Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad was a clandestine network of people, routes, and safe houses that helped enslaved African Americans escape to free states and Canada before the Civil War.

Conductors on the Underground Railroad: Conductors were people who guided freedom seekers along routes to safety. They led travelers between hiding places, farms, towns, and border crossings.
Self-emancipation: Self-emancipation is the act of enslaved people seeking freedom through their own actions. Freedom seekers’ decisions and journeys drove the network’s purpose and growth.
Harriet Tubman: Harriet Tubman was an African American abolitionist who escaped slavery and repeatedly guided others to freedom. Her rescue missions made her one of the network’s best-known conductors.
Christiana Resistance: The Christiana Resistance was an 1851 confrontation in Pennsylvania over an attempt to capture freedom seekers under federal law. It revealed how enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act provoked armed resistance in free states.
Henry Box Brown: Henry Box Brown was an enslaved man who escaped Virginia in 1849 by shipping himself in a wooden crate to Philadelphia. His escape demonstrates an unusual route aided by abolitionists and postal transport.
Safe house: A safe house is a place where people at risk can hide or receive shelter. Homes and other concealed sites offered temporary refuge during journeys.
Abolitionism in the United States: Abolitionism in the United States was the movement to end slavery there. Organized opposition to slavery helped build connections and public support for escape assistance.
William Still: William Still was a Black abolitionist in Philadelphia who aided freedom seekers and documented their accounts. His records preserve detailed evidence about people and operations connected to the network.
Anthony Burns case: The Anthony Burns case was an 1854 fugitive-slave prosecution in Boston that ended with Burns returned to slavery. The case showed how federal enforcement could defeat local opposition and drive escape onward.
Oberlin–Wellington Rescue: The Oberlin–Wellington Rescue was an 1858 effort by Ohio residents to free John Price from federal custody. The episode shows a community openly resisting a rendition rather than hiding an escape.

Linked from 14 pages