The Underground Railroad

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- Map of the Underground Railroad

It wasn't underground and it wasn't a railroad, but the system that helped black slaves escape to freedom was fast and powerful, earning the name Underground Railroad.

Between 1830 and 1860, tens of thousands of slaves fled to the North — many of them to Canada — via the secret system.

Many free blacks were among the church leaders, abolitionists and philanthropists who helped the slaves on their journey.

On this date in 1838, former slave Frederick Douglass began his trip to freedom, when he boarded a northbound train in Baltimore, MD, making his way to New York.

Later, he became a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad.

Quote: "I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger." — Harriet Tubman, of her work with the Underground Railroad

Who were some leaders of the Underground Railroad?

*Harriet Tubman - Escaped slave known as 'Moses' to those that longed for her to bring them to freedom. Her name is entwined with that of the Underground Railroad.

*James Fairfield - A white abolitionist rescued enslaved African Americans by pretending to be a slave trader.

*Thomas Garrett - A Quaker businessman from Wilmington, Delaware who is credited with helping more than 2,700 slaves find freedom.

*William Still - Former slave who purchased his own freedom and then became a leader in the Underground Railroad. He also wrote a book preserving the stories of escaped slaves.

*Frederick Douglass - African-American abolitionist and publisher of the "North Star" newspaper.

*John Parker - Son of a white businessman and a slave, by his own account he helped over 400 slaves to freedom.


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