Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:32 PM

WCGreen (45,558 posts)

I am watching a show on PBS about the Underground Railroad...

I look at what was happening and I wonder what I would have done, wonder if I would have had the courage to do what thousands of men and women did for people they didn't know...

When the Fugative Slave Law passes, with much help from northern politicians eager to keep the South in the Union, no slave was safe until they were on Canadian soil.

I wonder what I would have done.

Engaging in protest is easy. Putting your life and limb on the line for a cause...

I learned that the Spiritials were all coded and about the Underground Railroad.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, coming for to Carry me home....

The Chariot is the Underground Railroad. The River Jordon was the Ohio River.

It's amazing that the Republican Party here in Ohio was once fighting for freedom for the Slaves and that now, they resort to coded racial slurs in order to garner the votes of those who still view African Americans as inferior to the White race...

11 replies, 1996 views

Thread info Bookmark this thread Trash this thread

Reply to this thread

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

11 replies	Author	Time	Post
I am watching a show on PBS about the Underground Railroad... (Original post)	WCGreen	Feb 2012	OP
I was watching that last night I think. Very good.	ejpoeta	Feb 2012	#1
I loved it also. We always hear about the wonderful Harriet Tubman but Mr. Still was so	monmouth	Feb 2012	#2
A great grand-uncle worked on the underground railroad.	yella_dawg	Feb 2012	#3
Maybe your great grand-uncle knew my great grand-uncle.	Blue_In_AK	Feb 2012	#9
I wonder too how I would have reacted, what I would have done then...	CaliforniaPeggy	Feb 2012	#4
Excellent show.	snacker	Feb 2012	#5
That was my thinking....	WCGreen	Feb 2012	#8
PBS always has some great suff. n/t	Little Star	Feb 2012	#6
I have a Quaker ancestor, Benjamin Lundy, who published antislavery tracts	Blue_In_AK	Feb 2012	#7
Republican Party of that period is not the same party of today.	matmar	Feb 2012	#10
HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!	WillyT	Feb 2012	#11

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:34 PM

ejpoeta (8,933 posts)

1. I was watching that last night I think. Very good.

I never knew 'swing low sweet chariot' was a coded message. Very neat.

Reply to this post

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:38 PM

monmouth (21,078 posts)

2. I loved it also. We always hear about the wonderful Harriet Tubman but Mr. Still was so

important and played an enormous role in the movement. I did not realize Philadelphia played such a role either. One of the best PBS shows I've seen in a while. I also didn't realize about the trek north to Canada. That's why PBS needs to always be funded. Great stuff.

Reply to this post

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:38 PM

yella_dawg (2,860 posts)

3. A great grand-uncle worked on the underground railroad.

His beliefs still resonate in my family so many years later.

My other great grand-uncle fought against the buffalo soldiers in west central Texas.

Go figure.

Reply to this post

Response to yella_dawg (Reply #3)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 09:36 PM

Blue_In_AK (46,436 posts)

9. Maybe your great grand-uncle knew my great grand-uncle.

See my post below.

Reply to this post

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:39 PM

CaliforniaPeggy (141,762 posts)

4. I wonder too how I would have reacted, what I would have done then...

We always hope and believe that we would have done the right, brave thing. But until we're actually there, you can't really know.

I had no idea the Spirituals were coded...what a clever idea. Music has been used to convey messages before. Beethoven's Symphony #5 with its familiar opening (dah dah dah daaaaaah) was the same as Morse Code for victory.

And haven't the parties done a complete about face? I wonder what Lincoln would say now, if he could see what today's Republicans are doing to minorities.

Reply to this post

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:42 PM

snacker (3,602 posts)

5. Excellent show.

It should be shown in every U.S. history class.

Reply to this post

Response to snacker (Reply #5)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:57 PM

WCGreen (45,558 posts)

8. That was my thinking....

It's easy to follow and easy to fall into, if you get my drift, without being maudlin.

Reply to this post

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:46 PM

Little Star (17,055 posts)

6. PBS always has some great suff. n/t

Reply to this post

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 08:54 PM

Blue_In_AK (46,436 posts)

7. I have a Quaker ancestor, Benjamin Lundy, who published antislavery tracts

and newspapers in the early 1800s. My paternal grandmother was a Lundy, and Benjamin would have been an uncle of hers.

http://www2.gol.com/users/quakers/Benjamin_Lundy.htm

Reply to this post

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 10:30 PM

matmar (593 posts)

10. Republican Party of that period is not the same party of today.

Same for the Democrats.

Democrats were a southern racist party. Republican Party was a reform party that later got taken over by big business interests.

When LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act he flipped the south to Republican and the Republican Party became the home for racists as exploited by Nixon (known as the Nixon Strategy) in 1968 election.

Reply to this post

Response to WCGreen (Original post)

Tue Feb 7, 2012, 10:32 PM

WillyT (72,631 posts)

11. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

Reply to this post

General Discussion (Forum)