The Underground Railroad

American history · courage · freedom · helpers

Secret network of helpers. The Underground Railroad wasn't actually a railroad, but a system of safe houses and secret routes where brave people helped enslaved folks escape. Abolitionists in the North organized safe places to hide and rest during dangerous journeys to freedom.

Long dangerous journeys. Escaping people traveled north toward free states and Canada where slavery was illegal. The journey could take weeks or months, and they had to move carefully at night to avoid capture.

Grew for almost 100 years. Though some people escaped slavery as early as the 1500s on their own, the organized network started in the 1780s and kept growing. It finally ended in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln declared enslaved people free.

Ordinary people helping. The network included many kinds of helpers, like Quaker families, free Black people, and white abolitionists who believed slavery was wrong. They risked their own safety to help others reach freedom.

Safe houses as stations. Safe houses along the routes were sometimes called stations or stops, borrowing railroad words to describe the secret system. People hid in basements, attics, and barns while waiting to move to the next safe place.