The Underground Railroad in Ohio

The Underground Railroad in Ohio

The Underground Railroad was established to aid enslaved people in their escape to freedom.  

Poll

How familiar are you with the history & details of the Underground Railroad?

• Not very familiar

• Pretty familiar

• Familiar

• Very familiar

The Underground Railroad

• Comprised of dozens of secret routes & safe houses originating in slaveholding states: extending all the way to the Canadian border.

• Shorter routes led south from Florida to Cuba or from Texas to Mexico. 

• The Underground Railroad worked as a series of networks. 

Underground Railroad did not run on tracks

• The word underground was used because helping escaped slaves was illegal and had to be kept secret.

• Word "railroad" spawned other terms to describe people and places associated with practice of assisting runaway slaves

• 
  

Ohio Was The Promised Land

• Ohio had 1 of the most extensive Underground Railroad networks of any other state.

• An estimated 3000 miles of routes used by runaways.

• Quakers in Ohio were actively assisting fugitive slaves as early as the 1780s.

Ohio residents helped fugitive slaves

• Participants only knew about a few connecting stations along the route.

• Escaped slaves moved north from one station to the next. 

• Conductors on the railroad came from various backgrounds and included free-born blacks, white abolitionists and former slaves.

Multiple Select

Those working in the Underground Railroad were only black people.

• True

• False

Owning slaves had been illegal in Ohio since 1802

• Some citizens supported slavery, & feared that former slaves would move into the state, take jobs away from the white population, & demand equal rights with whites.

• These activists vehemently opposed the Underground Railroad

• 
  

Fugitive Slave Act

• The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 permitted slave owners to reclaim fugitive slaves, even if they had moved to a free state.

• This law increased the danger that free blacks would be kidnapped and forced into slavery. 

• 
  

Winter was the best time to escape.

• Work schedules were relaxed, and slaveholders often traveled during the holidays.

• Slaves were given passes to visit family who lived on other properties.

• The Ohio River regularly froze over, which made it possible for runaways to walk across the ice to freedom.

Multiple Select

Winter was the best time to escape because: (check all of the reasons that apply)

• Less work in the fields during the winter-schedules were relaxed

• Slaves received passes to visit other plantations (they could travel)

• Bears hibernate during the winter

• Slaveowners sometimes traveled and left during the winter

• The Ohio River froze over, making it possible to cross on foot.

Ohio River

• Once they crossed the Ohio River, they had to make contact with someone they did not know.

• The hope was that they would be provided food, shelter and rest, and then lead them to the next station.

• Escapees also had to avoid slave catchers & bounty hunters.

Ohio

• Ohio was split on the issue of slavery and few communities offered complete safety for runaways.

• Located in north central Ohio, the town of Oberlin was probably the safest.

• Oberlin became one of the major focal points for escaping slaves.

Multiple Choice

ALL white citizens in Ohio opposed slavery.

• True

• False

Ohio

• Ohio had the most active network of any other state with around 3000 miles of routes used by escaping runaways. 

• Ohio was bordered by 2 slave states: Virginia and Kentucky.

• Ohio also had a large Quaker population, especially in the east and southeast portions of the state. 

Multiple Select

Ohio was bordered by the following slave states:

• Pennsylvania

• Kentucky

• Illinois

• Virginia

• Indiana

Ohio

• Ohio prohibited slavery, but only in the sense that no one could buy or sell slaves within the state.

• Not until 1841 did Ohio enact a law so that any slave brought into the state automatically became free.

• The federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 made it legally obvious that no slave became free simply by entering a free state.

Multiple Choice

Based on information from the previous slide, it can be inferred that even though Ohio was a free state, slaves were not automatically free if they escaped to Ohio.

• True

• False

Quakers

• Quakers were the first religious group in North America to fully condemn slavery as both ethically and religiously wrong in all circumstances. 

• Ohio Quakers seemed to be more directly involved in actually moving escaping slaves on their way north and freedom in particular those fleeing slaves coming from Virginia.

• 
  

Multiple Choice

Based on the information in the previous slide, it can be inferred that Quakers opposed slavery for __________ reasons.

• racist

• philosophical

• economical

• moral

Oberlin

• Oberlin was a key junction on the UGRR with five different routes to safety

• Home of Oberlin College, the first school in the United States to admit females and blacks.

• Oberlin has been referred to as The Town that Started the Civil War.

Cincinnati

• Cincinnati newspapers were filled with advertisements offering rewards for fugitive slaves.

• Toni Morrison’s wrenching novel, Beloved, tells the story, based on historical facts about Margaret Garner, who escaped across the Ohio River from Kentucky, but was captured in Cincinnati, where she killed her infant daughter rather than allow her to be returned to slavery. 

• 
  

Multiple Choice

Based on the information in the previous slide about Margaret Garner, it can be inferred that the setting of Beloved is in:

• Oberlin

• Kentucky

• Cincinnati

• Virginia

Why should you read Beloved?

Watch this video and then answer the question on the next slide.

Poll

After watching the previous video about the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Nobel Peace Prize-winning author, Toni Morrison, how interested are you in reading this book?

• somewhat interested

• interested

• very interested