The Underground Railroad The United States History

The Underground Railroad is a popular topic in United States history, but many of the stories told about it are more myth than fact. Quilts have been often used as a symbol in children s picture books to further the understanding of one of the darkest periods of United States history: slavery. Parents and teachers have eagerly embraced these illustrated books as a way to understand and teach past turmoil. Many of these books suggest that people who participated in the Underground Railroad used quilts as a means of communication to help slaves safely escape to freedom. The idea of quilts as communication tools has been well-received, and many educators have created wonderful programs, guides, and lesson plans to extend the experience with these books and to further explore United States history; however, what is depicted in these books have been consistently contested by quilt historians and folklorists This essay discusses the myth that secret codes were stitched into quilts to help slaves escape to freedom and why this myth continues today. After the Civil War, an explosion of published information in the form of diaries, letters, and autobiographies like Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written in 1861 by literate slave Harriet Jacobs and William Still’s 1871 The Underground Railroad, detailed the abuses of slavery (â€Å"Harriet A. Jacobs†; Still). In addition, from 1936-1938, the WPA Federal Writers Project conducted thousands of interviews and recorded the firsthandShow MoreRelated The Underground Railroad Essay1451 Words   |  6 PagesThe Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was one of the most remarkable protests against slavery in United States history. It was a fight for personal survival, which many slaves lost in trying to attain their freedom. Slaves fought for their own existence in trying to keep with the traditions of their homeland, their homes in which they were so brutally taken away from. In all of this turmoil however they managed to preserve the customs and traditions of their native land. These slavesRead MoreThe Underground Railroad : The Declaration Of Independence1587 Words   |  7 PagesThe Underground Railroad The Declaration of Independence states all men are created equal, sadly in America that was not true. It was legal in America to own a person. 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