underground railroad

     

The Unerground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century Black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists who aided the fugitives. Other routes led to Mexico or overseas. The Underground Railroad was at its height between 1810 and 1850. One report estimates that up to 100,000 people escaped enslavement via the Underground Railroad., but census figures only account for 6,000.

Trivia about underground railroad

  • Presented near Burlington, N.C., "Pathway To Freedom" tells the story of this historic "transport"
  • A 1998 law authorized the Parks Service to spend $500,000 a year to link sites on this 19th c. escape route
  • Because of its proximity to Canada, Detroit was a major stop on this antislavery network
  • Devout abolitionists, Seward & his wife sheltered fugitive slaves as a part of this network
  • In the 1850s, minister Elizabeth Comstock helped make Rollin, Michigan an active stop on this route
  • 29-year-old slave Harriet Tubman escaped in 1849, went north & became a "conductor" on this
  • Harriet Tubman, who freed over 300 slaves, was 1 of its foremost "conductors"

Found pages about underground railroad

Users that searched for underground railroad

→ View 19 more users