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Underground Railroad - The Underground Railroad was named unofficially in 1833 when a slave escaped across the Ohio River. The slave's owner said he "must've escaped across on some kind of underground railroad." The Underground Railroad was neither "underground" nor a "railroad," but was a loose network of aid and assistance given to fugitives from bondage. Perhaps as many as one hundred thousand enslaved persons may have escaped in the years between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Because escaping slaves and the people who helped them were technically breaking the law, they had to stay out of sight. They went "underground" in terms of concealing their actions. Sometimes they even hid in unusual places. Ways to Escape from Slavery - There weren't very many ways to travel in the 1800's. You could only walk or catch a ride to the north on a wagon. It was safer to catch a ride, because the bounty hunters and masters wouldn't stop the wagons you were riding in. You could hide in coffins, in boxes, or in sacks and get carried to the north. Some people got covered in sacks to hide from masters or bounty hunters. It was dangerous to travel on foot because bounty hunters were everywhere and stations were sometimes hard to find. Even though it was dangerous, thousands of fugitives made it to Canada both on foot and by catching a ride. Some examples of clever and creative ways slaves found to escape:
Stations and Secret
Hiding Places - Stations were safe houses for runaway slaves to stay
on their journey north. How would you know a house was a station? Some
stations had white bricks on the top of their chimney. Others would place
a lantern outside the house. One station put a flag on a statue when it
was safe. Some people would hide in secret compartments such as cupboards,
trap doors, secret tunnels, and even indoor wells. One man slept under his
friend's floorboard for over a year. In one station of the Underground
Railroad, there were trap doors that led to the attic that was in the side
of the wall. |