Can anyone name any obstacles slaves had while escaping?
Obstacles included they had no idea where they were running to. Most had never been off the plantation. Direction was also a problem. Unless the stars were out at night, direction would have been unknown. Territory was also a problem. There could be several plantations right up next to one another…. so, someone running would have run off their own plantation only to run on to another one. Also a plantation far away from others, there was a lot of very dangerous ground to cover. Wild animals. Person couldn’t run during the day for fear of being seen. And they couldn’t see at night where they were going. The Southeast is covered in swamps… from Virginia all the way South through Florida. You very well cannot run in a swamp. Lack of food. No weapons for protection or to hunt animals for food with. And exactly where were they running to? It was fairly impossible for runaways to escape without help. That is why the Underground Railroad was so important.
The greatest danger slaves faced was unsympathetic whites. Other than that, exposure (weather), rivers, and wildlife in that order. Food was not so much an issue since most slaves ran away with some food and they were often resupplied by slaves at other plantations and also at waystations of the underground railroad. Most slaves were capable of walking twenty miles in a day. They were generally fit and motivated to do so. Left alone, they would have found it pleasant. Knowing they could be caught, chained, even hung at any time turned their hike into an ordeal and forced them to take shelter wherever they could find it. Camping out was not smart because of hunters, not animals.
