1 of 7

Write now Article Tools

The idea of people leaving signs and signals along an underground railroad to help escaping slaves is an interesting and thought provoking topic. The concept of these freedom quilts comes from the book "Hidden in Plain View" written by two professors: J. Tobin and R. Dobard, PhD. They wrote the book based on a single woman's word; Ozella McDaniel Williams, as she explained that it was an oral tradition that black slave families passed down through the generations, and as she was dying she didn't want the tradition to die with her. There has however been ongoing discussion about whether this is fact or myth, as there appears to be no or little corroborating evidence.

===Background===
It is impossible to understand the freedom quilts unless you understand the background of slavery behind it, and the lives of the people who lived while the underground railroad was running, approximately 1830-1862. The first US Census in 1790 showed that the USA consisted of 3.8 million people including 694,000 slaves. Southern states agreed to join the USA providing they could keep their slaves as they were essential to the economy of Southern America, the Congress agreed because Southern crops were vitally important to their own economy. However here started a boiling pot of political tension.
As the Southern states spread and new areas were opened to slavery the anti-slavery campaigners got louder, and anti-slavery sentiment grew larger in the North at the beginning of the 1800s leading to the Missouri Compromise which established a boundary between the slave states of the south and the free states of the north at the state line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. And the slave population in North America went down dramatically to approximately 27,000.

Not everyone in the North held anti-slavery sentiments, many either didn't care or recognized their importance to the economy, it was not believed that slaves had a chance of being equal. They were seen as children who must be protected even while they were being exploited.

The railroad was opened in 1829, and the term "Underground Railroad" was coined shortly thereafter to refer to the organization of people who helped slaves escape, and it is to this that the freedom quilts idea comes from. Escape from slavery would not be easy, slaves were uneducated, illiterate and often completely unprepared for a long journey. Few took advantage of the Underground Railroad from Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. In fact, of the 4 million slaves

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Black history: How freedom quilts were used as signals and maps along the Underground Railroad?
We want to hear your view. Write now!