Underground Railroad - wikipedia Underground Railroad For train transportation used underground, see Rapid transit. For other uses, see Underground Railroad ( disambiguation ). Map of various Underground Railroad escape routes in the Northern United States and Canada The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, and used by African - American slaves to escape into free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists, both black and white, free and enslaved, who aided the fugitives. Various other routes led to Mexico or overseas. An earlier escape route running south toward Florida, then a Spanish possession ( except 1763 -- 83 ), existed from the late 17th century until Florida became a United States territory in 1821 ( and ending the safe haven for escaped slaves was the main reason it changed nationality ). However, the network now generally known as the Underground Railroad was formed in the late 1700s, ran north to the free states and Canada, and reached its height between 1850 and 1860. One estimate suggests that by 1850, 100,000 slaves had escaped via the `` Railroad ''. British North America ( present - day Canada ), where slavery was prohibited, was a popular destination, as its long border gave many points of access. Most former slaves settled in Ontario. More than 30,000 people were said to have escaped there via the network during its 20 - year peak period, although U.S. Census figures account for only 6,000. Numerous fugitives ' stories are documented in the 1872 book The Underground Railroad Records by William Still, an abolitionist who then headed the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee. Contents 1 Political background 2 Structure 3 Route 3.1 Traveling conditions 3.2 Terminology 3.3 National Underground Railroad Network 4 Folklore 5 Legal and political 6 Criticism 7 Arrival in Canada 8 Notable people 9 Related events 10 Inspirations for fiction 11 Contemporary literature 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 Further reading 15.1 Folklore and myth 16 External links Political background At its peak, nearly 1,000 slaves per year escaped from slave - holding states using the Underground Railroad -- more than 5,000 court cases for escaped slaves were recorded -- many fewer than the natural increase of the enslaved population. The resulting economic impact was minuscule, but the psychological influence on slaveholders was immense. Under the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, officials from free states were required to assist slaveholders or their agents who recaptured runaway slaves, but citizens and governments of many free states ignored the law, and the Underground Railroad thrived. With heavy lobbying by southern politicians, the Compromise of 1850 was passed by Congress after the Mexican -- American War. It stipulated a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law ; ostensibly, the compromise addressed regional problems by compelling officials of free states to assist slave catchers, granting them immunity to operate in free states. Because the law required sparse documentation to claim a person was a fugitive, slave catchers also kidnapped free blacks, especially children, and sold them into slavery. Southern politicians often exaggerated the number of escaped slaves and often blamed these escapes on Northerners interfering with Southern property rights. The law deprived suspected slaves of the right to defend themselves in court, making it difficult to prove free status. In a de facto bribe, judges were paid a higher fee ( $10 ) for a decision that confirmed a suspect as a slave than for one ruling that the suspect was free ( $5 ). Many Northerners who might have ignored slave issues in the South were confronted by local challenges that bound them to support slavery. This was a primary grievance cited by the Union during the American Civil War, and the perception that Northern States ignored the fugitive slave law was a major justification for secession. Structure See also : Vigilance committee Harriet Tubman ( photo H.B. Lindsley ), c. 1870. A worker on the Underground Railroad, Tubman made 13 trips to the South, helping to free over 70 people. She led people to the northern free states and Canada. This helped Harriet Tubman gain the name `` Moses of Her People ''. Quaker abolitionist Levi Coffin and his wife Catherine helped more than 2,000 slaves escape to freedom. The escape network was not literally underground nor a railroad. It was figuratively `` underground '' in the sense of being an underground resistance. It was known as a `` railroad '' by way of the use of rail terminology in the code. The Underground Railroad consisted of meeting points, secret routes, transportation, and safe houses, and personal assistance provided by abolitionist sympathizers. Participants generally organized in small, independent groups ; this helped to maintain secrecy because individuals knew some connecting `` stations '' along the route but knew few