It was a network of people, both whites and free Blacks, who worked together to help runaways from slaveholding states travel to states in the North and to the country of Canada, where slavery was illegal. The Underground Railroad provided hiding places, food, and often transportation for the fugitives who were trying to escape slavery. Photograph by Everett Collection Inc / Alamy, Photograph by North Wind Picture Archives / Alamy. Instead, it was agents operating across the South who endured the notorious late-night arrests, long jail sentences, torture, and sometimes even lynching that made the underground work so dangerous. This is a very nice article Im doing a report about this and it has helped me tremendously. What was the impact of the American Civil War? Learn how your comment data is processed. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Although only a small minority of Northerners participated in the Underground Railroad, its existence did much to arouse Northern sympathy for the lot of the slave in the antebellum period, at the same time convincing many Southerners that the North as a whole would never peaceably allow the institution of slavery to remain unchallenged. How did it increase sectionalism between the North and South? Discovering the Underground Railroad: Junior Ranger Activity Book. That is also why practically none of the Underground Railroad agents in the North experienced arrest, conviction, or physical violence. As the network grew, the railroad metaphor stuck. The railroad was comprised of dozens of secret routes and safe houses originating in the slaveholding states and extending all the way to the Canadian border . Over the next seven years, the . All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. There's a book of stories that was eventually published called Indians of Hungry Hollow. Your writing style has been surprised me. Explain how the meaning of the prefix relates to the meaning of the word below. One of the earliest known people to help fugitive enslaved people was Levi Coffin, a Quaker from North Carolina. This greatly angered and caused fear amongst Southern politicians and slave owners who pushed for federal legislation (such as the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850) to keep people enslaved. It was a clandestine operation that began during colonial times, grew as part of the organized abolitionist movement, and reached a peak between 1830 and 1865. Newsroom| fugitive. Plus, anyone caught helping runaway slaves faced arrest and jail. What was called the Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad, but was instead a loose network of aid and assistance by antislavery sympathizers and freed blacks across the country that may have helped as many as one hundred thousand enslaved persons escape their bondage from before the American Revolution through the Civil War. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. How did the Underground Railroad help slaves? Slaves fled in every direction of the compass, but the metaphor packed its greatest wallop in those communities closest to the nations whistle-stops. National Geographic Education: The Underground Railroad, National Parks Service: Aboard the Underground Railroad, Maryland Public Television: Pathways to FreedomMaryland & the Underground Railroad, Montana (Note that this state does not appear on the map. Excellent pieces. These materials are well developed and very useful. How did the Civil War affect industries in the North? In other words, it was all about states rightsnorthern states rights. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [2] Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave (Boston: Anti-Slavery Office, 1845), 101 (http://www.docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html). What economic effect did southern slavery have on the North? Church members, who were part of a free African American community, helped shelter runaway enslaved people, sometimes using the church's secret, three-foot-by-four-foot trapdoor that led to a crawl space in the floor. As well, I'm reviewing archives, and genealogy records. You cannot download interactives. The most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman, who escaped from slavery in 1849. The Quakers are considered the first organized group to actively help escaped enslaved people. According to some estimates, between 1810 and 1850, the Underground Railroad helped to guide one hundred thousand enslaved people to freedom. The Indigenous connection to the Underground Railroad | CBC Radio Loaded. The places that sheltered the runaways were referred to as stations, and the people who hid the enslaved people were called station masters. The fugitives traveling along the routes were called passengers, and those who had arrived at the safe houses were called cargo.. [3] This level of defiance was not uncommon in the anti-slavery North and soon imperiled both federal statute and national union. And why would they want to compare and inextricably link a wide-ranging effort to support runaway slaves with an organized network of secret railroads? The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. National Geographic Headquarters 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036. The Big Dipper. Eventually, they began