Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

resistance movement, road network

Facet give	slavery in the United States
Significant person	Levi Coffin, Thomas Garrett, Harriet Tubman
Dem name after	railway
Country	United States
Political ideology	abolitionism
Tym dem start	1800
End tym	1863
Operator	National Park Service
Get characteristic	confidentiality

Na de Underground Railroad be an organized network of secret routes den safe houses wey be used by freedom seekers make dem escape to de abolitionist Northern United States den Eastern Canada. Na enslaved Africans den African Americans escape from slavery as early as de 16th century, wey na chaw of dema escapes be unaided; however, na a network of safe houses dem generally know as de Underground Railroad begin to organize insyd de 1780s among Abolitionist Societies insyd de North. Na e run north wey e grow steadily til de na dem sign de Emancipation Proclamation insyd 1863 by Presido Abraham Lincoln. Na de escapees seek primarily make dem escape into free states, den potentially from der go Canada.

De network, primarily de work of free den enslaved African Americans, na e be assisted by abolitionists den odas sympathetic to de cause of de escapees. De enslaved people wey risk capture den those wey aid dem sanso be collectively referred to as de passengers den conductors of de Railroad, respectively. Na chaw oda routes lead to Mexico, wer na dem abolish slavery, den to islands insyd de Caribbean wey na dem no be part of de slave trade. An earlier escape route wey dey run south toward Florida, then a Spanish possession (except 1763–1783), na e exist from de late 17th century til approximately 1790. During de American Civil War, na freedom seekers escape to Union lines insyd de South make dem obtain dema freedom. One estimate dey suggest dat by 1850, approximately na 100,000 slaves escape to freedom via de network. According to former professor of Pan-African studies J. Blaine Hudson, wey na he be dean of de College of Arts and Sciences for de University of Louisville, by de end of de Civil War, na 500,000 anaa more African Americans self-emancipate from slavery for de Underground Railroad.

Origin of de name

Na Eric Foner wrep say na de term "be perhaps first used by a Washington newspaper insyd 1839, wey he dey quote a young slave wey dey hope make he escape bondage via a railroad wey na 'go underground all de way to Boston'". Na Dr. Robert Clemens Smedley wrep de following slave catchers dema fail searches wey dem lost traces of fugitives as far north as Columbia, Pennsylvania, na dem declare in bewilderment say "der for be an underground railroad sam wer," dey give origin to de term. Na Scott Shane wrep say na first documented use of de term be insyd an article wey Thomas Smallwood wrep insyd de August 10, 1842, edition of Tocsin of Liberty, an abolitionist newspaper dem publish in Albany. He sanso wrep dat na de 1879 book Sketches in the History of the Underground Railroad say na dem mention de phrase insyd an 1839 Washington newspaper article den dat ba de book ein author say 40 years later dat na he quote de article from memory as closely as he fi.

Terminology

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

• People wey na dem help fugitive slaves find de railroad be "agents"
• Na dem know guides as "conductors"
• Na hiding places be "stations"anaa "way stations"
• Na "station masters" hide escaping slaves insyd dema homes
• Na people wey dey escape slavery be referred to as "passengers" anaa "cargo"
• Na fugitive slaves go obtain a "ticket"
• Similar to common gospel lore, de "wheels would keep on turning"
• Na dem know de financial benefactors of de Railroad as "stockholders"
• Promised Land – code word give Canada
• River Jordan – code word give Ohio River
• Heaven – code give freedom anaa Canada

De Big Dipper (wey ein "bowl" dey point to de North Star) na e be known as de drinkin' gourd. Na de Railroad be often known as de "freedom train" anaa "Gospel train", wich na e head towards "Heaven" anaa "de Promised Land", i.e., Canada.

Political background

David Ruggles dey middle two guys wey dey face John P. Darg

For di runaway slaves wey 'ride' di Underground Railroad, plenty of dem sabi say Canada na di end of di road. Everybody talk say about 30,000 to 40,000 of dem don settle for Canada, half of dem come between 1850 and 1860. Others go settle for di free states up north. Plenty court cases for runaway slaves dey show since di Revolutionary War to di Civil War. Di original Fugitive Slave Act wey dem put for 1793, e say officials from di free states suppose help anybody wey dey find dem runaway slaves, but some states no gree do am. Di law make am easy for slaveholders and di slave catchers to catch African Americans and send dem back to slavery, sometimes dem fit even make free blacks slaves again. Di law also make di abolitionists dey wan help di enslaved people, wey cause anti-slavery societies and di Underground Railroad for grow plenty.

Southern politicians dey push wey make Congress pass Compromise of 1850 after Mexican–American War. E get stricter Fugitive Slave Law; dem say e go fit help solve wahala wey dey between regions by forcing officials for free states to help slave catchers, wey go dey do their work for free states without wahala. Dis law no need plenty papers to show say person be fugitive, so slave catchers dey carry free blacks, especially pikin dem, come sell dem into slavery. Southern politicians too dey lie say plenty slaves don escape and dey blame am on Northerners wey dey disturb Southern people property. Dis law no allow people wey dem suspect say dem be slaves defend demself for court, make am hard to prove say dem be free. Some Northern states come bring laws wey go make e illegal for public officials to catch or jail former slaves. People dey reason say Northern states dey ignore the fugitive slave laws and dat be one main reason dem dey talk about secession.

Routes and methods of escape

People wey wan free, run go di Great Dismal Swamp maroon community.

Underground Railroad routes dey go north to free states and Canada, plus Caribbean, US western territories, and Indian territories. Some runaway slaves check south enter Mexico for their freedom.. Plenty people escape by sea, like Ona Judge wey George Washington dey hold as slave. Some historians talk say the waterways for South be big deal for freedom seekers, as water dem dey use find road to freedom. Plus, historians of the Underground Railroad don find 200,000 runaway slave adverts for North American papers from mid-1700s till American Civil War end. Freedom seekers for Alabama dey hide for steamboats wey dey go Mobile, Alabama, hope say dem go fit blend with the free Black community, and dem dey hide for other steamboats wey dey leave Alabama go further north to free areas. In 1852, Alabama legislature pass law wey go reduce the number of freedom seekers wey dey escape for boats. The law go punish slaveholders and ship captains wey allow enslaved people enter their boat without pass. Freedom seekers for Alabama too dey make canoes to escape. Dem escape from their masters for Panama on boats wey dey go California through Panama route. Slaveholders dey use the Panama route reach California. For Panama, slavery no dey legal and Black Panamanians dey encourage enslaved people from the US to escape enter the city of Panama

People wey wan free dey find ways to jam slave catchers wey dey use their dogs follow dem. One way na to mix hot pepper, lard, and vinegar put for their shoes. For North Carolina, dem dey put turpentine for their shoes to shake off slave catchers' dogs, while for Texas, dem dey use paste wey dem make from charred bullfrog. Some runaways even enter swamps to wash off their scent. Most of the time, dem dey escape at night, make dem fit hide under the darkness.

Anoda way wey di freedom seekers dey take run from capture na to carry fake free passes. During slavery, free Blacks dey show dem freedom by carrying pass wey prove say dem dey free. Free Blacks and di enslaved people go sabi create fake free passes for di freedom seekers as dem dey waka through di slave states..

North to free states and Canada

Structure

Further information: Quakers in the abolition movement

Harriet Tubman (photo H. B. Lindsley), around 1870. Dis woman dey work for Underground Railroad, she make 13 trips go South, help over 70 people escape. She dey carry dem go northern free states and Canada. Because of dis matter, dem dey call am 'Moses of Her People'.

Quaker abolitionist Levi Coffin and im wife Catherine help more than 2,000 people wey dey enslave jom come free.

Though dem call am ‘road’, dis escape network no be underground like we dey think, plus e no be real railroad too. (Real underground railroad no come be till 1863.) According to John Rankin, “Dem call am dat name because as people hop aboard, dem just vanish from sight like say dem don enter ground. Once di fugitive slaves enter any depot for dat road, you no fit find dem again. Dem go dey quietly pass from one depot to another until dem reach place wey dem go fit stay free.” Dem dey use railroad name because na di transport system wey dem dey use that time.