details of their immediate area. Escaped slaves would move north along the route from one way station to the next. `` Conductors '' on the railroad came from various backgrounds and included free - born blacks, white abolitionists, former slaves ( either escaped or manumitted ), and Native Americans. Church clergy and congregations often played a role, especially the Religious Society of Friends ( Quakers ), Congregationalists, Wesleyans, and Reformed Presbyterians, as well as certain sects of mainstream denominations such as branches of the Methodist church and American Baptists. Without the presence and support of free black residents, there would have been almost no chance for fugitive slaves to pass into freedom unmolested. Route To reduce the risk of infiltration, many people associated with the Underground Railroad knew only their part of the operation and not of the whole scheme. `` Conductors '' led or transported the fugitives from station to station. A conductor sometimes pretended to be a slave in order to enter a plantation. Once a part of a plantation, the conductor would direct the runaways to the North. Slaves traveled at night, about 10 -- 20 miles ( 16 -- 32 km ) to each station. They rested, and then a message was sent to the next station to let the station master know the runaways were on their way. They would stop at the so - called `` stations '' or `` depots '' during the day and rest. The stations were often located in barns, under church floors, or in hiding places in caves and hollowed - out riverbanks. The resting spots where the runaways could sleep and eat were given the code names `` stations '' and `` depots '', which were held by `` station masters ''. `` Stockholders '' gave money or supplies for assistance. Using biblical references, fugitives referred to Canada as the `` Promised Land '' or `` Heaven '' and the Ohio River as the `` River Jordan '', which marked the boundary between slave states and free states. Struggle for freedom in a Maryland barn. Engraving from William Still 's The Underground Rail Road, p. 50 Traveling conditions Eastman Johnson, A Ride for Liberty -- The Fugitive Slaves, oil on paperboard, 22 × 26.25 inches, circa 1862, Brooklyn Museum Although the fugitives sometimes traveled on boat or train, they usually traveled on foot or by wagon in groups of one to three slaves. Some groups were considerably larger. Abolitionist Charles Turner Torrey and his colleagues rented horses and wagons and often transported as many as 15 or 20 slaves at a time. Routes were often purposely indirect to confuse pursuers. Most escapes were by individuals or small groups ; occasionally, there were mass escapes, such as with the Pearl incident. The journey was often considered particularly difficult and dangerous for women or children. Children were sometimes hard to keep quiet or were unable to keep up with a group. In addition, enslaved women were rarely allowed to leave the plantation, making it harder for them to escape in the same ways that men could. Although escaping was harder for women, some women were successful. One of the most famous and successful conductors ( people who secretly traveled into slave states to rescue those seeking freedom ) was Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave woman. Due to the risk of discovery, information about routes and safe havens was passed along by word of mouth. Southern newspapers of the day were often filled with pages of notices soliciting information about escaped slaves and offering sizable rewards for their capture and return. Federal marshals and professional bounty hunters known as slave catchers pursued fugitives as far as the Canada -- US border. Fugitives were not the only black people at risk from slavecatchers. With demand for slaves high in the Deep South as cotton was developed, strong, healthy blacks in their prime working and reproductive years were seen and treated as highly valuable commodities. Both former slaves and free blacks were sometimes kidnapped and sold into slavery, as was Solomon Northup of Saratoga Springs, New York. `` Certificates of freedom, '' signed, notarized statements attesting to the free status of individual blacks also known as free papers, could easily be destroyed or stolen, so provided little protection to bearers. Some buildings, such as the Crenshaw House in far southeastern Illinois, are known sites where free blacks were sold into slavery, known as the `` Reverse Underground Railroad ''. Under the terms of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, when suspected fugitives were seized and brought to a special magistrate known as a commissioner, they had no right to a jury trial and could not testify in their own behalf. Technically, they were guilty of no crime. The marshal or private slave - catcher needed only to swear an oath to acquire a writ of replevin for the return of property. Congress was dominated by southern Congressmen, as apportionment was based on three - fifths of the number