to find their way to him. In this case, the metaphor described an array of people connected mainly by their intense desire to help other people escape from slavery. During the mid-1830s, free black residents first in New York and then across other northern cities began organizing vigilant associations to help them guard against kidnappers. Publicity about escapes and open defiance of federal law only spread in the years that followed, especially after the controversial Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Ask: What else do you think made the journey hard? Thanks, Jeff! How did the Transcontinental Railroad affect U.S. commerce? The Underground Railroad was very improvisational, like good jazz. - bloody Kansas -riots across the state during voting document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. How did the Civil War affect Indian Territory? I was looking up the Underground Railroad on Wikipedia and it said in one paragraph: ~Ismary Istroyer tells her story, It were so hard to travel, all by myself. The Underground Railroad was a social movement that started when ordinary people joined together tomake a change in society. They didn't see it fit into the story they wanted to tell. In 1841, Smith purchased an entire family of enslaved people from Kentucky and set them free. The large-scale coordination and collaboration under such dangerous circumstances was a remarkable feat. Thanks, quite great post. Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad. When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook. [4] See the appendix in Stanley W. Campbell, The Slave Catchers: Enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law: 18501860 (New York: W.W. Norton, 1970), 199207. As more and more people secretly offered to help, a freedom movement emerged. The Underground Railroad was perhaps the most dramatic protest against human bondage in United States history. According to the pioneering work of historian Larry Gara, abolitionist newspapers and orators were the ones who first used the term Underground Railroad during the early 1840s, and they did so to taunt slaveholders. Interested students complete a series of activities during their park visit, share their answers with a park ranger, and receive an official Junior Ranger badge or patch and Junior Ranger certificate. noun used as an adjective and circle the noun it modifies. Have students identify slave states and free states during the time of the Underground Railroad. He died in 1860 in Tennessee during a rebellion. How did slavery affect the Battle of the Alamo? [8] Frederick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Hartford, CT: Park Publishing, 1881), 272 (http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglasslife/douglass.html). How did the Underground Railroad affect slavery? How did the Transcontinental Railroad affect westward expansion? The earliest mention of the Underground Railroad came in 1831 when enslaved man Tice Davids escaped from Kentucky into Ohio and his owner blamed an underground railroad for helping Davids to freedom. There, a ranger will go over your answers and then return your booklet along with an official Junior Ranger Badge for your efforts.. You know the old saying: "Winners write the history?" And im glad reading your article. By 1837 Reverend Calvin Fairbank was helping enslaved people escape from Kentucky into Ohio. As the late Congressman John Lewis said, When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. During the era of slavery, the Underground Railroad was a network of routes, places, and people that helped enslaved people in the American South escape to the North. However, historians who study the Railroad struggle to separate truth from myth. All sorts of things. The Underground Railroad (1820 - 1861) Underground Railroad, Fugitives Smuggled During Winter. And the list of accessible Underground Railroad material grows steadily. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Abolitionist John Brown was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, during which time he established the League of Gileadites, devoted to helping fugitive enslaved people get to Canada. No place in America was safe for Black people. Antebellum railroads existed primarily in the Northhome to about 70 percent of the nations 30,000 miles of track by 1860. By reading and analyzing the various Southern secession documents from the winter of 18601861, one will find that nearly all invoke the crisis over fugitives. hope you guys feel good about the underground railroad am an teacher!! There were people from many occupations and income levels, including former enslaved persons. Politicians from Southern slaveholding states did not like that and pressured Congress to pass a new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 that was much harsher. But signalling generally is way overblown in Underground Railroad stories. Thats really weird. Abolitionists, or those who agitated for the immediate destruction of slavery, wanted to publicize, and perhaps even exaggerate, the number of slave escapes and the extent of the network that existed to support those fugitives. National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. A hiding place might be inside a persons attic or basement, a secret part of a