Underground Railroad no get headquarters or governing body, and no published guides, maps, pamphlets, or even newspaper articles dey. E be combination of meeting points, secret routes, transportation, and safe houses, all na people wey dey help abolitionist and dem dey talk am for mouth, though some people talk say dem use numeric code to hide message. Participants dey organize for small, independent groups; this one help dem keep am secret. People wey dey escape from slavery go dey move north from one way station to another. The 'Conductors' wey dey for the railroad come from different backgrounds, including free-born blacks, white abolitionists, people wey don escape or wey don free, plus Native Americans. Dem believe say slavery no fit be wetin Jesus go agree with, so Christian groups and clergy join inside, especially Quakers, Congregationalists, Wesleyan Methodists, and Reformed Presbyterians, plus the anti-slavery parts of big churches wey dey scatter over dis matter, like Methodist Episcopal Church and Baptists. The role of free blacks na very important; without dem, e for hard make people wey dey run from slavery fit reach freedom well well. The underground railroad 'agents' dey work for group wey dem sabi as vigilance committees.

Free Black communities for Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York dey help freedom seekers run away from slavery. Black Churches be like stations for Underground Railroad, and Black communities for North go hide freedom seekers inside their churches and homes. Historian Cheryl Janifer Laroche talk for her book, Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad The Geography of Resistance say: "Blacks, whether dem dey slave or free, na dem be the main actors for the big show wey be the Underground Railroad." She also talk say some authors dey put white abolitionists and white people wey dey involved for antislavery matter as the main reason wey freedom seekers fit run, neglecting the important role of free Black communities. Author Diane Miller talk say: "History people don dey neglect the power of African Americans for their own search for freedom as dem dey show Underground Railroad as organized effort by white religious groups, normally Quakers, to help 'helpless' slaves." Historian Larry Gara dey argue say plenty stories wey concern Underground Railroad suppose dey folklore, no be history. The actions of real historical figures like Harriet Tubman, Thomas Garrett, and Levi Coffin dey exaggerated, and Northern abolitionists wey dey lead enslaved people to Canada dey call dem heroes of the Underground Railroad. This story dey reduce the sense and power of enslaved Black people wey free themselves, and e dey make am look like say freedom seekers need Northerners help to escape..

Geography

People wey dey find freedom escape from slavery come reach Canada through the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge.

The Underground Railroad sabi how di geography fit work for U.S.–Canada border: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and most of New York dey separate from Canada by water, wey e easy to arrange transport and e dey safe. Di main route wey freedom seekers from di South take go up di Appalachians, Harriet Tubman go through Harpers Ferry, enter di anti-slavery Western Reserve region for northeast Ohio, reach di big shore of Lake Erie, then enter Canada by boat. Small number wey dey travel through New York or New England go via Syracuse (wey Samuel May dey) and Rochester (wey Frederick Douglass dey), cross Niagara River or Lake Ontario enter Canada. By 1848, Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge don build—e cross Niagara River join New York to Canada. Enslaved runaways dey use di bridge to escape dem bondage, and Harriet Tubman use di bridge to carry freedom seekers go Canada.. Those wey dey travel via di New York Adirondacks, sometimes through Black communities like Timbuctoo, New York, enter Canada through Ogdensburg on di St. Lawrence River, or Lake Champlain (Joshua Young help). Di western route, wey John Brown and others use, dey come from Missouri go free Kansas and north to free Iowa, then east through Chicago to di Detroit River.

Thomas Downing be free Black man for New York wey him dey run him Oyster restaurant like one stop for Underground Railroad. Freedom seekers (people wey run from slavery) wey dey find freedom dey hide for Downing restaurant basement. Enslaved people dey help dem freedom seekers escape from slavery. Arnold Gragstone be enslaved man wey dey help runaways escape by guiding dem cross Ohio River make dem fit find freedom.

William Still be free Black man for Philadelphia wey help plenty freedom seekers run away from slavery.

William Still, wey dem dey call am "The Father of the Underground Railroad", help plenty slaves escape (as much as 60 every month), sometimes e go hide dem for im house for Philadelphia. E dey keep record well well, including small biographies of di people, wey dey drop railway metaphors for dem. E dey write plenty letters to dem, sometimes e go dey act like middleman for di people wey don escape slavery and dem wey still dey behind. Later, e publish all dis story for di book wey dem call The Underground Railroad: Authentic Narratives and First-Hand Accounts (1872), wey be important material for historians to sabi how di system work and learn about di individual creativity wey dey help people escape.

Still talk say dem dey encode message so only people wey dey inside train wahala go fit understand am. For example, dis message wey show say, "I don send four big hams and two small hams via 2 o'clock", mean say four adults and two pikin don waka by train from Harrisburg go Philadelphia. Di word wey say via mean say di "passengers" no take di usual train but dem catch am via Reading, Pennsylvania. E be like say di authorities fall for trick, dey go regular station to catch di runaways, while Still don meet dem for correct station and show dem way safe. In di end, dem escape either go north or Canada, wey slavery don finish for 1830s.

Fight for freedom for Maryland barn. Wood cut from William Still's The Underground Rail Road, p. 50.

To make am no go see dem, plenty people wey dey work for Underground Railroad sabi only wetin dem dey do, dem no sabi di whole plan. Dem wey dey lead, wey we dey call 'conductors', go take di 'passengers' from one station to another. Sometimes, conductor go act like say dem don enslave am to enter plantation. When e don enter di plantation, e go show di runaways how to waka go North. Dem wey dey run go travel for night, about 10-20 miles (16-32 km) to each station. Dem go rest small, then dem go send message go di next station make di station master sabi say di escapees dey come. Dem go chill for di so-called 'stations' or 'depots' during day and rest. Di stations fit dey for basement, barn, church, or some hiding place for cave.

Dem rest areas wey freedom seekers fit sleep and chop dey call am "stations" and "depots", and dem get "station masters" wey dey manage am. "Stockholders" go dey drop money or supply to help dem. Dem fugitives dey call Canada "Promised Land" or "Heaven" from Bible matter, and dem dey call Ohio River wey dey mark border between slave states and free states "River Jordan".

Traveling conditions

Mary Meachum be Underground Railroad agent for St. Louis, Missouri

Though dem wey wan escape go fit travel by boat or train, dem dey waka on foot or use wagon, sometimes dem dey lie down, cover with hay or wetin dem fit find, in groups of one to three wey dey run. Some groups big pass dat. Abolitionist Charles Turner Torrey and him boys dey rent horse and wagon, dem go fit carry like 15 to 20 people at once. Free and enslaved black men wey be mariners dey help dem wey dey run away from slavery. Dem go give ride for dia ship, show dem better escape routes, and safe places wey dey land, plus who go fit help. Enslaved African-American mariners get gist about slave revolts for Caribbean, and dem dey share am with people wey dem fit reach for American ports. Dem free and enslaved African-American mariners help Harriet Tubman when she dey do her rescue work. Black mariners dey give her info on the best escape ways and help her for her rescue works. For New Bedford, Massachusetts, freedom seekers dey hide inside ships wey dey leave dock, with help from Black and white crew, dem dey chop from ship cargo during dia journey to freedom.

Slaves wey dey near river fit run away for boats and canoes. For 1855, Mary Meachum, wey be free Black woman, try help eight or nine slaves make dem escape from slavery for Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri go free state of Illinois. White people wey dey fight against slavery and one African American wey dem call "Freeman" from Illinois join help dem for the escape. But the plan no work, as police and slave catchers hear say dem wan run and dey wait for dem across the river for Illinois side. Breckenridge, Burrows and Meachum come arrest. Before this escape, Mary Meachum and her husband John, wey be former slave, dey work for Underground Railroad wey dey help other slaves escape cross the Mississippi River.

People wey dey suffer for river side and Chesapeake Bay take canoe and boat waka go free from slavery.