of slaves being counted in population totals. They passed the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 because of frustration at having fugitive slaves helped by the public and even official institutions outside the South. In some parts of the North, slave - catchers needed police protection to exercise their federal authority. Opposition to slavery did not mean that all states welcomed free blacks. For instance, Indiana, whose area along the Ohio River was settled by Southerners, passed a constitutional amendment that barred free blacks from settling in that state. Terminology 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 '' Hiding places were `` stations '' or `` way stations '' `` Station masters '' hid slaves in their homes Escaped slaves were referred to as `` passengers '' or `` cargo '' Slaves would obtain a `` ticket '' Similar to common gospel lore, the `` wheels would keep on turning '' Financial benefactors of the Railroad were known as `` stockholders '' The Big Dipper ( whose `` bowl '' points to the North Star ) was known as the drinkin ' gourd. The Railroad was often known as the `` freedom train '' or `` Gospel train '', which headed towards `` Heaven '' or `` the Promised Land '', i.e., Canada. William Still, sometimes called `` The Father of the Underground Railroad '', helped hundreds of slaves to escape ( as many as 60 a month ), sometimes hiding them in his Philadelphia home. He kept careful records, including short biographies of the people, that contained frequent railway metaphors. He maintained correspondence with many of them, often acting as a middleman in communications between escaped slaves and those left behind. He later published these accounts in the book The Underground Railroad : Authentic Narratives and First - Hand Accounts ( 1872 ), a valuable resource for historians to understand how the system worked and learn about individual ingenuity in escapes. According to Still, messages were often encoded so that they could be understood only by those active in the railroad. For example, the following message, `` I have sent via at two o'clock four large hams and two small hams '', indicated that four adults and two children were sent by train from Harrisburg to Philadelphia. The additional word via indicated that the `` passengers '' were not sent on the usual train, but rather via Reading, Pennsylvania. In this case, the authorities were tricked into going to the regular location ( station ) in an attempt to intercept the runaways, while Still met them at the correct station and guided them to safety. They eventually escaped either to the North or to Canada, where slavery had been abolished during the 1830s. National Underground Railroad network Following upon legislation passed in 1990, in 1997, Congress passed H.R. 1635, which President Bill Clinton signed into law, and which authorized the United States National Park Service to establish the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program to identify associated sites, as well as preserve them and popularize the Underground Railroad and stories of people involved in it. The National Park Service has designated many sites within the network, posted stories about people and places, sponsors an essay contest, and holds a national conference about the Underground Railroad in May or June each year. Folklore Main articles : Quilts of the Underground Railroad and Songs of the 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, ten quilt patterns 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. The quilt design theory is disputed. The first published work documenting an oral history source was in 1999, and the first publication of this theory is believed to be a 1980 children 's book. Quilt historians and scholars of pre-Civil - War America have disputed this legend. There is no contemporary evidence of any sort of quilt code, and quilt historians such as Pat Cummings and Barbara Brackman have raised serious questions about the idea. In addition, Underground Railroad historian Giles Wright has published a pamphlet debunking the quilt code. Similarly, some popular, nonacademic sources claim that spirituals and other songs, such as `` Steal Away '' or `` Follow the Drinking Gourd '', contained coded information and helped individuals navigate the railroad. They have offered little evidence to support their claims. Scholars tend to believe that while the slave songs may certainly have expressed hope for deliverance from the sorrows of this world, these songs did not present literal help for runaway slaves. The Underground Railroad inspired cultural works. For example, `` Song of the Free '', written in 1860 about a man fleeing slavery in Tennessee by escaping to Canada, was composed to the tune of `` Oh ! Susanna ''. Every stanza ends with a reference to Canada as the land `` where colored men are free ''. Slavery in Upper Canada ( now Ontario ) was outlawed in 1793 ; in 1819, John Robinson, the Attorney General of Upper