Freedom Seekers

Freedom Seekers. . , The enslaved workers passed travel instructions from plantation to plantation by song. They brought from Africa the custom of creating songs that transmit factual information. In America, the enslaved Africans turned song into codes that secretly transmitted information. Follow the Drinking Gound is a coded song of the Underground Railroad that gives the route for an escape from Alabama and Mississippi. Escaping slavery by running away took courage and determination. Runaway slaves used isolation as a defense mechanism., Some escaped and went to nearby towns or made their way to New Orleans where they posed as free persons. Successful runaways who had marketable skills formed new identities. Some found jobs as laborers, masons, mechanics, seamstresses, laundresses, steamboaters, cooks, shoemakers, ironworkers and carpenters. Others formed rural communities in the neighboring swamp, known as maroon communities. These maroons raised their own food and hunted the swamps for alligator, muskrat, fish, fowl, crayfish, crabs, squirrel, rabbit, deer, snake and turtle meat. , Inset Captions. Gordon, running away from his master, raced through the swamps and bayous. After crossing each creek, he rubbed his body freely with onions to foil his scent from the bloodhounds who were chasing him., Follow The Drinking Gourd , Follow the drinking gound , Follow the drinking gourd , For the old man is writing , for to carry you to freedom , If you follow the drinking gourd.