In Eric Foner’s Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad, Foner discusses the rise, fall, and exploits of the abolitionist movement in the United States. Foner, a famous and renowned historian, is currently the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. Foner wrote this book to explore and dissect newly found information that reveals the hidden history of the abolitionist movement in America Early on, the abolitionist movement in New York City was not very popular. New York City’s economy still greatly depended on the work of slaves in the South, proven by, “New York City’s prosperity…depended on its relations with the slave South” (Foner 44). The emancipation of slaves at this point would have been
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The source that he most heavily relied on was the newly-found manuscript of Sydney Howard Gay, Foner calling it a, “treasure trove of information” (Foner, 2015, p.12). The book also relied on abolitionist newspapers and other journals from that time, many of which ceased production or, “[for fear of persecution] burned their papers in 1850” and forced him to find secondary sources (Foner, 2015, p.10). His secondary sources consist of biographies of people involved in the Railroad and the experiences of former slaves. The sources are used properly, as the book recounts various slave escapes and activities of the Railroad along with the people that helped make it happen, and Gay’s manuscript along with the newspapers provide a plethora of information for Foner to bombard the reader with. Foner’s sentiment that the abolition of slavery was accomplished through congress and ordinary people is supported by fellow historian Tom Calarco in his work Search for the Underground Railroad in Upstate New York. Whereas another historian, Jacqueline Tobin believes that ordinary people were the only abolitionists that brought change in her book Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad. The sources are properly used and are appropriate for a work like …show more content…
The act strengthened abolitionism and revamped the underground railroad in America, with Foner stating, “[the law] reinvigorated and radicalized the underground railroad” (Foner, 2015, p.145). The legislature was not all positive, it struck fear into the hearts of freed slaves across the nation, Foner explaining that, “few could remain in [New York] without running a serious risk of being returned to bondage” (Foner, 2015, p.9). The legislature was largely defied by opposition and eventually became, “impossible to enforce…until its repeal in 1866” (Foner, 2015, p.224). The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 first struck fear into the hearts of freemen in America, but quickly proved ineffective as it galvanized the underground railroad and was eventually
The source that he most heavily relied on was the newly-found manuscript of Sydney Howard Gay, Foner calling it a, “treasure trove of information” (Foner, 2015, p.12). The book also relied on abolitionist newspapers and other journals from that time, many of which ceased production or, “[for fear of persecution] burned their papers in 1850” and forced him to find secondary sources (Foner, 2015, p.10). His secondary sources consist of biographies of people involved in the Railroad and the experiences of former slaves. The sources are used properly, as the book recounts various slave escapes and activities of the Railroad along with the people that helped make it happen, and Gay’s manuscript along with the newspapers provide a plethora of information for Foner to bombard the reader with. Foner’s sentiment that the abolition of slavery was accomplished through congress and ordinary people is supported by fellow historian Tom Calarco in his work Search for the Underground Railroad in Upstate New York. Whereas another historian, Jacqueline Tobin believes that ordinary people were the only abolitionists that brought change in her book Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad. The sources are properly used and are appropriate for a work like …show more content…
The act strengthened abolitionism and revamped the underground railroad in America, with Foner stating, “[the law] reinvigorated and radicalized the underground railroad” (Foner, 2015, p.145). The legislature was not all positive, it struck fear into the hearts of freed slaves across the nation, Foner explaining that, “few could remain in [New York] without running a serious risk of being returned to bondage” (Foner, 2015, p.9). The legislature was largely defied by opposition and eventually became, “impossible to enforce…until its repeal in 1866” (Foner, 2015, p.224). The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 first struck fear into the hearts of freemen in America, but quickly proved ineffective as it galvanized the underground railroad and was eventually