Canada, declared that by residing in Canada, black residents were set free, and that Canadian courts would protect their freedom. Slavery in Canada as a whole had been in rapid decline after an 1803 court ruling, and was finally abolished outright in 1834. Legal and political When frictions between North and South culminated in the Civil War, many blacks, slave and free, fought for the Union Army. Following Union victory in the Civil War, on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution outlawed slavery. Following its passage, in some cases the Underground Railroad operated in the opposite direction, as fugitives returned to the United States. Criticism Frederick Douglass, writer, statesman, and an escaped slave, wrote critically of the Underground Railroad in his seminal autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave : I have never approved of the very public manner in which some of our western friends have conducted what they call the Underground Railroad, but which I think, by their open declarations, has been made most emphatically the upperground railroad. He went on to say that, although he honors the movement, he feels that the efforts serve more to enlighten the slave - owners than the slaves, making them more watchful and making it more difficult for future slaves to escape. Arrival in Canada International Underground Railroad Memorial in Windsor, Ontario John Brown participated in the Underground Railroad. Estimates vary widely, but at least 30,000 slaves, and potentially more than 100,000, escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. The largest group settled in Upper Canada ( Ontario ), called Canada West from 1841. Numerous Black Canadian communities developed in Southern Ontario. These were generally in the triangular region bounded by Niagara Falls, Toronto, and Windsor. Several rural villages made up mostly of ex-slaves were established in Kent and Essex counties. Fort Malden in Amherstburg, Ontario, was deemed the `` chief place of entry '' for slaves seeking to enter Canada. The abolitionist Levi Coffin supported this assessment, describing Fort Malden as `` the great landing place, the principle terminus of the underground railroad of the west. '' After 1850, approximately thirty fugitive slaves a day were crossing over to Fort Malden by steamboat. The Sultana was one of such ships and made `` frequent round trips '' between Great Lakes ports. Its captain, C.W. Appleby, a celebrated mariner, facilitated the conveyance of several fugitive slaves from various Lake Erie ports to Fort Malden. Another important center of population was Nova Scotia, for example Africville and other villages near Halifax ( see Black Nova Scotians ). Many of these settlements were started by Black Loyalists after the American Revolutionary War. Important black settlements also developed in other parts of British North America ( now parts of Canada ). These included Lower Canada ( present - day Quebec ) and Vancouver Island, where Governor James Douglas encouraged black immigration because of his opposition to slavery. He also hoped a significant black community would form a bulwark against those who wished to unite the island with the United States. Upon arriving at their destinations, many fugitives were disappointed, as life in Canada was difficult. While the British colonies had no slavery after 1834, discrimination was still common. Many of the new arrivals had to compete with mass European immigration for jobs, and overt racism was common. For example, in reaction to Black Loyalists being settled in eastern Canada by the Crown, the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, amended its charter in 1785 specifically to exclude blacks from practicing a trade, selling goods, fishing in the harbour, or becoming freemen ; these provisions stood until 1870. With the outbreak of the Civil War in the U.S., many black refugees left Canada to enlist in the Union Army. While some later returned to Canada, many remained in the United States. Thousands of others returned to the American South after the war ended. The desire to reconnect with friends and family was strong, and most were hopeful about the changes emancipation and Reconstruction would bring. Notable people John Van Zandt Henry Box Brown John Brown Owen Brown Samuel Burris Obadiah Bush Levi Coffin Elizabeth Rous Comstock George Corson Moses Dickson Frederick Douglass Asa Drury Calvin Fairbank Matilda Joslyn Gage Thomas Galt Thomas Garrett William Lloyd Garrison Sydney Howard Gay Josiah Bushnell Grinnell Laura Smith Haviland Lewis Hayden Josiah Henson Roger Hooker Leavitt Isaac Hopper John Hunn Jermain Wesley Loguen Samuel Joseph May John Berry Meachum Mary Meachum William M. Mitchell James Mott Lucretia Coffin Mott Solomon Northup John Parker John Wesley Posey Amy and Isaac Post John Rankin Alexander Milton Ross David Ruggles Gerrit Smith George Luther Stearns William Still Lewis Tappan Charles Turner Torrey William Troy Sojourner Truth Harriet