Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad, last updated 5/10/98
Related historical timeline created with Timeliner (Nobles grad, Tom Snyder)
The Underground Railroad was a name given to the network of people who helped runaway slaves arrive safely to their freedom during the mid 1800s. The "railroad" existed as a system running secretly throughout the South with final destinations in the free North. Tens of thousands of slaves ran away even though their chances of making it to the North or Canada were slim. This system continued to grow throughout the 1830s as abolitionist voices were heard more and more, and Northerners became strongly opposed to the South's "peculiar institution." The most operative "railroad" workers were generally free blacks in the north who had escaped themselves. "In Baltimore, it was a free African-American sailor who lent his identification to [a fellow slave]. He disguised himself, used the papers to escape to New York, and then mailed the papers back to the sailor. Such acts were common, despite the consequences...if the fugitive was unable to return the papers or was captured." (America's History, p. 384) Harriet Tubman, the most famous person involved with the underground railroad, helped hundreds of slaves escape and risked her own life in returning to the south nineteen times. Unfortunately many slaves were caught before they made it to freedom, but the Underground Railroad served as a risky but satisfying alternative to slaves who needed a way out of bondage.
-Joanna Aven, student at Noble and Greenough
-history teacher-Mr. Allard
-sources-The Readers Companion to American History, America's History by Henretta Brownley Brody Ware
Underground Railroad links
Underground Railroad Pictures