barn, the crawl space under the floors in a church, or a hidden compartment in the back of a wagon. How did slaves communicate about the Underground Railroad? The Underground Railroad was the largest anti-slavery freedom movement in North America. Find out how Hoosiers played a role in the Underground Railroad in this article. That kind of barbaric punishment simply did not happen in the North. What was the general effect of the growth of railroads in the United States in the 1850s? How was the railroad industry affected by mass production? Lanterns in the windows welcomed them and promised safety. ), identify slave states and free states during the time of the Underground Railroad, describe the route they would have taken and explain their reasoning, Tech Setup: 1 computer per classroom, Projector. How did the Transcontinental Railroad contribute to economic growth? All rights reserved. Metaphors hardened. No one knows exactly where the term Underground Railroad came from. Her . Slaves were moved from "station" to "station" by abolitionists. Im glad theyve been of use to you in giving Underground Railroad tours. Taught himself how to read as a child before escaping slavery. He started around 1813 when he was 15 years old. In 1826, Levi Coffin, a religious Quaker who opposed slavery, moved to Indiana. Determined to help others, Tubman returned to her former plantation to rescue family members. It developed as a convergence of several different clandestine efforts. They may also be shocked to discover that a federal jury in Philadelphia had acquitted the lead defendant in the Christiana treason trial within about fifteen minutes. Thats why Still interviewed the runaways who came through his station, keeping detailed records of the individuals and families, and hiding his journals until after the Civil War. All rights reserved. How were positions organized on the Underground Railroad? What a great read! Often called agents, these operators used their homes, churches, barns, and schoolhouses as stations. There, fugitives could stop and receive shelter, food, clothing, protection, and money until they were ready to move to the next station. Historian Roy Finkenbine is among those rewriting that history. Smaller communities organized too, but did not necessarily invoke the vigilance label, nor integrate as easily across racial, religious, and gender lines. on your page. Have students shade their own maps. Please be respectful of copyright. Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. There could be no underground railroad until actual railroads became familiar to the American publicin other words, during the 1830s and 1840s. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. e. The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to the mid-19th century. This interview has been edited and condensed. Why do you thinkthis history is so largely unknown? People known as conductors guided the fugitive enslaved people. [7] See secession documents online at The Avalon Project from Yale Law School(http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/csapage.asp). To avoid detection, most runaway enslaved people escaped by themselves or with just a few people. How did the Underground Railroad affect Canada? One way to grasp the Underground Railroad in its full political complexity is to look closely at the rise of abolitionism and the spread of free black vigilance committees during the 1830s. 1. According to some estimates, between 1810 and 1850, the Underground Railroad helped to guide one hundred thousand enslaved people to freedom. Explain the map key to students. What was the Underground Railroad? How was the Otoe tribe affected by the transcontinental railroad? The phrase wasnt something that one person decided to name the system but a term that people started using as more and more fugitives escaped through this network. I'm also reading documents left by formerly enslaved people who wrote about their experiences, and I'm speaking with elders who've heard stories passed down in their families. Back in 1990, Congress instructed the National Park Service to perform a special resource study of the Underground Railroad, its routes and operations in order to preserve and interpret this aspect of United States history. While the railroad had been conceptualized in. People who wanted to end slavery in the us. 1. What effect did the system of sharecropping have on the south after the Civil War? The National Park Service (NPS) has produced a number of exemplary publications about it, with three of them available today from the U.S. Government Bookstore, including the. The Underground Railroad was a system of abolitionists that assisted runaway slaves on their path to freedom. Matthew Pinsker is an associate professor of history and Pohanka Chair in American Civil War History at Dickinson College. Following the study, the National Park Service was mandated by Public Law 105-203 in 1998 (you can read the law on GPOs FDSys site) to commemorate and preserve this history through a new National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program to educate the public about the importance of the Underground Railroad in the eradication of slavery, its relevance in fostering the spirit of racial harmony and national reconciliation, and the evolution