Tubman Jonathan Walker John Greenleaf Whittier Martha Coffin Wright Joseph Parrish Thompson Mary Ellen Pleasant Related events 1776 -- Declaration of Independence 1793 -- Act Against Slavery 1800 -- Second Great Awakening 1816 -- Battle of Negro Fort 1820 -- Missouri Compromise 1850 -- Compromise of 1850 1850 -- Fugitive Slave Act 1851 -- Jerry Rescue 1854 -- Kansas -- Nebraska Act 1857 -- Dred Scott decision 1858 -- Oberlin -- Wellington Rescue 1860 -- Abraham Lincoln of Illinois elected the first Republican U.S. President 1861 through 1865 -- American Civil War 1863 -- Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln 1865 -- Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Inspirations for Fiction The Underground Railroad was the inspiration for a faction in Fallout 4, the Railroad, consisting of safehouses for synthetic humanoids who escaped another faction known as the Institute. The Underground Railroad is a 2016 novel by Colson Whitehead. It won the 2016 National Book Award and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Underground is an American television series that premiered in 2016, on WGN America. Contemporary 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 See also African American portal Ausable Chasm, NY, home of the North Star Underground Railroad Museum Bilger 's Rocks Caroline Quarlls ( 1824 -- 1892 ), first known person to escape slavery through Wisconsin 's Underground Railroad Fort Mose Historic State Park List of Underground Railroad sites Reverse Underground Railroad Slave codes The Holocaust in Norway # Escape to Sweden, an `` underground railroad '' during the Holocaust in Norway Notes Jump up ^ `` Underground Railroad ''. dictionary.com. Retrieved July 17, 2011. ' A network of houses and other places abolitionists used to help enslaved Africans escape to freedom in the northern states or in Canada... ' -- American Heritage Dictionary Jump up ^ `` The Underground Railroad ''. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved July 25, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Purpose and Background ''. Taking the Train to Freedom. National Park Service. Retrieved July 17, 2011 Jump up ^ Smith, Bruce ( March 18, 2012 ). `` For a century, Underground Railroad ran south ''. Google News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2012. Jump up ^ McIver, Stuart ( February 14, 1993 ). `` Fort Mose 's Call To Freedom. Florida 's Little - known Underground Railroad Was the Escape Route Taken by Slaves Who Fled to the State in the 1700s and Established America 's First Black Town ''. Sun - Sentinel. Retrieved February 10, 2018. ^ Jump up to : Vox, Lisa, `` How Did Slaves Resist Slavery ? '', African - American History, About.com, Retrieved July 17, 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` Settling Canada Underground Railroad ''. Historica Minutes. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2018. Between 1840 and 1860, more than 30,000 American slaves came secretly to Canada and freedom Jump up ^ `` From slavery to freedom '' Archived July 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine., The Grapevine, pp. 3 -- 5. Jump up ^ Jr, Deborah Gray White, Mia Bay, Waldo E. Martin ( 2013 ). Freedom on My Mind : A History of African Americans, with documents. Boston : Bedford / St. Martin 's. p. 287. ISBN 978 - 0 - 312 - 64883 - 1. Jump up ^ Potter, David, 1976 pp. 132 -- 139 Jump up ^ Bordewich, Fergus, 2005, p. 324 Jump up ^ Gara, Larry. Underground Railroad. National Park Service. p. 8. Jump up ^ Douglass, Frederick ( July 5, 1852 ), `` The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro '', History Is a Weapon, Retrieved July 17, 2011. Jump up ^ Potter, David, 1976, p. 139 Jump up ^ `` Avalon Project -- Confederate States of America -- Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union ''. Avalon.law.yale.edu. Retrieved June 7, 2016. Jump up ^ Larson, p. xvii. Jump up ^ Blight, David, 2004, p. 3 Jump up ^ Society, National Geographic ( 2011 - 11 - 16 ). `` The Underground Railroad ''. National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 01. Jump up ^ Pinsker, Matthew ( 2000 ). Vigilance in Pennsylvania : Underground Railroad Activities in the Keystone State, 1837 -- 1861. Lancaster : PHMC. Jump up ^ `` Underground Railroad Codes '' ( PDF ). Myths and Codes of the Underground Railroad. Safe Passage. Greater Cincinnati Television Educational Foundation. p. 20. Retrieved June 29, 2013. Jump up ^ Dictated by Robert Jackson a.k.a. Wesley Harris on 2 November 1853. `` Engravings by Bensell, Schell, and others. '' Jump up ^ Bordewich, Fergus, 2005, p. 236 Jump up ^ Torrey, E. Fuller ( 2013 ). The Martyrdom of Abolitionist Charles Torrey. Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press. Jump up ^ Blackett, Richard ( October 2014 ). `` The Underground Railroad and the Struggle Against Slavery ''. History Workshop Journal. 78 ( 1 ) : 279. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Wellington, Darryl Lorenzo ( January 20, 2004 ). `` The most famous abductor on the Underground Railroad ''. