His Promised Land book review
The autobiography of John P. Parker, a former slave and "conductor" of the Underground Railroad, could be best described as the life time battle of one man against slavery of the African American people. In his own definition of this great injustice, that sadly effected many lives, Parker describes slavery as a phenomenon that "was the making of a human being as an animal without hope . . . and that slavery's curse was not pain of the body, but pain of the soul"(Parker, p26). This troubled him so much that he devoted his life to make a change. Although he often risked his own life along the way, he not only fought for his own freedom, but for the freedom of other slaves as well. His struggle takes place during the darkest time for blacks, particularly in the southern regions of the United States, and part of the most shameful of American history. Slavery was introduced in 1619 as a response to a shortage of labor in southern plantations. By the 1700s, the height of slavery, enslaved blacks came to outnumber whites in the south almost two to one. Between 1730 and 1760, as a response to a fear of black revolts, laws were passed to establish white control over the status of black slaves, enshrining it into law (Mckay, p895). Econo
As a free man by 1845, he moved to southern Ohio. He started up a business of his own, married, and had several children, three of whom later went on to graduate college. Patenting a number of inventions from his foundry, Parker was one of few African Americans to obtain a United State's patent in the 19th century. However, the true excitement of this account comes from Parker's secret activities as a major member of the abolitionist movement in Ripley, a stronghold of the Underground Railroad in Ripley, Ohio. He followed his trade as an iron master by day while rescuing fugitive slaves by night. People such as Parker supplied most of the needed labor and finances to help the escaped slaves. Also, he describes all of main traps and daring rescues, near escapes and noble sacrifices. Probably best known escape was a struggle of young mother, with her baby in her arms, over the frozen Ohio river. His work on the Underground Railroad flourished and during this activity, he claims to have helped more than four hundred slaves escape across the Ohio River from Kentucky along the busiest segment of the railroad to Canada. Crossing the Ohio River was well known among the slaves as a way to freedom, a way to the "promised land". Parker's account abounds in daring escapes, tragic failures, and astonishing heroics. He also reveals aspects of the Underground Railroad that one never suspects but which seem inevitable after he describes them, such as the competition that developed between John Rankin's Ripley, Ohio branch of the Railroad and Levi Coffin's Cincinnati group. It's also clear from the book, that for Parker rescuing slaves was not merely an anger motivated thing he felt he had to do, but also an activity touched with excitement, even, one might say fun. There was an element of spor
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1208
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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