There were also songs that gave directions to slaves that were taught to everyone so that they might memorize the way. One such, was “Follow the Drinking Gourd” The drinking gourd was the slaves? terminology for the big dipper. The Big Dipper?s “handle” points to the north star, which they could use to find their way north. The song gave landmarks along the way to follow and a verse from it says, ” the dead trees will show you the way” (AFRO). This was put in the song for a reason. The writer of this song, referred to as Peg-leg Joe, drew a picture of a peg legg on the dead trees along the track with charcoal. The following verse is “Left foot, peg foot traveling on,” accordingly (AfRO).
The tracks for the railroad weren?t exactly laid. A slave had many possible directions to run in, but the main idea here was safety over quickness. The slaves often zigzagged in their paths to avoid being caught. There were different forms of fleeing as well as different paths. Slaves could travel by water on boats. Often in one of the many clever disguises fabricated by the people of the North willing to lend a hand. Men were dressed as women, women were dressed as men, and slave?s clothes were exchanged for those of a rich free person of color?s to confuse the true identity of the slave when seen by curious eyes. There were also some slaves that traveled the road, by foot, in a carriage, or in a wagon often containing a fake bottom making a tiny space where slaves could safely journey to freedom. Some traveled on “surface lines the actual railroads of this time. Lightly colored slaves were dressed as whites, and others were put in with the luggage and freight. And yet daring others traveled as baggage. Such a person was Henry “Box” Brown who received his nickname by making the long trip in a box marked “this side up,” and “fragile.” There are, however, reports from Henry, after he “reached the end of the line” (AFRO), where he testified being turned upside down and was thrown about, which makes us all wonder what goes on with our mail service.
In the end, slaves had to find a way to blend with the people of the North so that they might live their lives free. Some of the escaped fugitives met up with previously escaped friends and family and formed communities. Others found a haven in the Native Americans with whom they intermarried and reproduced. The civil war began and others found shelter with the Union Army. The slaves soon found out that freedom did not mean freedom from work, but they were happier because they now made their own decisions. Some died from exposure, after not finding shelter from the North?s frozen winter. Most slaves were not allowed to learn to read and remained illiterate. Their not being able to read or understand the fact that they had money of their own often lead cruel salesmen and employers to take advantage of the blacks. Those who learned to do specific jobs in the South often took up similar jobs in the North. The need for the railroad slowly began to decrease, as the fight for abolishment grew stronger. It was no longer necessary for the railroad to be, since almost all the slaves who were going to run already had. The final motion that brought the railroad to its final stop was the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln.
These were three of the main events of the slave trade in the New World. We are all better off now that slavery is abolished. ?We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. (Thomas Jefferson qtd. in Starobin 53). Equal we are, only because these men, women and children gave their lives for us. It was not their choice, but we should all be thankful.