News Spike: Rogue One : Go Down, Moses

Thursday, 19 January 2017

Rogue One : Go Down, Moses

"You'll be Free, or Die!"

- Harriet "Moses" Tubman

"Sistah knew enough to hurt the ones who got Cold Feet and tried to give themselves up and risk giving away the rest of the group...."

- Bro. Steve Cokely

Go down, Moses

’Way down in Egypt land,

Tell ole Pharaoh,

To let my people go.

When Israel was in Egypt’s land;

Let my people go,

Oppressed so hard they could not stand,

Let my people go.

“Thus spoke the Lord,” bold Moses said;

Let my people go,

If not I’ll smite your first born dead,

Let my people go.

Harriet Tubman Leading The Way

Tubman returned to the Eastern Shore again and again throughout the 1850s. She devised clever techniques that helped make sure her trips were successful, including using a master's horse and buggy for the first leg of the journey; leaving on a Saturday night, since runaway notices could not be placed in newspapers until Monday morning; turning about and heading south if she encountered possible slave hunters; and carrying a drug to silence a baby if its crying might put the fugitives in danger.

In 1850 the dynamics of escaping slavery changed with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, which stated that escaped slaves could be captured in the North and returned to slavery in the South, leading to the abduction of former slaves and free blacks living in Free States. Law enforcement officials in the North were compelled to aid in the capture of slaves, regardless of their personal principles.

In response to the law, Tubman re-routed the Underground Railroad to Canada, which prohibited slavery. She began relocating fugitives and members of her own family to St. Catharines, Ontario. While there she worked at various jobs and saved her earnings to finance her activities as a Conductor. North Street in St. Catharines remained her base of operations until 1857.

our nation's largest monument to the Underground Railroad

Image: This 28-foot long, 14-foot high bronze statue depicts Harriet Tubman (right) and local conductors Erastus and Sarah Hussey as they lead a group of runaway slaves to safety. Near the Kellogg House in downtown Battle Creek, Michigan, it was designed by sculptor Ed Dwight.

Tubman soon became a legendary conductor on the Underground Railroad. She worked by night in secret, silence and stealth, navigating by the North Star and the light of the moon. She let it be known she carried a gun for protection, but she also used it to threaten the runaways if they became too tired or decided to turn back, telling them, "You'll be free or die a slave." She knew that if anyone turned back, it would put her and the others in danger of discovery, capture or death.

By 1856, a $40,000 reward was offered for her capture. On one occasion, she overheard some men reading her wanted poster, which stated that she was illiterate. She promptly grabbed a newspaper and pretended to read it. The ploy worked. The slave catchers never caught her, their most wanted fugitive.

Underground Railroad Secret Codes

Supporters of the Underground Railroad used words railroad conductors employed everyday to create their own code as secret language in order to help slaves escape.

Railroad language was chosen because the railroad was an emerging form of transportation and its communication language was not widespread.

Code words would be used in letters to “agents” so that if they were intercepted they could not be caught. Underground Railroad code was also used in songs sung by slaves to communicate among each other without their masters being aware.

These are the most commonly used code words and their meanings:

Agent

Coordinator, who plotted courses of escape and made contacts.

Baggage

Fugitive slaves carried by Underground Railroad workers.

Bundles of wood

Fugitives that were expected.

Canaan

Canada

Conductor

Person who directly transported slaves

Drinking Gourd

Big Dipper and the North Star

Flying bondsmen

The number of escaping slaves

Forwarding

Taking slaves from station to station

Freedom train

The Underground Railroad

French leave

Sudden departure

Gospel train

The Underground Railroad

Heaven

Canada, freedom

Stockholder

Those who donated money, food, clothing.

Load of potatoes

Escaping slaves hidden under farm produce in a wagon

Moses

Harriet Tubman

Operator

Person who helped freedom seekers as a conductor or agent

Parcel

Fugitives that were expected

Patter roller

Bounty hunter hired to capture slaves

Preachers

Leaders of and spokespersons for the Underground Railroad

Promised Land

Canada

River Jordan

Ohio River

Shepherds

People who encouraged slaves to escape and escorted them

Station

Place of safety and temporary refuge, a safe house

Station master

Keeper or owner of a safe house

Songs of the Underground Railroad

Songs were used in everyday life by African slaves. Singing was tradition brought from Africa by the first slaves; sometimes their songs are called spirituals. Singing served many purposes such as providing repetitive rhythm for repetitive manual work, inspiration and motivation. Singing was also use to express their values and solidarity with each other and during celebrations. Songs were used as tools to remember and communicate since the majority of slaves could not read.

Harriet Tubman and other slaves used songs as a strategy to communicate with slaves in their struggle for freedom. Coded songs contained words giving directions on how to escape also known as signal songs or where to meet known as map songs.

Songs used Biblical references and analogies of Biblical people, places and stories, comparing them to their own history of slavery. For example, “being bound for the land of Canaan” for a white person could mean ready to die and go to heaven; but to a slave it meant ready to go to Canada.

These are the lyrics of some songs that have been passed along for generations.

In Wade in the Water

Tubman used “Wade in the Water” to tell slaves to get into the water to avoid being seen and make it through. This is an example of a map song, where directions are coded into the lyrics.

These are the lyrics to “Wade in the Water”

Chorus: Wade in the Water, wade in the water children.

Wade in the Water. God’s gonna trouble the water.

Who are those children all dressed in Red?