Legend Says His Daring Escape Created The Underground Railroad

enslaved person escaping to the underground railroad
Via visitmaryland
Tremain Prioleau II
January 9, 2025

In 1831, a white enslaver in Kentucky was looking everywhere for a man he considered his property, Tice Davids. But Davids wouldn't be enslaved much longer.

Tice Davids's freedom destination was Ohio, across the Ohio River. His enslaver trailed him in a boat as David swam. He saw Davids scramble ashore but lost sight of him. To his astonishment, Davids had vanished.

Tice Davids's enslaver went home furious and empty-handed. According to folklore, some would say that Davids "must have gone off on an underground railroad." This sentence would become a legend.

We don’t know what became of Tice Davids, but his daring escape is said to have inspired the name of the Underground Railroad.  Although it wasn’t literally a railroad, the image of the Underground Railroad may have inspired many enslaved people to risk their lives for freedom.

Without Tice Davids, there might not have been the legend of the Underground Railroad. Stories like this have power because they can create legends that give others the courage to resist.

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