Underground Railroad

Students will be able to explain what the Underground Railroad was and describe what the journey was like for escaped slaves

a vast network of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to the North and to Canada

A person who sought to get rid of slavery during the 19th century

Routes of the Underground Railroad

• Even in the North, former slaves could be recaptured and sent back to the South

• In Canada, former slaves were safe from slave catchers

• Not run by any single individual or organization

• Operated by both white and black individuals

Harriet Tubman leading escaped slaves to freedom

Abolitionist, Underground Railroad guide

Referred to as "Moses" for her role guiding escaped slaves to freedom

Marchese_02/2021

Read the discovery education reading about Frederick Douglass. Follow along with the slides, and at the end of each section, answer the questions provided.

I lived in Master Hugh's family about seven years. During this time, I succeeded in

learning to read and write. In accomplishing this, I was compelled to resort to various

stratagems.

Frederick Douglas

This etching depicts a slave auction, a common event of the time.

defy-resist or refuse to obey

entitled-feeling like you deserve special treatment

What is the author's point of view in this section?

sought - looked for

Frederick traveled through New England and the Midwest, giving passionate speeches that captivated audiences.

anticipation - excitedly waiting for something

outspoken - clearly state your opinions

neutral - not taking any side

When have you worked to bring about positive change? What was the result?

reserved - set aside for

unequal - not the same

​Born enslaved in Kentucky, Lewis Hayden spent the first decades of his life in slavery. His first wife, Esther Harvey, and son had been sold to Kentucky politician Henry Clay, who later sold them to another slave trader; Hayden never saw them again.

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He married Harriet Hayden in 1842, and with their son, Joseph, they escaped to freedom in the mid-1840s. The Haydens traveled to Detroit and then Canada. At some point, most likely in 1845, they had their daughter, Elizabeth. They eventually settled in Boston, where Lewis established a successful clothing store.

An integral figure in Boston’s Underground Railroad network, Lewis Hayden assumed numerous duties in the local abolitionist movement. He served on the executive committee of the Boston Vigilance Committee, and his and Harriet’s home became a meeting place for abolitionists and a safe house for freedom seekers.

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Numerous Vigilance Committee records note Lewis Hayden (likely with the help of Harriet) boarding freedom seekers, raising funds, donating clothes, and transporting freedom seekers outside of Boston.​

Lewis Hayden’s support for freedom seekers and abhorrence for the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law led to direct and sometimes dangerous action.

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In 1850, Hayden protected William and Ellen Craft, who had escaped from Georgia two years earlier and had recently been the subject of warrants for their return to slavery. Sheltering William Craft, Hayden barricaded his doorway and threatened slavecatchers if they pursued the Crafts.

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In two instances, Lewis Hayden led raids on the Boston Courthouse; first in the rescue of Shadrach Minkins in 1851 and second in the unsuccessful attempt to free Anthony Burns in 1854​

During the Civil War, Lewis Hayden recruited Black soldiers for the Massachusetts civil war regiments, including the Massachusetts 54th Infantry Regiment. Following the Civil War, Hayden served as one of the first Black members of the Massachusetts General Court, an elected representative in the state legislature.

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As a representative, Lewis Hayden lent his support in the fight for women’s suffrage, serving on the Committee on Woman Suffrage and advocating for legislative measures to provide women with the right to vote. Remembering the work of women in the abolitionist movement, Hayden recalled, "My race can never repay the debt we owe to such as these [suffragists]. I should be indeed an ingrate, if I did not work and vote for the enfranchisement of women."​

William and Ellen Craft

Growing up enslaved in Georgia, Craft experienced the painful separation of his family.

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He recalled the irony that his enslaver “had the reputation of being a very humane and Christian man,” however, “thought nothing of selling my poor old father, and dear aged mother, at separate times, to different persons, to be dragged off never to behold each other again.

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After selling Craft’s parents, his enslaver sold three more of William’s siblings. Due to his enslaver’s financial issues, the bank took ownership of William (age 16) and his sister (age 14) and sent them to auction.

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Having been refused the opportunity to say goodbye to his sister, Craft recalled watching "tears trickling down her cheeks” as her enslaver took her away.​

While enslaved, William Craft worked as an apprentice to a cabinetmaker, building his craftsmanship skills that would help him later in life.

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Craft soon met Ellen Smith, an enslaved woman with lighter skin. Despite desiring freedom, they recognized the challenges that came with escaping and instead decided to get married and “settle down in slavery.”

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 Their plans changed in 1848 when William Craft devised a plan to escape. He proposed to his wife that due to her light skin color, she could dress as an ill, young, White planter, and he could play the role of the planter’s enslaved man. While Ellen Craft had her doubts, she agreed to use these disguises to escape to freedom.​

The Crafts began their journey to freedom on December 21, 1848. Upon leaving their home in Macon, Georgia, William Craft said to his wife, “Come my dear, let us make a desperate leap for liberty!”

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 They traveled to Savannah, Georgia, and then made their way up the East Coast, taking various steamers and trains.

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When William Craft saw Philadelphia in the distance on Christmas morning, he recalled “I... felt that the straps that bound the heavy burden to my back began to pop, and the load to roll off.”

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 They rested a few weeks in Philadelphia at the home of abolitionists before continuing north to Boston.​

William and Ellen Craft joined the Black community in Boston’s Beacon Hill, staying at Lewis and Harriet Hayden’s house. For the next two years, William worked as a cabinet-maker, opening his own shop at 51 Cambridge Street.

 Craft and his wife also participated in anti-slavery meetings, sharing their experiences and their story of their escape. However, the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law threatened the Crafts’ safety. In November of that year, two slave catchers successfully acquired a warrant to take the Crafts back into slavery.

While abolitionists took Ellen Craft outside of the city, William Craft armed himself at his shop before going to the Haydens’ house. Years later, Craft notably recalled,

"One night… Lewis Hayden and I had a keg of gunpowder under his house in Phillips Street [formerly Southac Street], with a fuse attached ready to light it should any attempt be made to capture us."​

After the end of the American Civil War, William Craft and his family returned to Georgia. In 1873, they established the Woodville Co-operative Farm School to help newly emancipated men and women.