The Underground Railroad

It is the middle of the night and clouds cover the moon. This is good because it will help you hide. As quietly as you can, you keep walking north. There are people in the woods hunting for you, and you don't want to be caught. You aren't a criminal. You are a slave who is trying to run north to freedom.


The Underground Railroad was made up of a lot of different people. These people helped slaves escape to the northern states and to Canada. Some of them were white, and some were black.


The Underground Railroad was not underground. And railroads were not used. But it was a good name for the system that helped slaves make their way north. The system worked well. Thousands of slaves were helped north every year. Between 1810 and 1850, about 100,000 slaves used the Underground Railroad to run away.


The system was started in the late 1700s. It kept growing as more people started to dislike slavery. It earned its name around the 1830s. This was about the time that steam engines were making their way across the country. The Underground Railroad used a lot of the same terms that were used by the railroad. Homes where slaves could hide were called stations. A conductor helped to move slaves from one station to another.


Running away was not easy. It was very hard and very dangerous. The first thing the slave had to do was get away from his or her owner. They usually had to do this part by themselves. Sometimes a conductor would come and help lead the slaves north.


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