The Pathway to Freedom The Underground Railroad was not actually a railroad, nor was it underground. The system received its name because its functions had to be carried out in secret using disguise and darkness ("Underground Railroad"). Also, the operation and its members used railway terms to describe how it worked. The term “routes” was lines, stopping places were “stations”, those who guided the slaves were “conductors”, charges in the system were known as “packages” or “freight”, and homes or businesses where they took breaks were called “depots” that were run by “station masters.” The network stretched through fourteen states which included: Kentucky, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
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Some of the more famous contributors are Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett who was a Quaker, John Fairfield from Ohio who was a son of slaveholders, and Levi Coffin who was, again, a Quaker who assisted around three thousand slaves in his time spent in the operation. Probably the most famous of them all, Harriet Tubman had nineteen return trips to the South and helped nearly three hundred slaves escape. The South became angry with the Northern states for their assistance in helping the slaves run to freedom, or what the blacks thought freedom to be. (“The Underground …show more content…
Each slave had to take the first step of escaping their slave holder, which was one of the most difficult strides. In this phase, the runaways had to rely on their own resources. Sometimes, “conductors” would pose as a slave and go into the planation, and then when the moment was right, guide the slaves north. Majority of the time traveling was done during the night where the darkness helped cloak the escape of the fugitives. There was generally ten to twenty or so miles between each stopping “station.” While the escapees spent their time waiting at their point of rest, a message was being sent to the next stopping location to alert its station master. (“The Underground
Some of the more famous contributors are Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett who was a Quaker, John Fairfield from Ohio who was a son of slaveholders, and Levi Coffin who was, again, a Quaker who assisted around three thousand slaves in his time spent in the operation. Probably the most famous of them all, Harriet Tubman had nineteen return trips to the South and helped nearly three hundred slaves escape. The South became angry with the Northern states for their assistance in helping the slaves run to freedom, or what the blacks thought freedom to be. (“The Underground …show more content…
Each slave had to take the first step of escaping their slave holder, which was one of the most difficult strides. In this phase, the runaways had to rely on their own resources. Sometimes, “conductors” would pose as a slave and go into the planation, and then when the moment was right, guide the slaves north. Majority of the time traveling was done during the night where the darkness helped cloak the escape of the fugitives. There was generally ten to twenty or so miles between each stopping “station.” While the escapees spent their time waiting at their point of rest, a message was being sent to the next stopping location to alert its station master. (“The Underground