The Underground Railroad was a network of paths through the woods and fields, river crossings, boats and ships, trains and wagons, all haunted by the specter of recapture.

The Underground Railroad was a large majority of people who helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom in the North and Canada.

It was extremely difficult to escape slavery, once you were known missing it was a true manhunt.

Slaves were owned by their plantation owner, who treated them like the dirt they worked on.

If you were caught trying to escape you would be severely punished.

There were many forms of punishment, the most common was being whipped numerous times. Some slaves would even loose toes or fingers.

If you were caught trying to help a slave escape to freedom you could be fined, go to prison, or even killed.

The “Conductors” often had hidden compartments throughout their house’s and barns. Most houses had cellars back then, so that was a popular place to hide slaves.

Secret Codes

Slaves had many ways to communicate in secret.

They would sing songs that had a second meaning to them.

They would also sew certain patterns into their quilts.

They would also hang lanterns outside of safe houses, if it was on it meant the house was safe.

Also instead of lanterns they would use ribbons; green meant safe, and red was for alerting danger.

They would sing songs with words that had a certain meaning, like “Moses” meant Harriet Tubman was near

They would also call the escaping slaves “cargo” and the routes were known as “lines”.

Isaac T. Hopper officially started the underground railroad in the late 1700’s.

He began organizing the routes to freedom and friendly places to stop that would help the slaves escape to freedom in the north.

Harriet Tubman was the most famous of the slaves that escaped to the north.

She was famous because not only did she escape but she came back and helped about 700 slaves escape under the course of 10 yrs.

During that time she was never caught and became known as the “Moses of her people”

Harriet’s real name is Araminta Ross and she was born in 1822

She was hit in the head when she was young and would occasionally have visions which she believed were premonitions from God.

She had also served in the civil war first as a cook for the union and then as a armed spy and scout.

Frederick Douglass was an escapee who changed his name twice to avoid recapture from slave hunters.

Once he was free he began a abolitionist paper called the North Star.

His house was one of the final stops on the Underground Railroad on their route to freedom in Canada.

Thomas Garrett was a Quaker from Wilmington, North Carolina served as a stopping point on the Underground Railroad.

He would arrange forwarding people to Pennsylvania where there were many conductors for the Underground Railroad.

Thanks to these Thanks to these websiteswebsites

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/

Http;//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASumderground.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2944.html