The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was a secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom in the North and Canada in the decades before the Civil War. Despite its name, it was neither underground nor an actual railroad. Instead, abolitionists, free Black people, and formerly enslaved people worked together to provide routes, shelter, food, and other assistance. They used railroad terms as code words: guides were called conductors, safe houses were stations, and people who provided supplies or money were stockholders.

Escaping was dangerous. Many people traveled at night on foot, by boat, or by train, stopping at safe houses along indirect routes to avoid capture. Fugitive slave laws put escapees and those who helped them at risk. Although journeys were especially difficult for families with children, people of different ages and backgrounds sought freedom. Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and returned South to guide others to freedom, and William Still, a free Black abolitionist who helped coordinate escapes, became important figures in the network. The Underground Railroad remains a significant part of African American history and a symbol of the struggle for freedom.