Dem dey take roundabout routes make e confuse people wey dey chase dem. Most people wey dey escape na individuals or small groups; sometimes, dem fit get big breakout, like that Pearl matter. The journey dey tough and dangerous pass for women and children. Children dey hard to keep quiet or dem no fit catch up with group. Plus, dem no dey allow enslaved women waka go plantation side, so e dey harder for dem to escape like men go fit. Even though e dey tough for women, some women still fit make am. One of the most popular and successful conductors wey dey sneak enter slave areas to help people wey wan free na Harriet Tubman, wey be woman wey escape slavery..

Because wahala fit catch dem, dem dey use mouth share where to run go and safe places, but for 1896, dem talk say dem get some code wey dem dey use hide message. Southern newspapers back then no dey waste time, dem go fill am with notices wey dey ask for info on runaway slaves and dem dey promise big money for anybody wey fit catch dem and bring dem back. Federal marshals and bounty hunters wey dem sabi as slave catchers dey chase people wey wan find freedom go as far as Canada–U.S. border.

Freedom seekers (runaway slaves) dey find food anyhow, dey fish, dey hunt as dem waka come freedom for Underground Railroad. Dem go gather ingredients, cook one-pot meals (stews) wey be how West Africans sabi cook. Enslaved and free Black people go drop food for front of dem house to help the freedom seekers chop. The meals wey dem prepare for Underground Railroad come join the food essence of Black Americans wey dem dey call soul food.

Maroons

Maroons

Most of di people wey de look for freedom wey comot from slavery no get help from any abolitionist. Even though plenty stories dey talk say black and white abolitionists dey help freedom seekers run from slavery, e get plenty wey do am by demself.

Other escape routes wey freedom seekers dey use be maroon communities. Maroon communities be secret places, like wetlands or marshes, where dem wey don escape from slavery dey form their own independent areas. For USA, examples be Black Seminole communities for Florida, and groups wey dey live for Great Dismal Swamp for Virginia plus Okefenokee swamp for Georgia and Florida. For 1780s, Louisiana get one maroon community for di bayous of Saint Malo. Di leader of Saint Malo maroon community na Jean Saint Malo, wey escape from slavery to join other runaways for di swamps and bayous. Di population of maroons be fifty, but di Spanish colonial government scatter dem community and on June 19, 1784, dem execute Jean Saint Malo. Colonial South Carolina too get plenty maroon settlements for di marshland regions for Lowcountry and near rivers. Dem maroons for South Carolina dey fight to keep dem freedom and avoid enslavement for Ashepoo for 1816, Williamsburg County for 1819, Georgetown for 1820, Jacksonborough for 1822, and near Marion for 1861. Historian Herbert Aptheker find evidence say fifty maroon communities dey exist for USA between 1672 and 1864.. Di history of maroons show how di enslaved dey resist slavery by living for free independent settlements. Historical archeologist Dan Sayer talk say historians dey downplay di importance of maroon settlements and dey give credit to white people wey involve for di Underground Railroad, wey e talk show say dem dey bias, indicating say dem no wan accept di strength of black resistance and initiative.

Freedom routes dem dey waka for Native American land

From colonial America enter 19th century, Indigenous people for North America dey help and protect enslaved Africans wey dey find way to freedom.. But no be all Indigenous community dey accept freedom seekers, some of dem sef dey enslave dem or carry dem go back to their former masters. The first stories wey we fit see about escape na from 16th century. For 1526, Spanish people start the first European colony for United States wey dem call San Miguel de Gualdape for South Carolina. The enslaved Africans start to revolt and historians talk say dem fit escape go Shakori Indigenous communities. As early as 1689, some enslaved Africans run from the South Carolina Lowcountry go Spanish Florida dey find freedom. The Seminole Nation accept Gullah runaways (we dey call dem Black Seminoles now) come their land. This na the southern route for Underground Railroad wey connect Georgia and Carolinas go Florida. For Northwest Ohio for 18th and 19th century, three Indigenous/Native American nations, the Shawnee, Ottawa, and Wyandot help freedom seekers escape from slavery. The Ottawa people dey accept and protect runaways for their villages. Other escapees dey carry go Fort Malden by the Ottawa. For Upper Sandusky, Wyandot people allow maroon community of freedom seekers wey dem dey call Negro Town stay for their land for four decades.

Native Americans dey collect freedom seekers come their villages, then go carry dem go Canada.

For 18th and 19th century, Nanticoke people for Chesapeake Bay and Delaware dey hide freedom people for their villages. Dem dey live small small villages near Pocomoke River; the river start from plenty forks for the big Cypress Swamp for southern Sussex County, Delaware. Black people wey dey run from slavery fit hide for swamps, plus water dey wash away the scent of dem wey don run, make e hard for dogs to find dem. As early as 18th century, mixed blood communities don start.. For Maryland, freedom seekers dey run go Shawnee villages wey dey along Potomac River. Slave owners for Virginia and Maryland dey chook mouth, file plenty complaints and court matter against Shawnee and Nanticoke for hiding freedom seekers. Odawa people too dey accept freedom seekers to their villages. The Odawa go carry the runaways give Ojibwe wey go help dem waka go Canada. Some people wey don run from slavery go hide for Native American villages, e be like dem stay for there. White people wey come travel go Kentucky and Ohio Territory see 'Black Shawnees' dey live with the Indigenes for trans-Appalachian west. For the colonial time for New Spain and Seminole Nation for Florida, African Americans and Indigenes dey marry self..

South to Florida and Mexico

Background

Dis Old Stone Fort for Nacogdoches, by Lee C. Harby, for The American Magazine, April 1888 edition

From 16th century, Spaniards dey come carry enslaved Africans go New Spain, including Mission Nombre de Dios wey go turn St. Augustine for Spanish Florida. As time dey go, free Afro-Spaniards dey find different work and dey serve for colonial militia. When King Charles II of Spain talk say Spanish Florida go be safe place for slaves wey escape from British North America, plenty of dem dey waka come Florida from North like New York. Spanish people come build Fort Mose for free Blacks inside St. Augustine area for 1738.

For 1806, enslaved people land for Stone Fort for Nacogdoches, Texas, dey find freedom. Dem come with fake passport wey dem thief from one Kentucky judge. Spanish no gree return dem go America. The next year, more freedom seekers waka come through Texas.

Enslaved people fit libre when dem cross border from America enter Mexico, wey still be Spanish colony till nineteenth century. For America, dem dey see enslaved people as property. E mean say dem no fit marry, and dem fit sell dem away from dem partners. Dem no fit fight against bad punishment too. But for New Spain, dem dey recognize fugitive slaves as human beings. Dem fit join Catholic Church and marry. Dem dey protect from bad punishment too.

During War of 1812, U.S. Army general Andrew Jackson invade Spanish Florida because enslaved people don run come from plantations for Carolinas and Georgia go Florida. Some of dem join Black Seminoles wey later move go Mexico. But Mexico dey send mixed signals on slavery matter. Sometimes e go allow dem to send enslaved people back into slavery and let Americans waka enter Spanish land to populate North, come start cotton plantations wey go bring enslaved people come work the land.

For 1829, Mexican president Vicente Guerrero (wey be mixed race black man) officially cancel slavery for Mexico.. Freedom seekers from Southern plantations for Deep South, especially Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, run come Mexico to escape slavery. At that time, Texas still dey part of Mexico.. The Texas Revolution wey start partly to make slavery legal, lead to the formation of Republic of Texas for 1836. After San Jacinto fight, some slaves waka come out from Houston area with Mexican army, dem see soldiers as way to run from slavery. When Texas join Union for 1845, e be slave state and Rio Grande come be di international border with Mexico.

Pressure between free states and slave states increase as Mexico don chop slavery and western states don join Union as free states. As dem dey add more free states join Union, na so the power of slave state representatives for Congress dey reduce..

Slavery areas and dem slave catchers

Di Southern Underground Railroad pass through slave states wey no get abolitionist societies and di organized system for di north. People wey talk against slavery dey face mob, physical assault, and dem fit hang dem. Dem get slave catchers wey dey find runaway slaves. E no dey plenty free blacks for Texas, so free blacks no fit feel safe for di state. Di network to freedom be informal, random, and e dey dangerous.

