Runaway Slaves

Slave catchers were essential to slave owners because they provided them with a greater opportunity to recover their slaves, before runaways were advertised in newspapers where owners offered rewards for their return, but slaves managed to slip under the radar, avoid people, and escape. However, with the introduction of, “negro dogs” there was almost a one hundred percent chance of catching them. The dogs used by slave catchers, “were given the scent of a black man or woman’s shoe or article of clothing and taught to follow the scent.” To train the dogs to use this scent to locate the runaway, “slaves were sent out as trainees, and when the dog treed them, they were given meat as a reward. ‘Afterwards they learn to follow any particular negro …show more content…
The capture of runaway slaves was viewed sometimes as a sporting event because there were individuals who specialized in capturing runaway slaves who identified as “negro catchers” it was basically a race against time, the person who found the slave first received the reward .The job of slave catchers was especially popular because runaways damaged the image of slavery presented by whites to the outside world because masters were supposed to be authoritative and have a strong hold on their slaves, they also had to scare slaves to ensure they would not run away. Masters stood on a fine line between disciplining runaways and trying to guard them against death because slaves were there “investments” therefore if one died or was badly injured the money they payed to acquire that slave would go to …show more content…
The Underground Railroad was a network of escape routes “thousands of fugitive slaves escaped from the South and traveled north to reach freedom in Canada and the northern United States.” The Underground Railroad was made up of two parts, “the Southern railroad helped slaves escape and move north. Once the fugitives had crossed the Mason-Dixon Line and the rivers that served as boundaries between slave and free states, the Northern railroad network began its work to keep the fugitives from being captured and returned to their owners in the slave states.” Along the Underground Railroad there were stations, safe places, where runaways were provided food, clothing, and protection. The stations were usually located places such as, “homes, barns, churches, and cellars, and well-concealed secret rooms, attics, and crawlspaces within those buildings.” At every station there was a station master responsible for transporting the fugitive to the next station. to reach the north those escaping used the Big Dipper and North Star as a navigation guide. One of the most important stations was the John Rankin home that was located in Ripley Ohio at this location Harriet Beecher Stowe listened to a slaves story from which she composed Uncle Tom’s cabin, a book that increased the sectionalism between the north and