The Underground Railroad

How free men help the enslaved

What is it?

The Underground Railroad is a system of houses and hiding places for enslaved blacks and Indians to travel to get to the northern states where they will act as free men and women. This system relies upon a secret organization of men and women, that help the enslaved hide from their owners and anyone that would have the slaves returned back to them.

What the whole system looked like:

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Things to know:

Some southerners would come up north and chase their slaves into Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and would eventually find their slaves and have them returned. Some of the enslaved didnt even make it past the front porch, and some still would even be killed before they had been at the grasp of freedom. On the other hand, some slave owners wouldnt even notice that the slaves were gone because they owned so many for the disappeared population to even effect the land owner's income and wealth.

Harriet Tubman

was a free black woman that had worked the underground railroad, making 19 trips to the south to save over 300 slaves. She was one of many in a long hidden trail of men and women to help free the slaves, a trail so long it was like a railroad, hence the nickname, 'Underground Railroad'