Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad by Eric Foner (review)

After more than a century and a half, the Underground Railroad is emerging from the shadows of myth, exaggeration, and misinformation. Several recent studies have augmented the scholarly discussion of the Underground Railroad in the decades before the American Civil War. Eric Foner’s Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad is a noteworthy contribution to this scholarship.

Gateway to Freedom is primarily a study of fugitive slaves and the Underground Railroad in New York City, although other parts of the northeastern network of the Underground Railroad are discussed. In addition to chronicling the function and challenges of the Underground Railroad, Foner puts it in the context of the larger abolition movement. He expands the definition of the Underground Railroad by establishing that there was more to it than assisting fugitives in their flight from slavery. Defending fugitive slaves in court, raising money to fund escapes and purchase freedom for some, and advocating political and legal action against slavery were all activities within the Underground Railroad movement. A broader context for Foner’s discussion is the national debate relating to fugitive slaves and its role in the impending secession crisis. Foner adeptly argues that the Underground Railroad figured prominently in the politics of slavery and freedom in antebellum America and that any discussion of the origins of the Civil War must include such resistance and activism of fugitive slaves and abolitionists.

One factor that has frustrated scholars and has been a hindrance to more accurately exposing the nature of the Underground Railroad is a lack of extant records of the activities making up the fugitive slave network. For obvious reasons, many of those actively involved in the illegal actions of assisting and harboring fugitive slaves either did not keep records or destroyed them, leaving scholars with little material with which to reconstruct the workings of the Underground Railroad. An exception is Sydney Howard Gay, editor of the National Anti-Slavery Standard and a key operative in the Underground Railroad for two decades. Gay maintained a record of over two hundred fugitives and the assistance provided to them as they passed through New York City. This document is the foundation on which Foner developed Gateway to Freedom. Foner supplements Gay’s record with William Still’s chronicle of escaped slaves passing through Philadelphia and other accounts of Underground Railroad activity. This combination of previously untapped sources and well-known accounts makes the sometimes shadowy existence of the Underground Railroad more solid.

As Foner explains, a great deal about the Underground Railroad was not underground at all. Some abolitionist groups made little secret of assisting runaways. Their pamphlets, periodicals, and annual reports often openly discussed the assistance given to runaway slaves. Donation parties, bake sales, and other common fund-raisers in northern towns and cities raised money to support their efforts. Some politicians flagrantly ignored their constitutional and legal responsibilities by openly encouraging and assisting Underground Railroad activity.

The Underground Railroad emerges from Foner’s and other recent studies as a system that, at its core, was about groups of individuals and local networks interlocked with each other to help spirit slaves to safety. Foner shows the formal and informal network of operatives and the often winding routes of the path to freedom. Gateway to Freedom portrays an Underground Railroad that was the work not of whites or blacks, but of both working together in an example of biracial cooperation.

Gateway to Freedom is an excellent example of a historical narrative for public consumption. Foner provides vivid details about dozens of stirring escapes and brings readers the story of the Underground Railroad on a human level.