![]() acquired Florida from Spain in 1819, hundreds of maroons fled to Andros Island in the Bahamas. And because the population was mainly Black, it was easy for fugitive slaves to assimilate into a diverse community of native Bahamians, made up of Bahamian descendants of African slaves, Africans and maroons, also called "Black Seminoles," who were runaways from the deep South and Gulf coast who sought refuge with the Seminole Indians in Florida.īetween 18, in the early years after the U.S. Free Blacks in the British Bahamas could get married, own land and pursue an education – basic human rights that were inconceivable for enslaved human beings in the antebellum South. Secondly, most of its inhabitants were Black, making it possible for resistance movements on the islands to take hold. And in 1834, slavery was abolished in all British territories, including the Bahamas. For one, in 1825 the British government decreed that anyone who relocated to British territory was free, regardless of their prior status. ![]() Situated 150 miles (241 kilometers) off the coast of Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida, the Bahamas were a viable destination for several reasons. Once out to sea, under cover of night, they faced unimaginable unknowns: unpredictable weather and storms, recapture by slave hunters, assault by pirates, and unfathomably deep, dark waters. "An underground from Georgia and Alabama, maybe South Carolina too, extended into Spanish Florida," says George.įrom there, some paid for their passage on Bahamian vessels, while others made their way across the perilous Atlantic in dugout canoes and small boats. Fugitives from Southern slave states sought refuge on South Florida's beaches. which might be havens for fugitive slaves," says George.īelieved to have operated between 18, the Saltwater Underground Railroad refers to the coastal escape route followed by fugitive slaves into the British-controlled Bahamas. ![]() "The Saltwater Underground Railroad headed south into Spanish Florida - a region which was really off the grid and close to other areas outside of the U.S. In the early 1800s, enslaved Black people in Florida and other regions of the deep South were hundreds of miles from border states like Maryland and Kentucky and thousands of miles away from the "promised land" of British Canada, making their options and odds for a successful escape close to zero. Paul George, resident historian at HistoryMiami Museum, in an email interview. "There is a Southern Underground Railroad that is little known, not just to the average American, but also to many students of U.S. The cemetery with over 100 graves is used for ongoing research, along with Pope County tax records and other legal documents.But did you know there was a Southern version of the Underground Railroad as well? However, natural landmarks on the national forest - Ox-Lot, Sand Cave, Crow Knob, Brasher Cave, and Fat Man’s Squeeze - remain as markers of the former community and its Underground Railroad activity. Today, there is little left of Miller Grove. Community members of Miller Grove and surrounding towns served as “conductors” and helped runaways make the terrifying escape to freedom. Often free communities like Miller Grove became part of the Underground Railroad. The free people of Miller Grove built schools and churches among their homes and carved out a new life. After they gained their freedom, four families settled the Miller Grove area, some traveling alongside their former masters and their families. ![]() The pioneers of Miller Grove originated primarily from Tennessee. Here, a free Black community found a home in Miller Grove. Although many continued north, the region of the Shawnee National Forest that lies mostly in Pope County appears to have been a vital point in the Underground Railroad. To avoid detection, escapees avoided cities and took to the forests and rural routes to reach freedom, some travelling through what is now Shawnee National Forest. Despite its Free State status, there was still hostility toward African Americans in the region, making it dangerous territory for freedom seekers and abolitionists. Those escaping the slave state of Kentucky likely followed a route northwest by crossing the Ohio River into southern Illinois. The Underground Railroad was a vast but secret network of travel routes and safe havens to help fugitives escape slavery, most heavily travelled between 18. ![]()
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