Escape To North
By Jean Choi
Instructions: How To Get to North
Make sure you go the direction where there is some stream nearby, just in case you want to lose your scent from the dogs or when your master or overseer starts to look for you with their dogs.
From there (the closest stream), you'll see a boat hiding between the huge trees with a yellow marking on it-- you can't miss it. A man,who knows the Underground Railroad very well, will be there waiting for you. There will be other darkies from the Black Belt so you won't be the only one there. He has a boat so he will help y'all cross the river and from there, he will help you get to the Ohio River and cross it. It's the border between north and the south so that's when you know you are getting closer to north. You will be staying at his house for a few days before someone else helps you again to get to Canada.
These are my advice to you. Before you leave, have some courage and hope. Just remember, Nat Turner and Denmark Vessey are planning a slave revolt so have some hope!
Extra Tips!
- The North Star can always be used to find which direction is north
- Moss usually grows on the north side of tree trunks, and can be used to tell direction if it is daytime or cloudy
Letter from John Boston, a runaway slave, to his wife, Elizabeth, January 12, 1862
“My Dear Wife it is with grate joy I take this time to let you know Whare I am
i am now in Safety in the 14th Regiment of Brooklyn . . . this Day i can Adress you thank god as a free man I had a little truble in giting away But as the lord led the Children of Isrel to the land of Canon So he led me to a land Whare fredom Will rain in spite Of earth and hell Dear you must make your Self content i am free from al the Slavers Lash . . . I am With a very nice man and have All that hart Can Wish But My Dear I Cant express my grate desire that i Have to See you i trust the time Will Come When We Shal meet again And if We dont met on earth We Will Meet in heven Whare Jesas ranes . . .”
—From John Boston’s letter to his wife
Fugitive slaves
Catching Slaves
Music
Example
"Follow The Drinking Gourd"
(song lyrics)
The riverbank makes a very good road
The dead trees show you the way
Left foot, peg foot, traveling on
Follow the drinking gourd
When the sun comes back and the first quail calls
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinking gourd
The banks of the Tombigbee River were lined with dead trees marked by drawings of a left foot and a peg foot in order to distinguish the Tombigbee from its tributaries. The song suggests that a fugitive should flee the South during the winter months: "when the first quail calls," because it is during this time of year that the Ohio River, a place where most fugitives look for, is frozen and could therefore be walked upon.