The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad

by Larry Gara

" The underground railroad―with its mysterious signals, secret depots, abolitionist heroes, and slave-hunting villains―has become part of American mythology. But legend has distorted much of this history. Larry Gara shows how pre-Civil War partisan propanda, postwar remininscences by fame-hungry abolitionists, and oral tradition helped foster the popular belief that a powerful secret organization spirited floods of slaves away from the South. In contrast to much popular belief, however, the slaves themselves had active roles in their own escape. They carried out their runs, receiving aid only after they had reached territory where they still faced return. The Liberty Line puts slaves in their rightful the center of their struggle for freedom.

Genres: History

201 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

Larry Garza was emeritus professor of history at Wilmington College, where he taught from 1962 through 1992.

Reviews

[Lynne Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whether it's the 30 year old dating or the 60 year old dating of this work, it was a tough read for me.

[Marley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite owning the book for years and knowing the author, Larry Gara, from Ohio Academy of History meetings, I didn't read this book until last week. I'm sorry I waited so long. Gara deconstructs the myth of the Underground Railroad (an understandably attractive myth)as more propaganda than fact. At the same time, he discusses the less romantic and less dangerous but much more important work of the abolitionist/anti-slavery movement, especially the role that free blacks and former slaves played. Surprise! Abolition wasn't all about white folks!

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gara overstates the importance of the "straw man" he sets up concerning the organization of the Underground Railroad. My reading of the Underground Railroad is that everyone understood its transient nature and the local nature of it. But, there can be no doubt that its existence, however nebulous, influenced Americans north and south.