The Underground Railroad was formed in the early 19th century and reached its height between 1850 and 1860. It is believed that around 100,000 slaves between 1810 and 1860 escaped using the network. It was not located underground nor was it a railroad. It was symbolically underground as the network’s clandestine activities were secret and illegal so they had to remain “underground” to help fugitive slaves stay out of sight. The majority of the slaves came from the upper south states that bordered free states such as Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland; very few escaped from the Deep South. By the mid-1850s, the term “Underground Railroad” became very familiar.
The term “railroad” was used because the railroad was an emerging system of transportation and its supporters used railroad code to communicate in secret language. Slaves used songs called spirituals to communicate with each other. Homes where fugitives would stay and eat were called “stations” or “depots”. The owner of the house was the “station master” and the “conductor” was the person responsible to move slaves from station to station. Those financing the Underground Railroad by donating money, food, and clothing were called “stockholders”.The Underground Railway was a loosely organized network of connections with no clearly defined routes. Small groups of supporters were organized independently, most knew a few connecting stations but not the entire route. This system kept the secrecy of those involved and lowered the risk of infiltrations. Routes were often indirect to confuse slave catchers. There was no one set route, there were likely many of them. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of houses across the north were used as stations. Fugitives would move from one station to the next at night crossing rivers, swamps, and hiking mountains. Most travelled by foot and hid in barns or out of sight places such as basements and cup boards. Committees were formed in large cities such as Boston, New York and Philadelphia. These committees raised funds to help fugitives settle by temporarily providing shelter and job recommendations.
Harriet Tubman is the most widely recognized symbol of the Underground Railroad. When she escaped on September 17, 1849, Tubman was aided by members of the Underground Railroad. To her, freedom felt empty unless she could share it with the people she loved, so she resolved to go back and rescue friends and family. Harriet was nicknamed “Moses” by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison which was used as an analogy to the biblical story of Moses who attempted to lead the Jews to the Promised Land and free them from slavery.
Over a period of time, Tubman was able to build her own network of connections with friends she trusted and who admired her. During the period of 1849 until 1855, her reputation as the liberator of her people started to build up. She lived in Philadelphia working and saving money to help finance her trips. The more trips she took the more confidence she gained. For 10 years, Tubman returned 19 times liberating around 300 slaves and was proud to have “never lost a passenger”. Tubman’s missions were admired by those who supported the abolition of slavery. Black and white abolitionist provided her with funds to continue her activities. Some sympathizers of the network were black and white abolitionists, free blacks, Native Americans and religious associations such as the Religious Society of Friends also known as Quakers and Congregationalists. The first call for the abolition of slavery in America came in 1688 from the Quakers in Pennsylvania.
Until 1850, living in free states was relatively low risk for fugitives. However, in 1973 and 1850 (later repealed in 1864), Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act which provided for the seizure and return of runaway slaves who escaped from one state into another or into a federal territory. As a result, the Underground Railroad was rerouted to Canada as its final destination. Thousands of slaves settled in newly formed communities in Southern Ontario. Canada offered Black people the freedom to live where they wanted, sit on juries, run for public office and more, and efforts at extradition had largely failed. Some Underground Railroad operators based themselves in Canada and worked to help the arriving fugitives settle in. However, their job became more difficult and riskier. Those who helped slaves were subjected to $1000 fine or 6 months in prison. The Act made it illegal for a person to help a run away, and citizens were obliged under the law to help slave catchers arrest fugitive slaves. Slave catchers were handsomely rewarded, even free African Americans could be sent back south by destroying their free papers. After the war ended, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation liberating slaves in Confederate states and the 13th amendment to the Constitution was approved in 1865 which abolished slavery in the entire United States. The end of slavery was made the need for the Underground Railroad unnecessary.
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