U.S. military forts wey dem build for Rio Grande border during the Mexican–American War for 1840s, dem go dey capture and return fleeing enslaved people to their masters..

The Fugitive Slave Act wey dem pass for 1850 make am crime to help escaping enslaved people for free states. E be like the U.S. government wan sign treaty with Mexico make dem help catch and return bonds-people. But Mexico no gree, dem allow anybody wey cross their border to be free. Slave catchers dey waka cross southern border enter Mexico come dey capture black people illegally come return them to slavery. One group of slave hunters turn be Texas Rangers now.

Routes

Eastman Johnson, A Ride for Liberty – The Fugitive Slaves, oil for paperboard, 22 × 26.25 inches, around 1862, Brooklyn Museum. E show family wey African Americans dey run from slavery for South USA during di American Civil War.

Plenty of freedom seekers dey waka follow network from southern U.S. go Texas and finally reach Mexico. Southern enslaved people dey trek ‘unforgiving country’ on foot or horse while dem dey chase by lawmen and slave hunters. Some go hide for ferries wey dey go Mexican port tfrom New Orleans, Louisiana and Galveston, Texas. Some even dey carry cotton go Brownsville, Texas for wagon before dem cross enter Mexico for Matamoros.

Sometimes someone would come 'long and try to get us to run up north and be free. We used to laugh at that.

—Former slave Felix Haywood, interviewed in 1937 for the federal Slave Narrative Project.

Plenty people waka go North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi go Texas and finally Mexico.. Dem dey run from slavery wey dey for Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Black Seminoles dey waka for South-West route from Florida go Mexico.

Dem wey dey waka land way go fit carry dem last 150 miles through hot and hard land of the Nueces Strip wey dey between Nueces River and Rio Grande. No plenty shade dey and water wey fit drink no dey for this brush countryIf dem get horse and gun, dem fit survive the journey better.

National Park Service don find route from Natchitoches, Louisiana to Monclova, Mexico in 2010 wey be roughly the southern Underground Railroad path. E still get belief say El Camino Real de los Tejas be path for freedom. President George W. Bush make am National Historic Trail for 2004.

Assistance

Some people waka on dem own without any help, while others get support from pipo for the southern Underground Railroad. Dem help include direction, shelter, and supplies. Black pipo, black and white couples, plus German immigrants wey no support slavery, give plenty support, but most help come from Mexican laborers.. E reach so far wey enslavers no trust any Mexican again, and dem even pass law for Texas wey no allow Mexicans talk to enslaved pipo. Mexican migrant workers form tight relationship with enslaved black workers wey dem dey work with. Dem dey give advice on how e go be to cross border, plus dem dey show empathy. When slaveholders and Texan townsfolk see how Mexicans dey help enslaved pipo escape, dem go push dem from town, whip dem for public, or even lynch dem.

Some border officers help slaves wey dey cross go Mexico. For Monclova, Mexico, one border officer gather money for the town to support one family wey need food, clothes, and cash to waka continue their journey down south and escape from slave hunters. Once dem cross the border, some Mexican authorities dey help former slaves make dem no go back to USA by slave hunters.

Freedom seekers wey dem carry go ferries to Mexican ports, Mexican ship captains dey support dem, one of dem even get catch for Louisiana and dem indict am for helping slaves run away.

People sabi say if dem run away or help person comot, wahala go dey, so dem dey careful no to make mistakes. Records wey fit show fugitive slaves no plenty, but we get plenty records from people wey dey promote slavery or go catch dem. Texas Runaway Slave Project for Stephen F. Austin State University don document more than 2,500 escapes.

Southern freedom seekers

Tom Blue, wey General Sam Houston don enslave, him run come out join di Mexican army.

Dem put ads for newspaper wey dey offer reward make you bring back dia "property". Slave catchers dey waka for Mexico. Dem get Black Seminoles, or Los Mascogos wey dey for northern Mexico wey dey show armed fight back.

Sam Houston, wey be president of Texas, na him be de slaveholder wey Tom wey run away. E waka go Texas, and when e reach, e join de Mexican military.

One enslaved man wey dem brand am with letter "R" for both cheek after e try to run from slavery no work. E try am again for winter of 1819, wey e commot from him enslaver cotton plantation ride on top horse. With four oda guys, dem waka go southwest to Mexico, risk plenty wahala from bad Native Americans, slave catchers, or dem "horse-eating alligators".

Plenty people no fit reach Mexico. For 1842, one Mexican guy and one black woman commot from Jackson County, Texas on top two horses, but dem catch dem for Lavaca River. The woman, wey be enslaved, be valuable to her owner, so dem carry her back to slavery. Her husband, wey fit be farm laborer or indentured servant, dem lynch am sharp-sharp.

Fugitive slaves dey change dem names for Mexico. Dem go marry Mexican families and move come down south of American-Mexican border. All dis wahala make am hard to find where the people wey don free dey. For Stephen F. Austin State University, dem get database wey get runaway slave ads as part of Texas Runaway Slave Project. The Works Progress Administration during Great Depression start Federal Writers' Project to document slave stories, including dem wey stay for Mexico. One of dem be Felix Haywood, wey find freedom when he cross Rio Grande.

Rio Grande stations

Two families, Webbers and Jacksons, dey stay for Rio Grande, dem dey help people escape slavery. Di husbands na white, and di wives na black women wey don suffer before.No body sabi if Nathaniel Jackson buy Matilda Hicks and her family freedom, but for di early 1860s, dem move go Hidalgo county, where dem settle down as family. Him na white southerner and she na enslaved woman, dem be childhood sweethearts for Alabama Him be di pikin of her slaveholder, wey help seven families in 1857 and others cross enter Mexico.

Silvia Hector Webber be born as slave for West Florida, then for 1819 dem sell am go give slaveholder for Clark County, Arkansas. Di slaveholder pikin, John Cryer, carry Silvia go Mexican Texas illegally for 1828, four years after Mexico don ban slave trade enter dia territory. But Silvia no gree low am, with John Webber help, she collect freedom paper for herself and 3 pikin for 1834. Dem dey live antislavery life, dey hide runaway slaves for dia ranch and house. Silvia dey carry people wey wan free, on di ferry wey she get license for her ranch, go Mexico for freedom.

John Ferdinand Webber, wey born for Vermont, dey live for Rio Grande with her wife, Silvia Hector Webber, and dem dey help enslaved people cross di Rio Grande. Di Jacksons and Webbers, wey both get licensed ferry service, dem dey popular for runaways.

Arrival in Mexico

Fugi slaves wey make am reach Mexico sabi say dem fit carry dem go kidnap anytime by slave catchers or blackbirders. Slave hunters wey dey try carry former slaves from Mexico fit go court or dem go fit shoot dem.

Dem no get plenty support from dem new community and job options dey few. Dem no get official paper wey go show say dem dey free. But, dem fit sign indentured servitude contracts and join military place.

Some people, after dem settle for Mexico, go back United States to help family run come and guide dem go Mexico.

Colonies

Plenty abolitionists for north dey push Mexican government make dem set up colonies for free and run away blacks. Benjamin Lundy, wey be Quaker, dey fight for colony make dem establish for wetin be Texas today during early 1830s, but e no fit as Texas carry slavery come when e separate from Mexico and become Republic of Texas (1836). Black Seminoles sabi petition land and set colony for 1852. Di land still dey belong to dem pikin dem.

Scholarships

$25 Reward for Tom, Galveston Weekly News from May 11, 1858

The Texas Runaway Slave Project dey Nacogdoches for Stephen F. Austin State University. Dem don research all di runaway ads wey show for 19,000 newspaper editions from mid-19th century.

Alice L. Baumgartner study how plenty people wey run from slavery from di Southern states go Mexico. She publish book wey be South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War. Thomas Mareite do him PhD for Leiden University, e research di social and political level of di enslaved dem wey escape from di U.S. South go Mexico, him title na Conditional Freedom: Free Soil and Fugitive Slaves from the U.S. South to Mexico's Northeast, 1803–1861. Roseann Bacha-Garza from University of Texas Rio Grande Valley dey handle historical archeology projects, she don research di cases of enslaved people wey run go Mexico. .Mekala Audain don publish one chapter wey dem title "A Scheme to Desert: The Louisiana Purchase and Freedom Seekers in the Louisiana-Texas Borderlands, 1804–1806" for di book wey dem edit call In Search of Liberty: African American Internationalism for di Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World. Maria Esther Hammack finish her PhD on top di matter for 2021 for di University of Texas for Austin.

