#7 Underground Railroad

Being caught in a slave state while aiding runaways was much more dangerous than in the North; punishments included prison, whipping, or even hanging—assuming that the accused made it to court alive instead of perishing at the hands of an outraged mob. White men caught helping slaves to escape received harsher punishments than white women, but both could expect jail time at the very least. The harshest punishments—dozens of lashes with a whip, burning or hanging—were reserved for any blacks caught in the act of aiding fugitives.

Practice

“To ugly ducklings everywhere,
Don't worry about those fluffy yellow morons:
They'll never get to be swans” 

#11. Underground Railroad

Since the 1980s, claims have arisen that quilt designs were used to signal and direct slaves to escape routes and assistance. According to advocates of the quilt theory, there were ten quilt patterns that were used to direct slaves to take particular actions. The quilts were placed one at a time on a fence as a means of nonverbal communication to alert escaping slaves. The code had a dual meaning: first to signal slaves to prepare to escape and second to give clues and indicate directions on the journey.

There were also songs, such as "Steal Away" or "Follow the Drinking Gourd", that contained coded information and helped individuals navigate the railroad.

#10 Underground Railroad

Members of The Underground Railroad often used specific terms, based on the metaphor of the railway. For example:

• People who helped slaves find the railroad were "agents" (or "shepherds")
• Guides were known as "conductors"
• Free or escaped blacks, sometimes whites, that helped guide fugitives were "abductors"
• Hiding places were "stations"
• "Station masters" hid slaves in their homes
• Escaped slaves were referred to as "passengers" or "cargo"
• Slaves would obtain a "ticket"

#9. Underground Railroad

The fugitives would move at night. They would generally travel between 10 and 20 miles to the next station, where they would rest and eat, hiding in barns and other out-of-the-way places. While they waited, a message would be sent to the next station to alert its stationmaster. 

The fugitives would also travel by train and boat -- conveyances that sometimes had to be paid for. Money was also needed to improve the appearance of the runaways -- a black man, woman, or child in tattered clothes would invariably attract suspicious eyes. This money was donated by individuals and also raised by various groups, including vigilance committees.

#8. Underground Railroad

In Northern states bordering on the Ohio River, a "reverse Underground Railroad" sprang up. Black men and women, whether or not they had ever been slaves, were sometimes kidnapped in those states and hidden in homes, barns or other buildings until they could be taken into the South and sold as slaves.

#6. Ungerground Railroad

Operators of the Underground Railroad faced their own dangers. If someone living in the North was convicted of helping fugitives to escape he or she could be fined hundreds or even thousands of dollars, a tremendous amount for the time; however, in areas where abolitionism was strong, the "secret" railroad operated quite openly. 

#5. Underground Railroad

Two Quakers, Levi Coffin and his wife Catherine, are believed to have aided over 3,000 slaves to escape over a period of years. For this reason, Levi is sometimes called the president of the Underground Railroad. The eight-room Indiana home they owned and used as a "station" before they moved to Cincinnati has been preserved and is now a National Historic Landmark in Fountain City near Ohio’s western boundary. 

#4. Underground Railroad

#4. The Underground Railroad’s network was informal and had many routes, some even to Mexico or the Caribbean instead of Canada. Many routes traveled through the Appalachian Mountains, and some even required travel by boat. A popular route followed the Mississippi, and then to the Great Lakes region before entering Canada, while many others traveled closer to the coast, and up to New England.

#3 Underground Railroad

#3. Harriet Tubman: One of the most important figures involved in the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman was a slave who escaped in 1849 and then made 19 trips back to Southern plantations in order to lead a total of around 300 slaves to freedom. Known as “Moses,” Tubman was a conductor, guiding fugitive slaves along the Underground Railroad. Tubman also helped John Brown with his raid on Harpers Ferry and later became an activist for women’s suffrage.

#2 Underground Railroad

Although the Underground Railroad was neither underground, nor a railroad, the system worked in a similar fashion to a railroad. The passengers followed a route; there were many stops; a conductor led the way. It was underground because it had to be a secretive operation in order to succeed, and the runaway slaves often had to hide to stay safe. Those involved with the Underground Railroad developed a code system of railroad terms to discuss the network in secret. The stations were the stops at safe-houses, their owners the station masters. The passengers or cargo were the runaways, who were led by a conductor to the entry port, Canada.

#1 Underground Railroad

1. The Underground Railroad began in early 1800s, and was the most active from 1850 to 1860, freeing about 1,000 slaves per year. Over the entire course of the Underground Railroad, more than 100,000 slaves were freed using the system.