The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad - Softcover

Gara, Larry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813108640 ISBN 13: 9780813108643

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky, 1996

Synopsis

" The underground railroad―with its mysterious signals, secret depots, abolitionist heroes, and slave-hunting villains―has become part of American mythology. But legend has distorted much of this history. Larry Gara shows how pre-Civil War partisan propanda, postwar remininscences by fame-hungry abolitionists, and oral tradition helped foster the popular belief that a powerful secret organization spirited floods of slaves away from the South. In contrast to much popular belief, however, the slaves themselves had active roles in their own escape. They carried out their runs, receiving aid only after they had reached territory where they still faced return. The Liberty Line puts slaves in their rightful position: the center of their struggle for freedom.

About this title

About the Author

Larry Gara is professor emeritus of history at Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio.

From the Back Cover

The underground railroad - with its mysterious signals, secret depots, abolitionist heroes, and slave-hunting villains - has become part of American mythology. But legend has distorted much of the history of this institution, which Larry Gara carefully investigates in this important study. Gara show how pre-Civil War partisan propaganda, postwar reminiscences by fame-hungry abolitionists, and oral tradition helped foster the popular belief that a powerful secret organization spirited floods of slaves away from the South. In contrast to that legend, the slaves themselves had active roles in their own escapes from slave states. They carried out their runs to the North, receiving aid only after they had reached territory where they still faced return under the Fugitive Slave Law. Thus, The Liberty Line places fugitive slaves in their rightful position: the center of their struggle for freedom.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813108640
• ISBN 13: 9780813108643
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 201