The culmination of scores of interviews with refugees from Southern slave states, this volume by a Boston abolitionist provides a soul-stirring account of the abuses suffered by slaves as well as fresh insights into the workings of the plantation system. A significant work in the abolitionist crusade.

"[This book explores] the impact fugitive slaves had on the politics of the critical decade leading up to the Civil War. Through the close reading of diverse sources ranging from government documents to personal accounts, [the author] traces the decisions of slaves to escape, the actions of those who assisted them, the many ways black communities responded to the capture of fugitive slaves, and how local laws either buttressed or undermined enforcement...

Narratives of five escapes from slavery, each of which was typical in many ways but featured unusual personal characteristics or circumstances that made these trips to freedom extraordinary.

"The events surrounding the Underground Railroad did not look the same to everyone involved. Step back in time and into the shoes of a slave, a slave owner, and a conductor on the railroad as readers act out scenes that took place in the midst of this historic event. Written with simplified, considerate text to help struggling readers, books in this series are made to build confidence as readers engage and read aloud. This book includes a table of...

By following the directions in a song, "The Drinking Gourd," taught them by an old sailor named Peg Leg Joe, runaway slaves journey north along the Underground Railroad to freedom in Canada.

A tale set against a backdrop of slave rights conflicts in the nineteenth-century Chesapeake Bay region finds young runaway Liz Spocott inadvertently inspiring a slave breakout from the attic prison of a notorious slave thief.

August King's life is changed forever when he risks everything to help a beautiful woman on a courageous and very dangerous search for a new life.

Master quilter Sylvia Compson discovers a stash of letters in the attic of Elm Creek Manor and traces a tale back to 1859. An escaped slave, Joanna, spent a brief period at Elm Creek Farm until she was captured and returned to bondage, leaving her son in the care of the Bergstrom family. If Sylvia is to determine the fate of Joanna and her son, she must rely on one important clue-- the meticulous heirloom quilt Joanna stitched and left behind.

Tells the compelling story of William Still, one of the most unheralded individuals of the Underground Railroad, and details the accounts of black abolitionists who had everything at stake as they helped fugitives follow the North Star to Canada.