"Reverse Underground Railroad"

Main article: Kidnapping into slavery in the United States

Freedom seekers no be di only black people wey dey risk from slave catchers. Di demand for slaves dey high for di Deep South as dem dey plant cotton, strong, healthy blacks wey dey for dia best working and reproductive years dem dey see am as valuable goods. Both former slaves and free blacks fit suffer kidnap and sold as slaves, like di case wey dem sabi of Solomon Northup, wey be New York-born free black wey dem kidnap by Southern slavers as he dey visit Washington, DC. "Certificates of freedom", or "free papers", na signed and notarized statements wey show say individual Blacks be free. Dem fit easily destroy or steal am, so e no dey provide strong protection.

Some buildings, like Crenshaw House for far-southeastern Illinois, na places wey people sabi say dem dey sell free blacks into slavery, dem dey call am di "Reverse Underground Railroad."

American Revolutionary War routes (1775 to 1783)

See also: Black Company of Pioneers

See also: Rose Fortune

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During American Revolution War, dem wey dey enslave run come out, dem go meet British, Canada, Florida, and Native American land. Last Royal Governor for Virginia, Lord Dunmore, plan to scatter American colonists by dropping proclamation for 1775 wey go free any enslaved wey run comot join British side. According to PBS and National Park Service article, this proclamation make about 100,000 people wey wan get freedom escape during the war. American colonial officers dey receive plenty request to bring back runaway slaves. For November 1775, Dunmore start military group of 300 freedom seekers for North Carolina wey dem call 'the Ethiopian Regiment.' For Virginia, 800 freedom seekers join this regiment.. American colonists dey try stop freedom seekers from joining British by sending slave patrols to catch dem, and dem dey publish newspaper talk say British no go do anything about their promise to free runaway slaves. Plenty free and enslaved Black people fight with British in hope say dem go fit get freedom. Dem call dem Black Loyalists. Black Loyalists wey serve with British for one year collect Certificates of Freedom and dem carry dem go live as free people for Bahamas and Jamaica, some even go Canada. Between 1783 and 1785, 3,000 enslaved and free Black Americans settle for British colony wey dem dey call Nova Scotia, Canada. Other enslaved people run come join Continental Army or Patriot militias. Black Americans wey fight for Continental Army dem call Black Patriots, and some of dem earn their freedom through their military work. Some enslaved wey run use their master horse take escape during war..

War of 1812 routes

See also: Slavery in Canada

William Williams be one runaway wey dem dey hold before, plus e be Black Soldier for U.S. Army during War of 1812.

For di War of 1812, 700 enslaved people for Maryland run away from slavery. Bfore di war, people wey dey find freedom dey waka go Michigan Territory, cross Detroit River. As time dey go, plenty African Americans wey don escape dey increase for di territory. Territorial governor William Hull gree Peter Denison, wey be enslaved man, “one written license” make e fit form militia company of free Blacks and escaped slaves. Dem men be armed and trained but Hull scatter di militia. Some of di Black men for di militia run from slavery for British Canada. For di 18th century, dem dey practice slavery for Canada, and by 1793, dem don phase am out, but some Black Canadians still dey enslaved. For late 18th century and early 19th century, di route wey freedom seekers dey follow go south start from British Canada to finish for free American territories for di Old Northwest. By di War of 1812, slave laws for British Canada stop di continuation of slavery. Dis one change di final places wey freedom seekers for di United States dey look for, dey dey turn eye go north to Canada to take dem freedom. For di summer of 1812, Hull talk say enslaved runaways and free Blacks for di Michigan Territory be free citizens, and when war burst with Britain, Black citizens of Michigan carry arms fight di British. After him military service, Peter Denison and in family waka go north to Canada.

Black Refugees

For April 1814, British Army talk say dem go give freedom to enslaved Black Americans wey join dem military or choose freedom inside British colonies. For Chesapeake Region inside Virginia and Maryland plus coastal areas of Georgia, about 4,000 enslaved Black Americans escape from slavery. Inside the 4,000 freedom seekers wey don run away, 2,000 catch ship go Nova Scotia from September 1813 to August 1816 for naval vessels and private ships wey British plan and dem carry dem go Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for Canada, plus 400 freedom seekers wey go Trinidad for Caribbean. De Black people wey settle for British Canada dem dey call Black refugees wey run from slavery for United States and side with British during War of 1812.

Merikens

De Merikins be former enslaved Black Americans wey don escape slavery, join British military all-Black unit of Colonial Marines during War of 1812. When de war finish, dem carry dem go plenty British colonies to live as free people. About 700 Colonial Marines go Trinidad for Caribbean. Even though slavery dey legal for Trinidad, dem promise say dem go protect dem under commander Robert Mitchell. De former Black Americans dey call demself Merikens, na short form of 'Americans' and start new life for Trinidad inside six Company Villages for de southern side of de island. De Trinidad government dey provide Merikens with food, rations, clothes, and tools wey dem need to build dem home, and dem dey grow dem own food like corn, pumpkin, plantain, and rice..

The "Saltwater Railroad" freedom route

A scene in the Bahamas in 1884

From 1821 to 1861, people wey wan be free escape from Southeastern slave states like South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida go Bahamas through secret way dem dey call the "Saltwater Railroad." Before 1821, Florida be Spanish colony wey historians dey call Spanish Florida, where runaways fit dey free under Spanish law. But by 1821, America take over Florida. Free Blacks for Florida dey fear say dem fit go back to slavery under American law, so plenty free people run go Bahamas. From 1821 to 1825, Southern beaches for Florida be like safe haven for freedom seekers wey dey find boat wey go take dem go island. Some other freedom seekers even make their own canoes and boats and waka go Bahamas by demself..

Pipo wey dey suffer for USA, dem comot from South Florida side with boat go Bahamas.

By 1825, dem dey build Cape Florida Lighthouse (wey e dey Miami-Dade now) wey mess up for enslaved pipo wey wan run go night for boat off Florida coast because of di bright light wey fit show sailors how to dey come off Florida Reef. Di Bahamas dey attract enslaved pipo because dem get Black Seminoles and oda escapees dey. Di Bahamas be British controlled island wey for under local imperial practices, Black pipo fit own land, go school, and marry legal. Plus, in 1825, Britain talk say any escapee wey reach British lands go be free. Dis talk make plenty slaves for United States waka go di island. By di 1830s, historians dey estimate say at least 6,000 freedom seekers find dem way go di Bahamas, and by di 1840s, di Bahamas get plenty enslaved runaways more than any British colony for di Caribbean. Di actions of Britain wey wan free enslaved Americans scatter dem relationship with United States. For 1841, for di slave ship, Creole, slave revolt happen. Di Creole wey come from Virginia carry over one hundred enslaved pipo dey go New Orleans, Louisiana. Di enslaved pipo revolt, take control for di ship, and drive am go Nassau for di Bahamas. Dis revolt catch international eyes; di escapees face charge, but dem later free dem..

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

One portrait of freedom guy, Anthony Burns, wey dem catch under Fugitive Slave Law

For di Fugitive Slave Act wey come out for 1850, if dem catch suspected runaways and carry dem go meet di special magistrate wey dem dey call commissioner, dem no get right to trial for jury and dem no fit talk for demself. Between 1850 and 1860, 343 people wey dey find freedom don go meet commissioner, an 332 of dem go back to slavery. Commissioners go collect ten dollars if dem rule for slaveholder side, an if dem rule for di slave side, dem go collect five dollars. Technically, dem no dey accuse anybody of crime. Di marshal or private slave-catcher just need swear oath to collect writ wey go allow dem carry back property. Dem go charge person wey help freedom seeker escape fine of 1,000 dollars.

