Read Online Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad by Eric Foner - Free Book Online

THE RUNAWAY . A familiar image of a fugitive slave, this “stereotype cut” was produced in New York City for use in reward handbills distributed by owners of runaways, an illustration of the close commercial ties between New York and the antebellum South. ( Anti-Slavery Record , July 1837)
    VIEW OF SOUTH STREET FROM MAIDEN LANE , a watercolor by the English-born artist William James Bennett from around 1827, depicts the bustling docks along the East River in lower Manhattan. New York maintained a flourishing trade with the South, and many fugitive slaves arrived hidden on coastal vessels. McKibbin and Gayley, whose shop is pictured at the right, are identified in the city directory as grocers. (Print Collection, Miria m and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, New York Public Library)
    THE MAYOR AND POLICE OF NORFOLK SEARCHING CAPT. FOUNTAIN’S SCHOONER . This engraving, from William Still’s book The Underground Railroad , depicts an episode in the 1850s. Albert Fountain, who transported numerous slaves to freedom on his vessel City of Richmond , is shown taking an axe to the boards of the deck to convince city officials that no slaves were on board. They departed without discovering twenty-one fugitives hidden below. (William Still, The Underground Railroad )
    THE COLORED STEVEDORE , a pre–Civil War etching of one of the numerous African Americans who worked on New York City’s docks. Many kept a lookout for fugitive slaves and put them in contact with persons who could assist them. (Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectura l Collections, New-York Historical Society)
    A NORTHERN FREEMAN ENSLAVED BY NORTHERN HANDS . This engraving from an abolitionist publication in 1839 depicts the kidnapping of Peter John Lee, a free black resident of Westchester County, who was transported to the South and sold into slavery. Two of the men pictured, Tobias Boudinot, on the left, and Daniel D. Nash, on the right, were part of a Kidnapping Club that preyed on black residents of New York City. Combating kidnapping was a major aim of the New York Vigilance Committee, established in 1835. ( American Anti-Slavery Almanac , 1839)
    THE DISAPPOINTED ABOLITIONISTS . This satirical lithograph from 1838 depicts three New Yorkers actively involved in assisting fugitive slaves in the 1830s. From the left, Isaac T. Hopper, a radical Quaker and longtime abolitionist; David Ruggles, founder of the New York Vigilance Committee; and Barney Corse of the New York Manumission Society. The image was inspired by a lawsuit against the three initiated by a slaveowner, John P. Darg, discussed in chapter three. (Collection of the author)
    THE REV. THEODORE S. WRIGHT , head of the New York Vigilance Committee in the 1840s until his death in 1847. (Randolph Linsly Simpson African-American Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University)
    LEWIS TAPPAN , New York City’s most prominent white abolitionist. A wealthy merchant and the leading spirit of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, Tappan actively assisted fugitive slaves. (Portraits of American Abolitionists, Massachusetts Historical Society)
    CHARLES B. RAY , minister of Bethesda Congregational Church and the leader of the New York State Vigilance Committee in the 1850s. (I. Garland Penn, The Afro-American Press and Its Editors )
    SYDNEY HOWARD GAY , editor of the National Anti-Slavery Standard and chief operative of an underground railroad outpost located at the newspaper’s office. (Portraits of American Abolitionists, Massachusetts Historical Society)
    JOHN JAY II , grandson of the first chief justice of the United States and one of the few New York City lawyers willing to defend accused fugitive slaves in court. (Portraits of American Abolitionists, Massachusetts Historical Society)
    JAMES S. GIBBONS, ABIGAIL HOPPER GIBBONS, AND FAMILY . This photograph from 1854 depicts a Quaker abolitionist couple active in the underground railroad in