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Why did the Underground Railroad work?
The people who worked for the Underground Railroad had a passion for justice and drive to end the practice of slavery— a drive so strong that they risked their lives and jeopardized their own freedom to help enslaved people escape from bondage and keep them safe along the route. According to some estimates, between 1810 and 1850, ...
Who is the historian of the Underground Railroad?
A number of prominent historians who have devoted their life’s work to uncover the truths of the Underground Railroad claim that much of the activity was not in fact hidden, but rather, conducted openly and in broad daylight. Eric Foner is one of these historians.
Why did the conductors of the railroad conduct at night?
Due to the danger associated with capture , they conducted much of their activity at night.
What were the places that sheltered the runaways called?
The places that sheltered the runaways were referred to as “stations, ” and the people who hid the enslaved people were called “station masters.”. The fugitives traveling along the routes were called “passengers,” and those who had arrived at the safe houses were called “cargo.”. Contemporary scholarship has shown that most ...
How far did the conductors and passengers travel from safe house to safe house?
The conductors and passengers traveled from safe-house to safe-house, often with 16-19 kilometers (10–20 miles) between each stop. Lanterns in the windows welcomed them and promised safety. Patrols seeking to catch enslaved people were frequently hot on their heels.
Where did the Underground Railroad go?
Underground Railroad routes went north to free states and Canada, to the Caribbean, into United States western territories, and Indian territories. Some freedom seekers (escaped slaves) travelled South into Mexico for their freedom.
Who was the father of the Underground Railroad?
The Railroad was often known as the "freedom train" or "Gospel train", which headed towards "Heaven" or "the Promised Land", i.e., Canada. William Still, sometimes called "The Father of the Underground Railroad", helped hundreds of slaves escape (as many as 60 a month), sometimes hiding them in his Philadelphia home.
What was the name of the state that escaped slavery?
Freedom seekers from Southern plantations in the Deep South, particularly from Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas , escaped slavery and headed for Mexico. At that time, Texas was part of Mexico. The Texas Revolution, initiated in part to legalize slavery, resulted in the formation of the Republic of Texas in 1836.
What was the purpose of the quilts on the Underground Railroad?
Since the 1980s, claims have arisen that quilt designs were used to signal and direct enslaved people to escape routes and assistance.
What river did the fugitives use to cross the boundary between slave states and free states?
Using biblical references, fugitives referred to Canada as the " Promised Land " or "Heaven" and the Ohio River, which marked the boundary between slave states and free states, as the " River Jordan ". Struggle for freedom in a Maryland barn. Wood-engraving from William Still's The Underground Rail Road, p. 50.
How many slaves escaped the Underground Railroad?
It ran north and grew steadily until the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. One estimate suggests that, by 1850, 100,000 enslaved people had escaped via the network.
Who was the writer who escaped slavery?
Frederick Douglass was a writer, statesman, and had escaped slavery. He wrote critically of the attention drawn to the ostensibly secret Underground Railroad in his seminal autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845):
Overview
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. The network was assisted by abolitionists and others sympathetic to the cause of the escapees. The enslaved who risked escape and those who aided t…
Political background
For the enslaved people who "rode" the Underground Railroad, many of them considered Canada their final destination. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 freedom seekers settled in Canada, half of whom came between 1850 and 1860. Others settled in free states in the north. Thousands of court cases for escaped enslaved were recorded between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Under the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, officials from free states were required to assist slavehol…
Routes
Underground Railroad routes went north to free states and Canada, to the Caribbean, into United States western territories, and Indian territories. Some freedom seekers (escaped slaves) travelled South into Mexico for their freedom.
Despite the thoroughfare's name, the escape network was neither literally underground nor a railroad. (The first literal underground railroad did not exist until …
National Underground Railroad Network
Following upon legislation passed in 1990 for the National Park Service to perform a special resource study of the Underground Railroad, in 1997, the 105th Congress introduced and subsequently passed H.R. 1635 – National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998, which President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1998. This act authorized the United States National Park Service to establish the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom progr…
In popular culture
• The Underground Railroad is a 2016 novel by Colson Whitehead. It won the 2016 National Book Award and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
• The Underground Railroad is a 2021 streaming television limited series, based on Whitehead's novel.
• Underground is an American television series that premiered in 2016, on WGN America.
See also
• Angola, Florida
• Ausable Chasm, NY, home of the North Star Underground Railroad Museum
• Bilger's Rocks
• Caroline Quarlls (1824–1892), first known person to escape slavery through Wisconsin's Underground Railroad
Further reading
• Colson Whitehead (2016). The Underground Railroad; winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for this poetical, mythical reflection on the meaning of the Railroad in American history.
• Blackett, R.J.M. (2013). Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
External links
• Underground Railroad Studies
• Underground Railroad Timeline
• Friends of the Underground Railroad
• National Underground Railroad Freedom Center