Cooper H. Wingert

In this slim book, Cooper Wingert focuses attention to the Underground Railroad in the area of South Central PA, just West of the Susquehanna River. The story begins in the early days of Pennsylvania's founding, and continues through the Civil War and ends just after the passing of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The work is well researched, as evidenced by the 20 pages of Notes and Bibliography, but there were problems with the writing that took away from my enjoyment of it.

Having recently read Colson Whitehead's masterful work of historical fiction, THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, I was quite excited to dive into this work that is relevant to my particular location and was written by a local author. When students learn about the North, in terms of slavery, they are given the image that, as soon as a slave crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, he/she was immediately free and embraced by the locals. Unfortunately, truth does not substantiate this claim. In fact, up through the mid-1800's there were still slaveholders in Pennsylvania. As was the case with the plantations in the South, Northern landowners needed cheap labor to clear land, tend crops, and perform other service for a family. What was different about the Northern farms was the treatment of the slaves by their masters, which (according to the research) was constitutionally less violent and oppressive. That's not to say that slaves were treated as equals to the family. Most were made to wear heavy, metal collars and given quarters slightly better than those of animals. Many slaves ran away to more northern areas to attempt to gain freedom.

Much of the reason for the practice of slavery in Southern Pennsylvania, and its gradual phasing out, both are related to religion. Many of the major religious groups in the area did not initially see slavery as an evil, because the slaves were considered valuable possessions rather than human beings. The first religious group to begin to change its views on slaves was the Quakers, although it was a gradual shift in opinion. With the abolitionist sentiment becoming more popular, it became more and more difficult to continue the practice of slavery. The first concession in Pennsylvania was a law that required all slaves, as of the date of ratification, to continue servitude for the remainder of their lives. Children of those slaves were required to serve until age 28, at which time they were free. Children of those slaves were born free...that is, if the slaveholder decided to tell the slaves. Many free African-Americans were denied freedom because they were not aware that the law was in existence.

Even amongst free Blacks, slave-catchers were a constant threat because they could kidnap and sell someone into slavery with little resistance from society. While none of the slave-catchers described in this book were equal to Whitehead's Arnold Ridgeway, there were plenty of harrowing experiences described, from both slave and abolitionist/sympathizer perspectives. In fact, one of the most fascinating parts of this book were the reproductions of actual advertisements for fugitive slaves, from slaveholders. They were very reminiscent of the advertisements found in the pages of THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.

While the information was quite interesting, the writing style of SLAVERY AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD took away from the enjoyment of the reading experience. Many heavily-researched, non-fiction books are written in a dry, matter-of-fact style. I was prepared for that in this work as well, but what I found on the pages was writing that lent itself more toward melodrama. In service of trying to paint a picture with words, the author went to a place of overly grandiose style, which gave the writing a high falutin aire. This diminished the interest that I had in reading the work, even though the topic itself is something I find fascinating. If the author's writing had been more even and sublime, I would have more vastly enjoyed reading his book.… (meer)