Bella Valinoti

Ms. Mcduffee

C Block

Slave Narratives of the Underground Railroad

In the 1850s slavery was a huge problem, everyone had them and

many people mistreated them. Many African Americans were unable to

receive an education, worked long overwhelming hours, were treated

horrendously. Many of the women who were put into slavery were raped by

their owners and had children with them who were forced to work for them.

Many of the men and women were treated cruelly by being whipped and

punished in that way. In the novel the Slave Narratives of the Underground

Railroad It opens your eyes to the harsh lifestyle that they lived and what

they had to go through. This novel is an impactful portrayal of American

slavery.

Each individual story gave an inside look and new perspective to what

slavery was like. One story told us about how he was so desperate to leave

his owners that he shipped himself in a box trying to get away to Canada.

Many people left or lost their families while on the escape from them. While

listening to other people discuss their books I found many similarities to the

Slave Narratives of the Underground Railroad. It was really eye opening to

read it allowed for the readers to learn more about the slavery and how

torturous it was. The desperateness to escape the life they were living while
working for their owners. It drove them to do crazy things to avoid the life of

slavery and prevent their children from living it.

John Henry was a very interesting story; it had talked about how he

was on the escape with a group of people traveling in Virginia on the hunt for

a new lifestyle. He had been the only educated one there and knew how to

read and write, so he offered the people he was traveling with to mail letters

to family and friends to try and reach out and find them. John Henry joined

working on the railroad he had died while creating the railroad by exploded

and many men working on the rail road had died in the process. But John

Henry had been one of the few who was able to read and write this showed

the lack of education and opportunity these people didnt have access to.

This shows how little opportunity they had.

Margret was a quiet slave girl that kept to herself she started out

working in the house and then was kicked out to the plantation because they

believed she could handle it because of her build. She got married and had

a child and everything changed for her once she had her child she had made

the choice to runaway so her child didnt have to be raised as a slave. This

shows how desperate everyone had been to get away. This story showed the

measures that were to save their children. Margret didnt want this lifestyle

for her child, in this quote it shows how determined she was not to let her

child to have to become a slave as well. As soon as she heard its feeble,

wailing cry, she made a vow to deliver her boy from the cruel power of

slavery or die in attempt, and falling prostate, she prayed for strength to
preform her vow, and grace and patience to sustain her in her suffering, toil

and hunger; then pressing her child to her bosom, she fled with all the speed

which she was capable toward the North Star.(Rudisel and Blaisdell 167)

This shows that she had been so desperate not to let her son to have to live

the life she had been living for so long that she was willing to run away and

risk everything. This really showed the readers the desperateness of the

situation and how she would risk everything to save her child.

The Slave Narratives of the Underground Railroad was a great example

of the desperation in the slaves to escape their current lives. It was an eye

opener and really shed some new perspective on what they had to go

through. They had to endure so much pain and sorrow through their lives.

The pain of work and abuse they experienced was overwhelming. The Slave

Narratives of the Underground Railroad had and impactful effect on the

reader showing the hardship they had to go through.

1. What did you hope to accomplish with this writing?

I hoped to show the hardship of slavery and how the book was impactful and showed me a
new prespective.

2. What do you think you did well in this writing?

I think that my facts are good and that my overall essay expresses my thoughts on the
situation.

3. What are areas of weakness in this essay?

I feel as though I mightve had a hard time getting my thoughts out in an understandable way
but the facts were good.

4. After the peer review and self revision, what are changes that you made?
I had not received peer feedback on this essay.

5. What would you specifically like me to look for in this essay?

I think that I had improved on not just throwing my quote into the middle of the essay and
that it flows well. I also thought my conclusion has been a good summary of what I was
trying to express.