Congress dey under Southern men hand because dem population for their states rise sharp with three-fifths of slaves wey dey count. Dem pass Fugitive Slave Law for 1850 because dem vex say people from slavery dey run come out, and even government no dey help dem. For some part of North, slave catchers dey need police support. According to author Andrew Delbanco, "Northerners start sabi say slavery no be only Southern wahala after dem pass the 1850 law." Before American Civil War, nation dey split on how to manage runaway slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act make matter worse as Southern slave owners get power to carry back freedom seekers wey don escape to North and drag dem go back South. Northerners sef get law wey go make dem help return runaways

Some freedom seekers like Anthony Burns, John Price, Shadrach Minkins, Stephen Pembroke and him two pikin plus others dey arrest under this law. Abolitionists dey use this cases push slavery matter enter national gist; dem dey argue say di way enslaved people dey run away fit show say we need to end slavery.

Some weeks after dem pass fugitive slave law, the Black people for Northern cities begin dey reduce as plenty formerly enslaved African Americans waka go Canada because dem dey fear say dem go fit catch dem and re-enslave dem. For August 1, 1834, Britain come abolish slavery for Canada and everywhere wey British Empire dey, make Canada beta place for American slaves and free Blacks wey dey find freedom. For Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, plenty Black waiters wey dey work for hotel run go Canada. Columbia for Pennsylvania Black population drop by half. Between mid-February and early March 1851, one hundred free African Americans and fugitives run away from Boston. Abolitionists for Detroit, Michigan carry 1,200 free people go Canada. By December 1850, dem estimate say 3,000 African Americans don find shelter for Canada.

American Civil War routes (1861 to 1865)

See also: Contraband (American Civil War)

Dem wey run away from slavery come join Union side for Civil War, dem dey call am contraband.

For di American Civil War, di Union Army catch Southern towns like Beaufort for South Carolina, St. Simons Island for Georgia, and plenty other places, and dem set camp. Because of dat, enslaved people wey dey nearby plantations escape from slavery come run go meet Union lines for freedom and to join fight for di Union Army. American historian Eric Foner talk am for him book, Gateway to Freedom: Di Hidden History of di Underground Railroad, say: "...di Civil War really change di chances wey dey available for slaves wey wan find freedom. As soon as federal troops show up for Maryland, wey mean di war don start, slaves dey find safety with di Union..." Susie King Taylor be born slave for Liberty County, Georgia, e come escape from slavery with her family go meet Union line for St. Catherine's Island, Georgia, thanks to her uncle wey help am take waka for federal gunboat wey dey sail near Fort Pulaski wey Confederate get. Plus, plenty enslaved Black Americans don run away from slavery go meet Union line for South Carolina Sea Islands. For 1861, Jarvis Harvey sef escape from slavery, e waka go Union line for Fortress Monroe, Virginia. Robert Sutton come born slave for Alberti Plantation near Florida border wey dey with Georgia, during Civil War, e build canoe escape come Port Royal, South Carolina, where Black Americans dey free from slavery after Battle of Port Royal, and he join to fight for the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Prince Rivers flee from slavery too, e find freedom for Union line for Port Royal after him enslaver don run come Beaufort when Union Navy and Army show up. Rivers later join to fight for the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment. On May 12, 1862, Robert Smalls and sixteen enslaved people escape from slavery during Civil War on top Confederate ship, dem sail am out of Charleston Harbor go meet Union blockade for South Carolina.

Contraband camps dey start during di Civil War, e give shelter and protection for di new free people wey dey area wey Union get control for di South.

Underground Railroad agents dey change their plans and escape route near Union camps becos plenty freedom seekers dey run enter Union territory instead of North. For example, Kansas become state for 1861, and dem ban slavery for there. During Civil War, abolitionists, free staters, and Jayhawkers dey help free people wey escape slavery from Missouri (wey be slave state wey dey near Kansas) and carry dem back to Kansas as war contraband. One article from National Park Service talk how Civil War change the escape routes and where freedom seekers dey go: "But as Union troops show for border states, islands for Atlantic coast, and lower Mississippi Valley, e be like thousands of blacks take chance to free themselves by running go Yankee (Union) camps. Dem first plan to send dem back to their masters no last. The runaways become 'contraband,' or war property. Plenty of dem sharp sharp find work inside Union lines and their family members come start join dem."

Contraband dey for General Lafayette base for Yorktown, Virginia

Di word contraband na wetin Union General Benjamin Butler give di enslaved wey run away. For 1861, three enslaved guys for Norfolk, Virginia, Shepard Mallory, Frank Baker, and James Townsend, don run comot slavery go Union lines for Fort Monroe. Butler no gree follow di Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 wey say make dem return escaped slaves to dem masters. Instead, Butler hold di three guys because dem be 'property' of di Confederate States and no be di United States wey pass di Fugitive Slave Act. Article from di National Trust for Historical Preservation talk say: '...Butler sabi say e no make sense to respect di Fugitive Slave Law wey dey force am return di three guys to dem owner. Dem dey help build one Confederate battery wey dey threaten im fort. Why go send dem back come help dem? So di general comot one smart solution: Because Virginia don comot from di Union, im argue say e no fit return di guys again. Rather, according to military law wey dey govern war, im go take di three guys as contraband—property wey enemy go use against di Union.'

Plaque wey go make us remember Corinth Contraband Camp

As Civil War dey go on, places for South and border states turn refugee camps for people wey wan free dey seek better life. Washington D.C. na big refugee zone during the war. For April 16, 1862, Congress pass Compensated Emancipation Act wey komot slavery for District of Columbia. After dem pass this law, plenty freedom seekers from Virginia and Maryland escape come find freedom for District of Columbia, and by 1863, 10,000 refugees (former runaway slaves) dey inside city, plus dem numbers don double Black population for Washington, D.C. During the war, people wey dey enslave for Beaufort County, South Carolina escape from slavery and run go Union lines for Beaufort because African Americans for the county don free after the Battle of Port Royal on November 7, 1861 when plantation owners don japa as Union Navy and Army land. So e be say, dem start one refugee camp to give safety and protection to people wey wan find freedom. At first, na sixty to seventy people dey run from dem wahala, but as time pass, refugees grow reach 320. The Union Army no get enough food and clothes to take care of dem. Free men, women, and pikin for Beaufort's refugee camp dey collect money to work for the Union as cooks, laundry people, servants, and carpenters. Union force don occupy Corinth, Mississippi and slaves wey dey near palm plantation don run come meet Union lines. To fit help the freedom seekers, general Grenville M. Dodge create the Corinth Contraband Camp wey get houses, schools, hospitals, churches, and paid jobs for African Americans. Dem talk say Corinth Contraband Camp provide new life for 6,000 former slaves..

Union Navy and Emancipation

Free Blacks and pple wey don escape slavery join to fight for Union Army and Navy.

The Secretary of Navy for dat Civil War na Gideon Welles. For September 1861, Welles talk say both enslaved and free African Americans fit join the Union Navy as 'Boy' rating. Union ships wey dey for Southern ports dey collect plenty runaways wey escape slavery with small boats to join ships wey dey for Union territory. Benjamin Gould, for him journal, jot down say by September 22, 1862, eight freedom seekers land for USS Cambridge plus 20 more wey come two weeks later. One of dem wey escape be William Gould, wey later join the Union Navy fight against Confederacy from 1862 to 1865. The Union ship USS Harftford help to free enslaved people as e dey waka go up Mississippi River. Bartholomew Diggins wey serve for the ship remember how dem dey free the enslaved. He talk say: 'we dey pick many negroes wey dey waka come join the ships for small boats anytime we anchor.' Other Union ships like USS Essex and USS Iroquois join for the liberation too. Some Union soldiers and sailors even carry escape slaves go back to their masters.. By the end of the war, 179,000 formerly enslaved and free Black Americans don fight for Union Army, and 21,000 don fight for Union Navy.

From the American Revolution War, go through the War of 1812, and then the Civil War, the Underground Railroad help plenty people, sometimes thousands of African Americans escape.