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 9, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Underground Railroad - Black History - HISTORY.com ''. HISTORY.com. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 01. Jump up ^ Potter, David, 1976, p. 133 Jump up ^ Blight, David, 2004, p. 98 Jump up ^ `` History -- National Underground Railroad Freedom Center ''. Freedomcenter.org. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 07. Jump up ^ Blight, David, 2004, p. 175 Jump up ^ Still, William ( 1872 ). The Underground Railroad : Authentic Narratives and First - Hand Accounts. ASIN B00264GNTU. Jump up ^ https://www.nps.gov/subjects/ugrr/index.htm Jump up ^ Williams, Ozella McDaniels, 1999. Jump up ^ Aronson, Marc ( April 1, 2007 ). `` History That Never Happened ''. School Library Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2011. Jump up ^ Stukin, Stacie. `` Unravelling the Myth of Quilts and the Underground Railroad ''. Time.com. Time. Retrieved 18 January 2017. Jump up ^ Kelley, James ( April 2008 ). `` Song, Story, or History : Resisting Claims of a Coded Message in the African American Spiritual ' Follow the Drinking Gourd ' ''. The Journal of Popular Culture. 41 ( 2 ) : 262 -- 280. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1540 - 5931.2008. 00502. x. Jump up ^ `` Black History - From Slavery to Settlement ''. Archives.gov.on.ca. Archived from the original on February 14, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2016. Jump up ^ Mark Lardas, African American Soldier in the Civil War : USCT, 1862 -- 66 Jump up ^ Ann Heinrichs, The Underground Railroad Jump up ^ Gindy, Gaye E. ( 2008 ). The Underground Railroad and Sylvania 's Historic Lathrop House. p. 20. ISBN 9781434367617. Jump up ^ Douglass, Frederick. ( 1845 ) Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Dover Publications. Chapter 11. Jump up ^ Bordewich, Fergus, 2005, p. 379 Jump up ^ Fred Landon, `` Amherstburg, Terminus of the Underground Railroad, '' The Journal of Negro History 10, no. 1 ( 1925 ) : 5. ^ Jump up to : Tom Calarco, Places of the Underground Railroad : A Geographical Guide ( Santa Barbara, CA : ABC - CLIO, LLC, 2011 ) Jump up ^ `` Arrival of the Black Loyalists : Saint John 's Black Community '' Archived May 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine., Heritage Resources Saint John Jump up ^ William Still, `` George Corson, '' The Underground Rail Road, ( Philadelphia : Porter & Coates, 1872 ), pp. 721 -- 23. Jump up ^ `` Letters : Underground Railroad site threatened in Montco ''. Articles.philly.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016. Jump up ^ Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr, Africana : The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Oxford University Press, 1999 ISBN 978 - 0195170559 Jump up ^ `` Aboard the Underground Railroad '' -- Boston African American NHS. Nps.gov ( 1962 - 09 - 05 ). Retrieved on 2013 - 08 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on November 24, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2011. Jump up ^ `` For the People : A Newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association v. 8 number 1 Spring 2006, Springfield, Illinois '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2007 - 10 - 25. Jump up ^ Foner pg. 155 -- 159 Jump up ^ Foner pg. 9 -- 10 Jump up ^ Carlarco pg. 144 -- 152 Jump up ^ Calarco p. 153 Jump up ^ Calarco p. 290 Jump up ^ Foner pg. 57 -- 58, 88 -- 90 Jump up ^ Foner p 156 Jump up ^ Foner p. 180 Jump up ^ Foner pg. 146 -- 147 Jump up ^ `` Mary Meachum and the Underground Railroad ''. St. Louis Public Radio. October 9, 2012. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2015. Jump up ^ Calarco pg. 210 -- 211 ^ Jump up to : Foner p. 143 Jump up ^ Calarco pg. 222 -- 224 Jump up ^ Calarco pg. 225 -- 228 Jump up ^ Calarco pg. 236 -- 238 Jump up ^ Calarco pg. 242 -- 250 Jump up ^ Foner pg. 2 -- 3 Jump up ^ Foner pg. 58 -- 59 123 -- 124 Jump up ^ Foner p. 13 Jump up ^ Foner p. 8 Jump up ^ Foner pg. 87 -- 88 Jump up ^ Foner pg. 190 - 94 Jump up ^ `` The 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Fiction ''. pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2017 - 04 - 10. Jump up ^ Mitchell, William ( 1860 ). The Under - Ground Railroad. W. Tweedie. Wikisource. ( scan ) References Blight, David W. ( 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. Calarco, Tom ( 2008 ). People of the Underground Railroad : A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut : Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313339244. Chadwick, Bruce ( 2000 ). Traveling the Underground Railroad : A Visitor 's Guide to More Than 300 Sites. Citadel Press. ISBN 0 - 8065 - 2093 - 0. 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. Foner, Eric ( 2015 ). Gateway To Freedom : The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. New York, NY : Norton. ISBN 0393244075 Forbes, Ella ( 1998 ) But We Have No Country : The 1851 Christiana Pennsylvania Resistance. Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers. 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. 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 ; Willene Hendrick ( 2010 ), Black refugees in Canada : accounts of escape during the era of slavery, McFarland & Co, ISBN 9780786447336 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. CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter ( link ) Hudson, J. Blaine ( 2002 ). Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad in the Kentucky Borderland. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0 - 7864 - 1345 - X. LaRoche, Cheryl Janifer ( 2014 ). Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad : The Geography of Resistance. Urbana, IL : University of Illinois Press. Potter, David M. ( 1976 ). The Impending Crisis, 1848 -- 1861. ISBN 0 - 06 - 131929 - 5. `` Operating the Underground Railroad ''. National Park Service. `` Part 4 : 1831 -- 1865 Narrative, The Underground Railroad ''. Africans in America c. 1780 -- 1862 : Judgment Day. PBS. Further Reading Library resources about the Underground Railroad Online books Resources in your library Resources in other libraries Blackett, R.J.M. ( 2013 ). Making Freedom : The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery. Chapel Hill, NC : University of North Carolina Press. Curtis, Anna L. ( 1941 ). Stories of the Underground Railroad. Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) ( Stories about Thomas Garrett, a famous agent on the Underground Railroad ) 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. Larson, Kate Clifford ( 2004 ). Bound For the Promised Land : Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. New York : Ballantine Books. ISBN 0 - 345 - 45627 - 0. 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 The Underground Railroad public domain audiobook at LibriVox Folklore and Myth `` Documentary Evidence is Missing on Underground Railroad Quilts ''. historyofquilts.com. `` 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. `` Underground Railroad Quilts & Abolitionist Fairs ''. Womenfolk.com. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Underground Railroad. Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Underground Railroad. Underground Railroad Studies Underground Railroad Timeline Friends of the Underground Railroad National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Underground Railroad Research Institute at Georgetown College Underground Railroad in Buffalo and Upstate New York : A bibliography by The Buffalo History Museum Underground Railroad People William L. Chaplin Levi Coffin Richard Dillingham Calvin Fairbank Thomas Garrett Laura Smith Haviland Daniel Hughes William Cooper Nell Harriet Forten Purvis Robert Purvis John Rankin Hetty Reckless Gerrit Smith William Still Harriet Beecher Stowe Charles Turner Torrey Sojourner Truth Harriet Tubman Frances Harper Delia Webster Places List of Underground Railroad sites houses churches Levi Coffin House Bialystoker Synagogue Bilger 's Rocks Wilson Bruce Evans House Cyrus Gates Farmstead Sites in Indiana Allen Chapel Town Clock Church Kelton House F. Julius LeMoyne House John Rankin House Gerrit Smith Estate John Freeman Walls Historic Site Events Pearl incident ( 1848 ) Jerry Rescue ( 1851 ) Uncle Tom 's Cabin ( 1852 book ) Dred : A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp ( 1856 book ) Oberlin -- Wellington Rescue ( 1858 ) Thirteenth Amendment ( 1865 ) Topics Songs of the Underground Railroad Abolitionism in the United States Abolitionism opponents of slavery African - American opponents publications Fugitive slaves Fugitive slave laws 1850 Quilts Signals lawn jockey Slave catcher The Underground Railroad Records ( 1872 book ) Related National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park visitor center The Railroad to Freedom : A Story of the Civil War ( 1932 book ) A Woman Called Moses ( 1978 miniseries ) Roots of Resistance ( 1989 documentary ) The Quest for Freedom ( 1992 film ) Freedom : The Underground Railroad ( 2013 board game ) Underground ( 2016 TV series ) See also : Slavery in the United States and Slavery in Canada Links to related articles American Civil War Origins Origins Issues Timeline leading to the War Antebellum era Bleeding Kansas Border states Compromise of 1850 Dred Scott v. Sandford Lincoln - Douglas debates Missouri Compromise Popular sovereignty Secession States ' rights President Lincoln 's 75,000 volunteers Slavery African Americans Cornerstone Speech Emancipation Proclamation Fugitive slave laws Plantations in the American South Slave Power Slavery in the United States Treatment of slaves in the United States Uncle Tom 's Cabin Abolitionism Susan B. Anthony John Brown Frederick Douglass William Lloyd Garrison Elijah Parish Lovejoy J. 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Question: where did the underground rail road lead to
Answer: free states