This book is a huge contribution to the literature of the decades leading up to the Civil War. Until Eric Foner's monumental work, there was no good, comprehensive history of Reconstruction in the years following the War. So too, until now, there has not been a good, comprehensive history of the Underground Railroad. Author Fergus M. Bordewich has remedied this with "Bound for Canaan." There have certainly been histories of the years leading up to the Civil War, indeed one of the best is the beginning couple of hundred pages of James McPherson's "Battlecry of Freedom." But these histories were intended to cover the broader spectrum of events leading to the Civil War. This concentration on the Underground Railroad is long overdue.
We have all heard of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, both monumental figures. However, there were numerous heroes of the Underground Railroad who have been lost to history. Fortunately, Bordewich brings to life figures such as Isaac Hopper, Levi Coffin, David Ruggles, Josiah Henson and many others. Sadly, because there was scant record keeping of many of the Underground Railroad's activities, some others may be permanently lost to history.
Early efforts at rescuing slaves commenced with the efforts of Quakers such as Isaac Hopper in Philadelphia. Also, on or about 1805, a young Quaker boy, Levi Coffin, saw the horrible sight of slaves, chained together, being marched along the road. He saw the hopelessness in them and also, the fate of another slave who was probably a runaway. He had a metal collar placed around his neck and it was afixed to the master's buggy. The poor fellow was forced to run behind the buggy at a rapid clip to avoid being dragged by the neck. These memories led Coffin to become a leader in the Underground Railroad in Indiana (where he had moved). Of course, early on the term "Underground Railroad" was not used because there were no actual railroads to be named after. Later on, however, in the 1840s, when railroads started to grow, a proslavery opponent of Coffin labled him the "president" of the Undergrond Railroad. Coffin took this an honor, not an insult, and indeed, it was just that, a testiment to a heroic individual who devoted his life to freeing slaves.
Many evangelical Christians were fervent abolitionists and instrumental in the network constituting the Underground Railroad. Such an individual was Reverend John Rankin of Ohio, whose entire family was involved in this network. These people were often austere, stolid individuals who were religious fundamentalists, moved by religious fervor. In just about every way, they were conservative. They were religious moralists. Today, many people have a need to use lables, sometimes perjoratively, such as "religious right." It is well to remember that many true heroes of the abolitionist movement, people who put their own safety on the line, were what could be labled "religious right."
The network involved Quakers, evangelicals, secular abolitionists, escaped slaves, free blacks and, women who would later form the women's rights movements. Women's rights giant Lucretia Mott got her start as an activist in the Underground Railroad. The escaped slave Hariett Tubman is also another female giant in the movement, perhaps the leading figure. She could not read and she spoke in the manner of an uneducated fieldhand. However, Tubman was smart, a good organizer and also, extraordinarily courageous as she often went back, below the Mason Dixon Line, to effect an escape. She put her life and security on the line but, she was a slightly built, nondescript woman, and perhaps she was successful because she did not have an appearance which would draw attention to herself.
The railroad consisted of stations, which were often the homes of people sympathetic to the cause. There would be a "stationmaster" who took care of fugitives at these stations. "Conductors" would often escort them to the next station. However, particularly in the early days, there was no conductor and a frightened fugitive with no knowledge of geography or of the topography of the route, would have to have the courage to navigate through a great unknown. Incredibly, many did.
The terminus was often Canada since draconian fugitive slave laws, particularly the one enacted in 1850, made even the north a risky place for escaped slaves. There was tremedous risk involved and failure could result in flogging, death, and imprisonment. Bordewich gives examples of some of these horrors. However, in the last few years, the network became so successful that the secret became an open secret as fugitives and their rescuers became safer since their efforts were making the fugitive slave law less enforceable.
This fine book is very readable and is hard to put down. I certainly learned a wealth of new information and I am delighted that forgotten heroes are being reintroduced to history. I strongly recommend this fine book.
