What was the Underground railroad? When I was a kid I had always thought they were well Underground Railroads. Now, it sounds pretty ridiculous but I was a young and didn’t know better. However I now know that they actually weren’t underground railroads at all. They are basically a network of safe houses and people who contributed to the escape of slaves to the north colonies or to Canada. The numbers of escapees a year where small, only about 1000 slaves a year, but over the years it would add up to about 100,000 freed slaves by using this system. Slavery has been legal since before the United States of America was founded. At first, slavery was less common than a man paying off his debt from the trip to the new world though being a servant.
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They would stop at “station” or safe house and they would rest and hideout until they were safe to go. They traveled from safe house to safe house until reaching the destination. These houses were ran and owned by “station masters”. The railroad also had to be very secretive thus getting the name “underground”. There were several codes the involved used to keep the railroad as secretive as possible. The slaves were known as cargo or passengers.
The most famous people involved with the Underground Railroad were Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Levi Coffin and John Fairfield. Harriet Tubman was an American Bondwoman who escaped slavery and because a leading abolitionist before the American Civil war. She is from Maryland and successfully escaped in 1849. She is also the famous conductor ever involved with the Underground Railroad. She returned bravely to Maryland several times to rescue Family member and hundreds of other slaves and led them to freedom. She gained the nickname “Moses” for her leadership. After the Fugitive Slave law passed she was forced to reroute the Underground Railroad to Canada. She guided 11 fugitive slaves to Canada and stopped at the home of the next person on the list
They would stop at “station” or safe house and they would rest and hideout until they were safe to go. They traveled from safe house to safe house until reaching the destination. These houses were ran and owned by “station masters”. The railroad also had to be very secretive thus getting the name “underground”. There were several codes the involved used to keep the railroad as secretive as possible. The slaves were known as cargo or passengers.
The most famous people involved with the Underground Railroad were Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Levi Coffin and John Fairfield. Harriet Tubman was an American Bondwoman who escaped slavery and because a leading abolitionist before the American Civil war. She is from Maryland and successfully escaped in 1849. She is also the famous conductor ever involved with the Underground Railroad. She returned bravely to Maryland several times to rescue Family member and hundreds of other slaves and led them to freedom. She gained the nickname “Moses” for her leadership. After the Fugitive Slave law passed she was forced to reroute the Underground Railroad to Canada. She guided 11 fugitive slaves to Canada and stopped at the home of the next person on the list