Gateway to freedom : the hidden history of the Underground Railroad
(Large Type)
Author
Published
Waterville, Maine : Thorndike Press, ©2015.
Appears on list
Status
Central - Adult Large Type
LT 973.7115 FONER
1 available
LT 973.7115 FONER
1 available
Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Central - Adult Large Type | LT 973.7115 FONER | Available |
Description
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More Details
Published
Waterville, Maine : Thorndike Press, ©2015.
Format
Large Type
Physical Desc
495 pages (large print) : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Language
English
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 399-491).
Description
A deeply entrenched institution, slavery lived on legally and commercially even in the northern states that had abolished it after the American Revolution. Slaves could be found in the streets of New York well after abolition, traveling with owners doing business with the city's major banks, merchants, and manufacturers. New York was also home to the North's largest free black community, making it a magnet for fugitive slaves seeking refuge. Slave catchers and gangs of kidnappers roamed the city, seizing free blacks, often children, and sending them south to slavery. To protect fugitives and fight kidnappings, the city's free blacks worked with white abolitionists to organize the New York Vigilance Committee in 1835. In the 1840s, vigilance committees proliferated throughout the North and began collaborating to dispatch fugitive slaves from the upper South, Washington, and Baltimore, through Philadelphia and New York, to Albany, Syracuse, and Canada. These networks of antislavery resistance, centered on New York City, became known as the underground railroad. Forced to operate in secrecy by hostile laws, courts, and politicians, the city's underground-railroad agents helped more than 3,000 fugitive slaves reach freedom between 1830 and 1860. Foner presents fresh information -- including a detailed record of slave escapes secretly kept by Sydney Howard Gay, one of the key organizers in New York. It eventually took a civil war to destroy American slavery, but here is the story of the courageous effort to fight slavery by "practical abolition," person by person, family by family.
Subjects
LC Subjects
Abolitionists -- New York (State) -- New York.
Antislavery movements -- New York (State) -- New York -- History.
Antislavery movements -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Fugitive slaves -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Gay, Sydney Howard, -- 1814-1888.
Large type books.
New York Committee of Vigilance -- History.
Underground Railroad.
Antislavery movements -- New York (State) -- New York -- History.
Antislavery movements -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Fugitive slaves -- United States -- History -- 19th century.
Gay, Sydney Howard, -- 1814-1888.
Large type books.
New York Committee of Vigilance -- History.
Underground Railroad.
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Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Foner, E. (2015). Gateway to freedom: the hidden history of the Underground Railroad . Thorndike Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Foner, Eric, 1943-. 2015. Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. Thorndike Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Foner, Eric, 1943-. Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad Thorndike Press, 2015.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Foner, Eric. Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad Thorndike Press, 2015.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.
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