of our national civil rights movement.. Here are seven facts about the Underground Railroad. During the 1850s, with the catalysts of territorial expansion and slavery, the sectional conflict became one of the core causes of the American Civil War. Have you heard stories like that? An associate of Tubmans, Still also kept a record of his activities in the Underground Railroad and was able to keep it safely hidden until after the Civil War, when he published them, offering one of the clearest accounts of Underground Railroad activity at the time. Former fugitive Reverend Jermain Loguen, who lived in neighboring Syracuse, helped 1,500 escapees go north. system used by abolitionists between 1800-1865 to help enslaved African Americans escape to free states. Not everyone believed that slavery should be allowed and wanted to aid these fugitives, or runaways, in their escape to freedom. Jeanne Wallace-Weaver, Educational Consultant, adapted from the National Geographic Xpeditions lesson Finding Your Way: The Underground Railroad. Later she started guiding other fugitives from Maryland. Your email address will not be published. Those who most actively assisted slaves to escape by way of the railroad were members of the free black community (including such former slaves as Harriet Tubman), Northern abolitionists, philanthropists, and such church leaders as Quaker Thomas Garrett. In 1844 he partnered with Vermont schoolteacher Delia Webster and was arrested for helping an escaped enslaved woman and her child. In each sentence below underline the Many enslaved and free Blacks fled to Canada to escape the U.S. governments laws. Harriet Tubman was the most famous conductor for the Underground Railroad. Circumstances were constantly changing. Have them highlight the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Fairfields method was to travel in the south posing as a slave trader. Oral tradition is huge among both groups. The Underground Railroad successfully moved enslaved people to freedom despite the laws and people who tried to prevent it. Ask students to look at the map and notice the physical features of the land that made the journey difficult. How did the Transcontinental Railroad affect Native Americans? Another byproduct of the UGRR special resource study was that the National Park Service carried out an analysis of slavery and abolitionism and identified the primary escape routes used on the UGRR. How did Canada help with the Underground Railroad? [6] Jermain Loguen of Syracuse, New York. It also did not run underground, but through homes, barns, churches, and businesses. Contact Us. Established in the early 1800s and aided by people involved in the Abolitionist Movement, the underground railroad helped thousands . More than 100,000 enslaved people escaped bondage with the help of thousands more along the multiple escape routes. Many fled by themselves or in small numbers, often without food, clothes, or money. Contrary to popular belief, Canada was not the only destination for freedom-seeking slavessince some fled to Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean but it was the primary destination as the efforts to catch fugitives increased. In his remarks at the ceremony, President Obama mentioned that he wanted his daughters to see the famous African Americans like Harriet Tubman not as larger-than-life characters, but as inspiration of how ordinary Americans can do extraordinary things.. Thanks for letting us know we were of help, Nolan! Explain the map key to students. Coffin and his wife, Catherine, decided to make their home a station. During the era of slavery, the Underground Railroad was a network of routes, places, and people that helped enslaved people in the American South escape to the North. [1] Larry Gara, The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad (1961; Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1996), 143144. How did the Abolitionist Movement lead to the Civil War? Enslaved Families in Dorchester County Evidently she was a fugitive slave he found on board his ship that he helped escape to Nova Scotia. This law increased the power of Southerners to reclaim their fugitives, and a slave catcher only had to swear an oath that the accused was a runawayeven if the Black person was legally free. In the early 1800s, Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper set up a network in Philadelphia that helped enslaved people on the run. Pingback: Hot Doc: The Underground Railroad Leaves its Tracks in History | Zach's News. Keep posting such kind of info I traveled through 23 swamps, and had nothing to eat, but grass, leaves, and the rare food I would get at a stationers house.~, and then there is nothing else on the whole site about this Ismary Istroyer. He operated out of Washington, D.C., and had previously worked as an abolitionist newspaper editor in Albany, New York. Escaping to freedom was anything but easy for an enslaved person. There was such a glory over everything I felt like I was in heaven. Source: The Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook. Students will identify slave states and free states during the time of the Underground Railroad, explore the challenges of escaping, and choose the route they would have taken.
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