for too long. He also bitterly attacked whites for thinking that
they knew best what was good for the African. He concluded that both
friend and foe shared the same prejudices.

The Underground Railroad was another project which involved large numbers
of whites. Besides providing financial backing for it, they worked as
conductors and station masters. They helped runaways to safety, and they
sheltered escapees. These men wanted to do more than speak out on the
issue of slavery; they wanted to take action. Helping runaway slaves was
against the law, and these men had such strong convictions that, while
they did not think of themselves as criminals, they were willing to
deliberately break the law. They participated in a kind of civil
disobedience. However, the bravest workers on the underground railroad
were black. If they were caught, especially in the South, they would have
to pay the ultimate price for their heroism. The best known of all the
black conductors was a brave runaway slave woman named Harriet Tubman.
She ventured deep into the South on several occasions to lead large
numbers of slaves to freedom, and she became a national legend. Several
states put a price on her head. During the Civil War she served as a
Union spy behind confederate lines.

Gradually the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad won the
support of ever-increasing numbers of white Northerners. At the same
time, the South became increasingly bitter. Abolitionist literature was
banned throughout the South, and most of the abolitionist leaders,
because they had circulated literature in violation of this ban, had a
price put on their heads. The Underground Railroad was more than a
symbolic attack on the institution of slavery. While there is no way of
telling how many slaves traveled to freedom with its help, certainly the
value of human property lost to the South was very high. A slave was
worth about $1,000, and thousands of slaves escaped. The financial loss
was very real. When Southern masters came north to recapture runaway
slaves, Northern consciences were outraged.

Finally, as the new states from the West were being permitted to join the
Union, the question as to whether slavery should be legalized in them
became important. Even Northern white bigots opposed the extension of
slavery into these states. From their point of view, slavery was unfair
competition with free labor, and they wanted the new states for the
purpose of