The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved people in the United States to escape to free states and Canada in the decades before the Civil War.
Neither underground nor a literal railroad, this secret network of routes, safe houses, and dedicated guides helped tens of thousands of enslaved people risk everything for freedom in the decades before the Civil War.
A Secret Network of Escape
The Underground Railroad consisted of secret routes and safe houses, known as "stations," that helped enslaved people escape from Southern slave states to free states and Canada.
Harriet Tubman's Leadership
Former enslaved person Harriet Tubman became the network's most celebrated "conductor," making numerous dangerous trips back into slave territory to guide others to freedom.
Risk and Resistance
Participants in the network, both Black and white, faced severe legal and physical danger, particularly following the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which criminalized helping escaped enslaved people even in free states.
An Estimated Tens of Thousands Freed
Historians estimate that the Underground Railroad helped an estimated 100,000 enslaved people escape to freedom over the network's decades of operation before the Civil War ended slavery entirely.