Legal and political

When North and South dey clash for Civil War, many Black people, whether dem dey suffer or dem free, join fight for Union Army.[After Union win for Civil War, on December 6, 1865, dem pass Thirteenth Amendment wey say slavery no go happen again, unless na punishment for crime. After dem pass am, sometimes the Underground Railroad dey run opposite as people wey don escape for Canada dey come back go United States

Criticism

Frederick Douglass be writer and speaker wey don escape slavery. E write serious matter about how some of our western people dey show off di so-called Underground Railroad for him first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845):

I no like di way some of our friends dey carry di Underground Railroad matter like say na big show, but I feel say, from wetin dem dey talk, na upperground railroad dem dey run.

E continue talk say, even though e respect di movement, e believe say all dis noise go help di slave-owners pass di slaves, because e go make dem dey watch everywhere and e go hard for future slaves to run away.

Arrival in Canada

See also: American immigration to Canada and Slavery in Canada

International Underground Railroad Memorial for Windsor, Ontario

John Brown dey chop dem Underground Railroad as one abolitionist.

British North America (wey be Canada now) na better place to land, cause e get long border wey plenty access, far from slave catchers, plus e no dey come under US Fugitive Slave Acts. Plus, slavery don end long time before for Canada than for US. Britain ban slavery for Canada (and most British colonies) for 1833, but slavery don already dey finish for Canada for early 19th century because of court decisions wey slaves dey use to seek freedom.

Plenty former slaves wey waka come Canada by boat through Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, settle for Ontario. Dem dey talk say over 30,000 people don escape go there through the network during wetin dem call di peak period for 20 years, but U.S. census fit only count like 6,000. Plenty stories of fugitives dey for 1872 book wey dem call The Underground Railroad Records by William Still, wey be abolitionist wey dey run Philadelphia Vigilance Committee. Estimates dey vary, but at least 30,000 slaves fit don escape go Canada through di Underground Railroad. Di biggest group settle for Upper Canada (Ontario), wey dem dey call Canada West since 1841. Plenty Black Canadian communities come develop for Southern Ontario, usually for di triangle wey Niagara Falls, Toronto, and Windsor dey. Some villages full with people wey dem don free from slavery establish for Kent and Essex counties for Ontario.

Fort Malden, wey dey for Amherstburg, Ontario, na di main entry point for slaves wey wan enter Canada. Levi Coffin, wey be abolitionist wey help like 2,000 fugitives find safety, support dis place. E describe Fort Malden as di big landing point, di main stop for di underground railroad for di west. After 1850, about thirty pipol each day dey cross go Fort Malden by steamboat. Sultana be one of di ships wey dey make 'frequent round trips' from Great Lakes ports. Im captain, C.W. Appleby, wey dem sabi well-well as mariner, help plenty fugitives from different Lake Erie ports to Fort Malden. Other fugitives for Fort Malden get support from William Wells Brown, wey be person wey don escape slavery too. E find job for one Lake Erie steamer and carry many fugitives from Cleveland go Ontario through Buffalo or Detroit. 'E dey well-known,' e talk say, 'say plenty fugitives dey escape go Canada through Cleveland. Di friends of di slave, sabi say I go carry dem free of charge, no be small, always get people when di boat land for Cleveland. Sometimes I go fit get four or five people aboard at once.'

Martha Coffin Wright dey run her house for Auburn, New York as one stop for Underground Railroad, and Harriet Tubman sabi come there well well when she dey do her rescue work. Wright house join other safe houses for New York wey go fit take people go Canada.

Anoda place wey dey important na Nova Scotia, wey Black Loyalists first settle during American Revolution, and later Black Refugees come dey land during War of 1812 (make you check Black Nova Scotians). Important Black settlements still develop inside other parts of British North America (wey be Canada now). Dis one include Lower Canada (wey be Quebec now) and Vancouver Island, where Governor James Douglas dey encourage Black people make dem come join because e no like slavery. E also dey hope say big Black community go fit stand strong against those wey wan join di island to United States.

When dem reach dem destinations, plenty freedom seekers dey vex, as life for Canada no easy. Even though dem no dey fear slave catchers because dem dey different country, racial discrimination still dey everywhere. Many of dem wey just land, dey compete with plenty European immigrants for jobs, and heavy racism dey common. For example, as dem settle Black Loyalists for eastern Canada by the Crown, Saint John for New Brunswick change dem charter for 1785 to make sure say Blacks no fit practice any trade, sell goods, fish for harbor, or become freemen; dem laws dey stand until 1870.

When Civil War start for U.S., plenty black people wey dey Canada pack go join Union Army. Some later come back to Canada, but plenty stay for United States. Many others go back to the American South after the war finish. Di wan wey dem wan reconnect with friends and family strong well, and most dem dey hopeful say emancipation and Reconstruction go bring better things.

Folklore

Main articles: Quilts of the Underground Railroad and Songs of the Underground Railroad

Dem dey talk say, from di 1980s, people don dey talk say quilt designs be way wey dem fit use signal and show enslaved people how to escape. Some pipo wey believe dis quilt theory talk say ten quilt patterns dey show enslaved people wetin to do. Dem go place di quilts one by one for fence, so dem fit alert di pipo wey dey run. Di code get double meaning: first, to tell dem say make dem prepare to run, and second, to show dem direction for di journey.

But people dey argue di quilt design theory. Di first published work wey document oral history na 1999, and di first book wey publish dis theory be for 1980, na children book. Quilt historians and people wey sabi pre-Civil War (1820–1860) America don argue dis story well well. No evidence dey show say any quilt code dey, and quilt historians like Pat Cummings and Barbara Brackman don raise serious questions about di idea. Plus, Underground Railroad historian Giles Wright don publish pamphlet wey dey debunk di quilt code.

Some popular but no academic sources dey claim say spiritual songs and other songs like "Steal Away" or "Follow di Drinking Gourd" get coded information wey help pipo find their way for di railroad. But dem no fit find enough evidence to back their talks. Scholars dey believe say, though di slave songs fit show say dem get hope for better life from di wahala for dis world, dem songs no really provide help for di runaway slaves.

The Underground Railroad be inspiration for plenty culture works. Like how dem get 'Song of the Free', wey dem write am for 1860 about one guy wey dey run from slavery for Tennessee to Canada, and e dey groove to 'Oh! Susanna' beat. Every verse wey dem write dey talk about Canada as di place wey 'colored men dey free'. Slavery for Upper Canada (now Ontario) don chop finish since 1793; in 1819, John Robinson, di Attorney General for Upper Canada, talk say as you dey live for Canada, black people dey free, and di Canadian courts go make sure say dem freedom dey safe. After one court ruling for 1803, slavery for Canada start dey fade fast and dem finally ban am totally for 1834.

Notable people

• Ann Bamford
• John Brown
• Owen Brown (poppie)
• Owen Brown (son)
• Samuel Burris
• Obadiah Bush
• Levi Coffin
• Elizabeth Rous Comstock
• George Corson
• Moses Dickson
• Frederick Douglass
• Asa Drury
• George Hussey Earle Sr.
• Calvin Fairbank
• Bartholomew Fussell
• Matilda Joslyn Gage
• Thomas Galt
• Thomas Garrett
• Sydney Howard Gay
• Josiah Bushnell Grinnell
• Frances Harper
• Laura Smith Haviland
• Lewis Hayden
• John Hunn
• Roger Hooker Leavitt
• Jermain Wesley Loguen
• Samuel Joseph May
• John Berry Meachum
• Mary Meachum
• Cynthia Catlin Miller
• William M. Mitchell
• Solomon Northup
• John Parker
• Elijah F. Pennypacker
• Mary Ellen Pleasant
• John Wesley Posey
• Amy and Isaac Post
• Peter Quire
• John Rankin
• Alexander Milton Ross
• David Ruggles
• Gerrit Smith
• George Luther Stearns
• William Still
• John Ton
• Charles Turner Torrey
• William Troy
• Harriet Tubman
• Martha Coffin Wright
• John Van Zandt
• Bernardhus Van Leer
• Silvia den John Webber
• Edward Wetherill

National Underground Railroad Network

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park for Dorchester County, Maryland

E be di law wey dem pass for 1990 make di National Park Service do special study for di Underground Railroad. For 1997, di 105th Congress bring H.R. 1635 come wey dem pass am as di National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1998, wey President Bill Clinton sign for law that year. Dis law gree di National Park Service make dem create di National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program make dem fit find di sites wey dey related, preserve dem, and make di Underground Railroad and di stories of di people wey do di work popular. Di National Park Service don mark plenty sites for di network, dem dey post stories about di people and places, sponsor essay contest, and hold national conference about di Underground Railroad for May or June every year.

