![]() ![]() Up for a challenge? Imagine how a modern Underground Railroad might work with today's modern technology.How were their stories similar or different from that of Harriet Tubman? Explain what you learned to a friend or family member. Many other brave people were involved, as well. You've already read about Harriet Tubman, one of the best-known heroes of the Underground Railroad.What routes on this map do you think would be most difficult to travel? What points on the map would present challenges, and why? How were Tubman and those she helped able to overcome some of these challenges? Click on the pins to learn more about how Harriet Tubman was able to help people escape from slavery. Take a look at this map of Underground Railroad routes.Both those who escaped and those who helped them had to be brave and overcome many obstacles to make the Underground Railroad successful.Īre you ready to explore the Underground Railroad in greater depth? Be sure to check out the following activities with a friend or family member: They could be arrested and punished for breaking the law. Those who helped them move along the Underground Railroad also took a big chance. Still, the possibility of freedom was worth the risk for many. People who were caught could be returned to the South and punished. She used music, Bible verses, and folklore to alert people to danger and give them directions to safe houses.Įscaping from slavery was very dangerous. Tubman became known as “Moses.” Over the course of her life, she returned 19 times to the South to help people use the Underground Railroad to gain freedom. She eventually helped more than 300 formerly enslaved people reach freedom. In Philadelphia, Tubman worked hard to save money to rescue her family. With the help of others, she made her way to Philadelphia. She snuck away, covered with a sack in the back of a wagon. Born into slavery in Maryland, she planned her own escape when she learned she would be separated from her family and sold. Harriet Tubman was one of the most famous conductors along the Underground Railroad. For others, the journey could last more than a year. Those who were strong-and lucky-might make it to freedom in as little as two months. The length of the route to freedom varied but was often 500 to 600 miles. People who escaped would move at night, traveling 10 to 20 miles to the next “station.” During the day, they would rest and eat, hiding out in all sorts of places. Most of the time, though, enslaved people had only themselves to rely on. Sometimes a “ conductor” would pose as an enslaved person, enter a plantation, and then guide runaways northward. People had to first escape their enslavers. Its use continued after that and peaked between 18.įor all those involved, running away to freedom was a dangerous and difficult ordeal. About 100,000 people had escaped using the network by 1850. The Underground Railroad moved many people to freedom each year. They didn’t have the overall picture of all the different routes and depots. In fact, most of those involved only knew about their part of the operation. It was not run by any single organization or person. The Underground Railroad consisted of a large network of people. “Conductors” would hide people in their homes and teach them secret codes to help them find the next “station” along the route. There were “stations” and “depots” where people could rest and eat. The “railroad” part of the name came from the words and labels used to describe the journey. They hid their actions because they were breaking the law. Instead, the movement was “underground” in that escaping people and those who helped them had to stay out of sight. It also wasn’t made of tracks like a railroad. Where did this name come from? After all, it wasn’t made of underground tunnels. This network became known as the Underground Railroad. Some helped them move even farther north to Canada. These helped people flee to states where slavery was illegal. They made a system of secret routes, meeting points, and safe houses. Working together, abolitionists and people who had escaped slavery found a way to help. ![]() But escaping from the bonds of slavery was not easy. As soon as enslaved people arrived, they sought freedom. Across the southern states, they were forced to work the land. ![]() ![]() Instead, it was made mostly of people.įor centuries, boats full of African families were brought to the United States not as free men and women, but as enslaved people. Have you heard about the most famous and important Underground Railroad of all time? It was not made up of engines, boxcars, or tracks. What do you think about when you hear the word “railroad”? Engines? A line of boxcars? The conductor or the caboose? Tracks stretching off into the distance? What about an underground railroad? You may think of the subway. ![]()
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