Black history on track

THE horrific story of the enslavement of millions of black people in American in the nineteenth century has long been a part of the education of British students, whether they are studying history, English literature or politics. It is a grim tale of imprisonment, murder and mutilation which has lost none of its power to shock, even more than century after abolitionists claimed victory.

What is less known, however, is the small part played by one Yorkshire city in the life of one of the icons of the freedom movement. For it was to Leeds that Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave, fled in the 1840s. A campaigner, advisor to Abraham Lincoln and publisher of the North Star newspaper, he lived in England between 1845 and 1847, where he said he was treated “not as a color, but as a man”. He also lectured here and raised funds to fight slavery. Although he spent most of his remaining years arguing the case for emancipation in America, his lifelong struggle brought him back to Yorkshire several times, such as in 1859 when he gave a talk to Halifax Ladies’ Anti-slavery Society.

Now Douglass features at the heart of a new trip organised by New York State Tourism, in which visitors can see the sights, tread the land and read the speeches which testify to the fight carried out by black and white, men and women, rich and poor, to show that every person was created equal.

The underground railroad tour, which runs through New York State, is no ordinary holiday – in fact it is doubtful whether it could even be called a holiday. Taking in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Auburn, the Hudson Valley, Madison County and the Big Apple itself, it is a history lesson and a road trip. Indeed, given our trip to the try to the local brews at Albany Pump Station, the vintages and upmarket dining of the Finger Lakes and, it can also be a tour for wine-lovers and gastronomes and a chance to take in some of the most impressive natural scenery in the East of the US.

Douglass, who lived from 1818 to 1895, is today best known for his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. He made his escape from his Baltimore captors in 1838 by impersonating a sailor.

It was in Britain that Douglass produced some of his most stirring letters, such as in January 1846 when, surprised by the relative lack of prejudice he encountered here, he wrote: “Instead of the bright blue sky of America, I am covered with the soft gray fog of the Emerald Isle. I breathe and lo! The chattel becomes a man.”

It was not just him, however, but figures like Harriet Tubman, a former slave, abolitionist and Union spy, and campaigners like Susan B Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Gerrit Smith, who all played a part in the underground railroad or abolitionism more broadly.

There were no trains on the railroad. Rather, it refers to the network of secret routes and safehouses, such as Michigan Street Baptist Church in Buffalo, used by escaped slaves to reach either the free parts of the North or to Canada – known as Canaan or the “promised land” – which could be reached by crossing a short bridge over Lake Erie.

Our trip involved a journey of some 520 miles from Niagara Falls in the West to Albany and New York City in the East, although travellers can sign up for the full railroad package or meander through New York State at their leisure.

Our tour began in Buffalo on Sunday September 11. As Americans marked 10 years since the terrorist attacks, we stopped to watch some of the commemorations at the harbour and to remember the lives lost, before beginning a long journey that took in pain and suffering but also some sense of hope.

For escaping slaves in the nineteenth century Buffalo, an economic powerhouse, was a city of great significance. It was from here that so many fearful men and women, often terribly weakened by years of mistreatment and an arduous journey from the slave-holding South, could take the final step to freedom by passing over Lake Ontario to Canada.

Visitors have the option to make it up to the suspension bridge crossing, used by Harriet Tubman to claim her freedom in 1849, but for me the most spectacular experience of the day and the trip was the entry into Niagra Falls.

The waterfall was formed when the last of the glaciers receded in 11,000 BC. During the last 500 years it has been inhabited by indigenous tribes, the French, the British and Americans and in 1846 the first Maid of the Mist sailed through the water.

The vessel has been chugging through the water ever since and the modern day incarnation brought us within soaking distance of the waterfall.

The next day history was brought to life in a more literal form. Drama troupe Akwaaba presented the stories of some of those who ran to freedom on the underground railroad. The performance centred on Rochester, the home of Douglass.

Perhaps the most compelling part of the narrative was the visit to Douglass’ graveside at Mount Hope Cemetery and the sight, nearby, of the Douglass Bronze, the first US statue in honour of a black man. Standing on a high plinth, with arms out and palms upraised, it captures the man as we imagine him: making his case with the blend of reason and passion that became his trademark.

Of course, there are many other heroes of this time in American history. Tubman, who was beaten from the age of six, escaped and then risked her life to return an estimated 19 times to help free 300 more slaves. For me, however, the historical significance of Douglass, his rhetorical force and dignity, meant his story was almost unparalleled.

As we travelled round New York State, from the glorious indulgence of the New York Wine and Culinary Centre at Canandaigua to a series of spectacular lakeside inns and restaurants and the renowned beer of Albany’s Pump Station, we never felt too far from his influence.

Today, his life has lost none of its power, nor of its relevance. Slavery remains a “widespread and deeply rooted component of human life”, according to the United Nations, from human trafficking to child labour.

Find out more about the Underground Railroad Tour from New York State Tourism at www.iloveny.com and from Arena Travel at www.arenatravel.com