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, wey get Underground Railroad routes for three counties for Maryland East Shore and where Harriet Tubman born, na President Barack Obama create am under the Antiquities Act for March 25, 2013. Dem also get sister park, Harriet Tubman National Historical Park for Auburn, New York, wey dem establish for January 10, 2017, wey dey focus on the later years of Tubman life and how she take join the Underground Railroad and the abolition movement.

International Underground Railroad Month

Na dem designate de month of September International Underground Railroad Month, secof na September be de month Harriet Tubman den Frederick Douglass escape from slavery.

Insyd popular culture

De Underground Railroad be memorialized for de reverse of de 2023 Ohio American Innovation dollar top

Inspirations give fiction

• The Underground Railroad be a 2016 novel by Colson Whitehead. Na e win de 2016 National Book Award den de 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
• The Underground Railroad be a 2021 streaming television limited series, dey base on Whitehead ein novel.
• Underground be an American television series wey dem premier insyd 2016, for WGN America top.

Literature

• David Walker (1829) Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World
• Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852) Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Caroline Lee Hentz (1854) The Planter's Northern Bride
• William M. Mitchell (1860) The Under-Ground Railroad
• Sarah Hopkins Bradford (1869) Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman; (1896) Harriet Tubman, Moses of Her People
• Barbara Smucker, (1977) Underground to Canada

Music

Na Underground Railroad be a company wey be created by Tupac Shakur, Big D de Impossible, Shock G, Pee Wee, Jeremy, Raw Fusion den Live Squad plus de purpose of make dem promote den help young black women den men plus creating records, wey dey allow dem to initiate den develop dema musical careers.

Comics

Insyd Big Jim and the White Boy, David F. Walker den Marcus Kwame Anderson dema upcoming graphic novel retelling of Mark Twain ein Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Big Jim den Huck cam be Underground Railroad agents as dem journey thru Civil War-era United States make dem rescue de former ein enslaved family.

See also

• Ausable Chasm, NY, home of the North Star Underground Railroad Museum
• Caroline Quarlls (1824–1892), first known person to escape slavery through Wisconsin's Underground Railroad
• Fort Mose Historic State Park
• Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History near Dresden, Ontario
• List of Underground Railroad sites
• Tilly Escape
• Timbuctoo, New York

Notes

References

Sources

• Bird, Tyson (January 28, 2021). "The Little Known History of Texas' Underground Railroad". Texas Highways (in American English). Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
• Blight, David W., ed. (2004). Passages to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in History and Memory. Smithsonian Books. ISBN 1-58834-157-7.
• Bordewich, Fergus M. (2005). Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-052430-8.
• Brown, William W. (1848). Narrative of William W. Brown, a fugitive slave (2nd ed.). Boston: The Anti-slavery Office.
• Burnett, John (February 28, 2021). "A Chapter In U.S. History Often Ignored: The Flight Of Runaway Slaves To Mexico". Georgia Public Broadcasting (in English). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-08. (heard on All Things Considered)
• Calarco, Tom (2008). People of the Underground Railroad: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313339240. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
• —; Vogel, Cynthia; Grover, Kathryn; Hallstrom, Rae; Pope, Sharron L.; Waddy-Thibodeaux, Melissa (2011). Places of the Underground Railroad: A Geographical Guide. Bloomsbury Academic. doi:10.5040/9798400697135. ISBN 978-0313381461.
• Chadwick, Bruce (2000). Traveling the Underground Railroad: A Visitor's Guide to More Than 300 Sites. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2093-0.
• Contreras, Russell (September 16, 2020a). "Story of the Underground Railroad to Mexico gains attention". The Washington Post (in American English). ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
• — (September 17, 2020b). "Story of the Underground Railroad to Mexico gains attention". Sentinel Colorado (in American English). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
• Crable, Margaret (February 1, 2021). "USC Dornsife historian uncovers the Underground Railroad that ran to Mexico > News > USC Dornsife". Dornsife, University of Southern California (in English). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-05.</ref>
• Foner, Eric (2015). Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-393-35219-1.
• Forbes, Ella (1998). But We Have No Country: The 1851 Christiana Pennsylvania Resistance. Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers. ISBN 978-0965330817.
• Frost, Karolyn Smardz; Osei, Kwasi (2007). I've Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-16481-2.
• Griffler, Keith P. (2004). Front Line of Freedom: African Americans and the Forging of the Underground Railroad in the Ohio Valley. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2298-8. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
• Hagedorn, Ann (2004). Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-87066-5.
• Hendrick, George; Hendrick, Willene (2003). Fleeing for Freedom: Stories of the Underground Railroad As Told by Levi Coffin and William Still. Ivan R. Dee Publisher. ISBN 1-56663-546-2.

• Hudson, J. Blaine (2002). Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad in the Kentucky Borderland. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-1345-X.
• — (January 9, 2015). Encyclopedia of the Underground Railroad. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 9781476602301. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
• LaRoche, Cheryl Janifer (2014). Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: The Geography of Resistance. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
• Little, Becky (October 25, 2018). "Forgotten History: Mexico accepted slave migrants fleeing the U.S." Vallarta Daily News (in American English). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
• — (January 29, 2021). "The Little-Known Underground Railroad That Ran South to Mexico". HISTORY (in English). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
• Potter, David M. (1976). The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-131929-5.
• "Operating the Underground Railroad". National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
• "Part 4: 1831–1865 Narrative, The Underground Railroad". Africans in America c. 1780–1862: Judgment Day. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2017.

Read further

• Blackett, R.J.M. (2013). Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-4696-0877-8.
• Bolton, S. Charles (2019). Fugitivism: Escaping Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley, 1820–1860. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 9781682260999.
• Clifford Larson, Kate (2004). Bound For the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-45627-0.
• Curtis, Anna L. (1941). Stories of the Underground Railroad. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. (Stories about Thomas Garrett, a famous agent on the Underground Railroad)
• Diemer, Andrew K. (2022). Vigilance: The Life of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780593534380.
• Frost, Karolyn Smardz (2007). I've Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374531256.
• Still, William (1872). The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, &c., Narrating the Hardships, Hair-Breadth Escapes and Death Struggles of the Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom, As Related by Themselves and Others, or Witnessed by the Author. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates. (Classic book documenting the Underground Railroad operations in Philadelphia).
  • Public domain ebook at Project Gutenberg.
  • "Book at Internet Archive". 1872.
• Strother, Horatio T. (1962). The Underground Railroad in Connecticut. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819560124.
• Turner, Glennette Tilley (2001). The Underground Railroad in Illinois. Newman Educational Pub. ISBN 978-0938990055.
• Walker, Timothy Dale, ed. (2021). Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-1625345936.
• Whitehead, Colson (2016). The Underground Railroad. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-54236-4.; winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2017 for its poetical, mythical reflection on the meaning of the Railroad in American history.

Folklore den myth

• "Documentary Evidence is Missing on Underground Railroad Quilts". historyofquilts.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2004.
• "New Jersey's Underground Railroad Myth-Buster: Giles Wright is on a Mission to Fine Tune Black History". Historic Camden County.
• "Putting it in Perspective: The Symbolism of Underground Railroad quilts". quilthistory.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2004.
• "Underground Railroad Quilts & Abolitionist Fairs". Womenfolk.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2004.

External links

• Underground Railroad – National Park Service
  • Underground Railroad: Language of Slavery
• Underground Railroad Studies
• Underground Railroad Timeline
• Friends of the Underground Railroad
• National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
• Underground Railroad in Buffalo and Upstate New York: A bibliography by The Buffalo History Museum
• Newspaper articles and clippings about the Underground Railroad at Newspapers.com