Hendrick, George & Willene, eds. Fleeing for freedom; stories of the Underground Railroad.HENDRICK, George & Willene, eds. Fleeing for Freedom; stories of the Underground Railroad Underground Railroad, in U.S. history, loosely organized system for helping fugitive slaves escape to Canada or to areas of safety in free states. It was run by local groups of Northern abolitionists, both white and free blacks. , as told by Levi Coffin Levi Coffin (October 28, 1798–September 16, 1877) was an American Quaker, educator, and abolitionist. Coffin was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1821, he wanted to start a school for slaves, but slaveowners refused to allow them to attend. & William Still. Ivan R. Dee. 224p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. c2004. 1-566-63546-2. $14.95. JSA JSA - Japanese Standards Association. Excerpted from the writings of Levi Coffin, a Quaker activist living in Newport, Indiana Newport is a town in Vermillion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 578 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Vermillion CountyGR6. Geography Newport is located at (39. , and of William Still, a free black who headed the Vigilance Committee in antebellum Philadelphia, this book is valuable not only for its contents but also for its introduction and its bibliographical notes. The introduction by the editors summarizes the history of the Underground Railroad itself as a revolutionary activity and surveys its participants and the risks that they ran. The notes contain a rather brief but valuable annotated bibliography An annotated bibliography is a bibliography that gives a summary of the research that has been done. It is still an alphabetical list of research sources. In addition to bibliographic data, an annotated bibliography provides a brief summary or annotation. of the works available in recent editions. Among the stories told are the familiar ones of Ellen and William Craft, Henry "Box" Brown, and Eliza leaping from ice slab to ice slab as she crossed the Ohio. (Harriet Beecher Stowe did not imagine Eliza. She was real.) The value of the work lies in the stories that are less well-known, stories that reveal the day-to-day activities of those who worked on "the liberty line." Levi Coffin was known as "the President of the Underground Railroad." From his Reminiscences, written in 1876, come sober chronicles of runaway slaves and the efforts made to help them. Unadorned and straightforward, the tales are impressive in their manner and their message. William Still is a more fiery writer. From his 1872 The Underground Railroad come more excited but no less documented accounts of slaves who escaped through Philadelphia. Still's occasional use of heavy irony is clear in meaning to the experienced reader, but a younger student might need guidance in handling Still's tone. From Still also comes the account of a confrontation between slave catchers one who attempted to catch and bring back a fugitive slave to his master. See also: Slave and runaways in Cristiana, Pennsylvania in 1851. When one of the slave catchers is killed in the clash, the abolitionists involved are brought to trial, not for murder, but for treason treason, legal term for various acts of disloyalty. The English law, first clearly stated in the Statute of Treasons (1350), originally distinguished high treason from petit (or petty) treason. Petit treason was the murder of one's lawful superior, e.g. ! Detailed transcripts from the trial are included. Recommended as supplementary reading for all American history courses. Pat Moore, Brookline, MA |
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