“Daily Life Along the Underground Railroad” by Cassandra Newby-Alexander, c.2026, Bloomsbury Academic, $75.00, 184 pages
Head down. Keep it covered. Make yourself as small as possible. Say nothing. Do not even sneeze. But when the time is right, be ready to jump, run, zig-zag – crouched and quiet. And never stop.
In “Daily Life Along the Underground Railroad” by historian and college professor Cassandra Newby-Alexander, escaping slavery was unimaginably hard, but enslaved people did it every day for decades.
It was 1853 and Harriet Jacobs was “miserable,” because “the monster who owned her” was sexually abusing her, and his wife was jealous. Jacob’s children “bore too strong a resemblance to him.” The enslaved woman eventually ran away from her slaveholder and wrote a book in 1861 about her experiences. She is credited with becoming the first woman in the U.S. to write a fugitive slave narrative.
Author Newby-Alexander says Jacob’s story “represents the life of many who were victims of slavery yet managed to escape … ”
And those who helped enslaved people also faced danger.
The Underground Railroad, a network of secret escape routes, was supported by many people willing to shelter and shield those on the run. Cooks and stewards, Quakers, stationmasters and the formerly enslaved did their part, knowing that if they were caught, it could mean imprisonment or worse.
Slavery was “big business,” says Newby-Alexander, often more lucrative than the grain and tobacco crops that enslaved people of African descent planted and harvested. So, escaped slaves were considered lost money.
Still, many sought freedom. And the methods of escape varied.
Some formerly enslaved people walked away from their owners, just like that. Some ran in broad daylight or overnight, leaving behind spouses and children, hoping to reunite later. Some made their way to seaports, where Black mariners would ferry them to northern American cities. Others went to Mexico or Canada, or found their way to free black communities, the Great Dismal Swamp near Norfolk, Virginia, Maroon communities or shelter among Indigenous people.
But getting caught was a constant threat. And returning to slavery as a known runaway could mean harsher conditions or death for the individual. And though enslaved people desperately sought freedom, Newby-Alexander notes it was “not a perfect, happy ending … ” when they achieved it.
No doubt, you have heard the legendary story of Harriet Tubman, called “Moses” by her people. But her larger-than-life tale of guiding people to freedom can sometimes overshadow the help that others lent. Because Moses was not the only conductor, according to “Daily Life Along the Underground Railroad,” which brings to readers stirring tales of terror, abuse and righteous despair about stealth conductors and enslaved people who were unknown until now.
Readers may be struck by those who left family behind, often out of necessity, and by the complicated planning an escape required. These true stories, told plainly and with an urgency that still rings over the decades, will captivate you.
If you study Black history, “Daily Life Along the Underground Railroad” is a must-have book you will read again and again for its clear examination of a dark and painful period in our nation’s past.
