The Underground Railroad provided the opportunity
for slaves to escape from slavery and to be free. The Underground Railroad
was not underground or a railroad. It was called the Underground Railroad
because of the quick and secret way the runaways were able to escape.
Nobody knows when it started exactly, but over many years, thousands of slaves
were able to escape. The saying "A Underground Railroad" was first
used in about1830 until 1860.
Some whites and free blacks in the south and in the north supplied the runaways
with food, directions, clothing, and places to hide. The runaways knew what
houses they could go into for supplies because they would have a lantern hung
in the front yard.
The most often traveled routes of the Underground Railroad ran through Ohio,
Indiana, and Western Pennsylvania. Large numbers of fugitives followed these
routes and reached Canada.
Some runaways settled in the Northern states but there they could be caught
and returned to slavery. Therefore, many runaways fled to Canada.
A few people became famous for their work with the Underground Railroad. Levi
Coffin, a Quaker (a person in a group that does not believe in telling lies;
they only believe in telling the truth.), who was called the “President
of the Underground Railroad”, helped more than 3,000 slaves escape.
Harriett Tubman was another person who worked for the Underground Railroad.
She was an escaped slave who made nineteen trips on the Underground Railroad
and freed more than 300 slaves.
The Underground Railroad was the route many slaves used to gain their freedom.
For more information click on the following links:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASunderground.htm
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/opugrr.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html
http://education.ucdavis.edu/NEW/STC/lesson/socstud/railroad/Whatis.htm