Underground Railroad
Jenna Bartley
The Escape from Bondage
Congratulations on escaping from your former master! You're final destination will be a place far in the north called Canada. There black and white men and women live together equally and peacefully. In order to travel there locate the north star in the sky and go towards that direction. If the star is covered by weather then look at the moss growing on the trees around you. The moss only grows on the north side of the trees so go in that direction. You will need to stay nearby rivers and streams so that the slave catchers and their dogs can not catch whiff of your darky smell. If the white man catches you, you will be forced back into the peculiar institution where you will be repeatedly flogged by your overseer. Most likely they will not kill you because that would mean a loss of profits, but they will get you as close to death as possible. It is vital that you find the various houses along the underground railroad that will hide you long enough to be rested. The white people who live there will feed you and occasionally they will offer to take you the rest of the way to Canada by railroad. You might be glad to know that there have been rebellions by black slaves named Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner. Vesey's plan did not come into action because his plans were given to his plantation owner beforehand. However, Turner's was mildly successful in that he killed some 60 people but most of those he killed were women and children. Both men and the slaves who helped them were killed for their rebellion. I say this to keep you extra alert, you do not want to be caught by the slave catchers.
Directions
GET OUT OF THE BLACK BELT (Louisiana to Virginia)
From Walton, Kentucky go north past the Ohio River into Indianapolis, Ohio
From Indianapolis, Ohio go to to Detroit
From Detroit cross Lake Erie into Canada and there you will reach freedom!
'Some view the sable race with scornful eye--
'Their color is a diabolic dye;
'But know, ye Christians, Negroes black as Cain
'May be refined, and join the angelic train.'
'Their color is a diabolic dye;
'But know, ye Christians, Negroes black as Cain
'May be refined, and join the angelic train.'
-Philllis Wheatley, 1834 ( An African American slave)
Slave Spiritual Story- Wade in the Water