gilbert) by William Still
“How Their Grandpa Brought Emancipation to Loads of Slaves” (Arnold Gragston) by Federal Writers’ Project American Guide, Pearl Randolph
"Ten Years in the Penitentiary for Having a Copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin" (Samuel Green, alias Wesley Kinnard) by William Still
"Slave-Holder in Maryland with Three Colored Wives" (Jamie Griffin, alias Thomas Brown) by William Still
"Arrival from North Carolina, 1857—Feet Slit for Running Away, Flogged, Stabbed, Stayed in the Hollow of a Big Poplar Tree, Visited by a Snake, Abode in a Cave" (Harry Grimes) by William Still
"The Slave-Hunting Tragedy in Lancaster County, in September 1851: Treason at Christiana" (James Hamlet and Others) by William Still
"The Slave Woman Who Crossed the Ohio River on the Drifting Ice with Her Child in Her Arms" (Eliza Harris) by Levi Coffin
"The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself (1849)" by Josiah Henson
"Five Years and One Month Secreted" (John Henry Hill) by William Still
"Arrival from Maryland, 1859" (Ann Maria Jackson and Her Seven Children) by William Still
"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861)" by Harriet Jacobs
"Trial of the Emancipators of Col. J. H. Wheeler’s Slaves, Jane Johnson and Her Two Little Boys" (Jane Johnson) by William Still
"Arrival from the Old Dominion: Nine Very Fine 'Articles'" (Lew Jones, Oscar Payne, Mose Wood, Dave Diggs, Jack, Hen, and Bill Dade, and Joe Ball) by William Still
"Letter from His Old Mistress and His Reply [The Liberator]" by Reverend J.W. Loguen
"Arrivals from Different Places: Captured and Carried Back" (Matilda Mahoney and Dr. J. W. Pennington’s Brother and Sons) by William Still
"Born on a Slave Ship" (Margaret) by Eber M. Pettit
"Arrival from Virginia, 1858" (Mary Frances Melvin, Eliza Henderson, and Nancy Grantham) by William Still
"Seeing a Ray of Hope She Availed Herself of the Opportunity to Secure Her Freedom” (Aunt Hannah Moore) by William Still
"Arrival from Virginia, 1858" (Alfred S. Thornton) by William Still
"Narrative of Sojourner Truth" by Sojourner Truth
"Harriet Tubman: The Moses of her People)" and "'Moses' Arrives with Six Passengers" (Harriet Tubman) by William Still
"Escape from Alabama Is Almost Impossible" (Philip Younger) by Benjamin Drew Appendix: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: “An Act Respecting Fugitives from Justice, and Persons Escaping from the Service of Their Masters” [United States Congress]
Bibliography

This is an important book and it really should be read by all high school and college students.

Looking for a good book? Editors Christine Rudisel and Bob Blaisdell have put together a fantastic collection of stories of slaves who have managed to make it to freedom with this book, Slave Narratives of the Underground Railroad.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.