An organized system of escape for slaves in the United States in the 19th century, the Underground Railroad was neither underground nor an actual railroad. It was an arrangement by which sympathetic Northerners secretly helped slaves from Southern states reach places of safety in the Northern states or in Canada.

Background

The Northern and the Southern states disagreed on the issue of slavery. Between 1774 and 1804 slavery was ended in all of the states north of Maryland. In the Southern states, however, slavery continued to flourish. These states had many huge farms, or plantations, where slaves were used as labor. The Northern states opposed the continuation of slavery in the South.

The Northerners, determined to help the slaves in the Southern states, used even unlawful means to free slaves. One of their methods was the Underground Railroad. Free blacks and antislavery activists, including members of several religious groups, actively helped slaves escape through this system in the decades before the American Civil War. The Quaker leader Thomas Garrett is believed to have helped about 2,700 slaves escape. Some former slaves, such as Harriet Tubman, also led hundreds of other slaves to freedom.

Operation

The Underground Railroad used certain railway terms that became code words in the movement. The different routes used were called “lines” and the stopping places were called “stations.” The people who helped the slaves on the way were called “conductors” and the slaves themselves were called “freight.”

Slaves were helped from one transfer place to another until they reached Canada. Once in Canada the slaves were truly free and could not be brought back to the southern United States as slaves. The Underground Railroad covered 14 Northern states from Maine to Nebraska. Its heaviest activities were concentrated in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, New York, and the New England states.

Influence of the Railroad

Estimates of the number of African Americans who attained freedom through the Underground Railroad vary from 40,000 to 100,000. Although only a small minority of Northerners participated in the Railroad, its existence did much to arouse sympathy against slavery. The Railroad inspired many people. Among them was Harriet Beecher Stowe, who gained firsthand knowledge of runaway slaves through her contact with the Underground Railroad in Cincinnati, Ohio. She used her experiences in writing the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was published in 1852. The book included vivid descriptions of the mistreatment and suffering of slaves. It contributed greatly to the popular feeling against slavery.

At the same time, the presence of the Railroad strengthened the belief of many Southerners that they could never see eye to eye with the Northerners on the issue of slavery. The Railroad's activities came to an end with the beginning of the Civil War in 1861.