Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe house s used by 19th - century black slaves in the United States to escape to 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 . While an " underground railroad " running south toward Florida , then a Spanish possession , existed from the late 17th century until shortly after the American Revolution , the network now generally known as the Underground Railroad was formed in the early 19th century , 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 . 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 . Some fugitives ' stories are documented in " The Underground Railroad " by William Still . Political background . Even at the height of the Underground Railroad , fewer than 1 , 000 slaves from all slave - holding states were able to escape each year ( just over 5 , 000 court cases for escaped slaves recorded ) , a quantity much smaller than the natural annual increase of the enslaved population . Although the economic impact was small , the psychological impact on slaveholders of an informal network to assist escaped slaves was immense . Under the original Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 , the responsibility for catching runaway slaves fell on officials of the states from which the slaves came , and the Underground Railroad thrived . With heavy political lobbying , the Compromise of 1850 , passed by Congress after the Mexican - American War , stipulated a more stringent Fugitive Slave Law . Ostensibly , the compromise redressed all regional problems . However , it coerced officials of free states to assist slave catchers if there were runaway slaves in the area , and granted slave catchers national immunity when in free states to do their job . Additionally , free blacks of the North could easily be forced into slavery , whether they had been freed earlier or had never been slaves . Suspected slaves were unable to defend themselves in court , and it was difficult to prove a free status . In a de facto bribe , judges were paid more ( $ 10 ) for a decision that forced a suspected slave back into slavery than for a decision that the suspected slave was in fact free ( $ 5 ) . Thus , many Northerners who would have otherwise been able and content to ignore far - away regional slavery , chafed under nationally - sanctioned slavery . This led to one of the primary grievances of the Union cause in the Civil War . Structure . 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 house s , and assistance provided by abolitionist sympathizers . Individuals were often 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 . Churches also often played a role , especially the Religious Society of Friends ( Quakers ) , Congregationalist s , 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 . There were the " conductors " who ultimately moved the runaways from station to station . The " conductor " would sometimes pretend to be a slave to enter a plantation . Once a part of a plantation , the " conductor " would direct the runaways to the North . Slaves would travel at night , about 10 – 20 miles ( 15 – 30 km ) to each station . They would stop at the so - called " stations " or " depots " during the day and rest . The stations were out of the way places like barns . While resting at one station , a message was sent to the next station to let the station master know the runaways were on their way . The resting spots where the runaways could sleep and eat were given the code names " stations " and " depots " which were held by " station masters " . There were also those known as " stockholders " who gave money or supplies for assistance . Using biblical references , fugitives referred to Canada as the " Promised Land " and the Ohio River as the " River Jordan " , which marked the boundary between slave states and free states . Traveling conditions . Although the fugitives sometimes traveled on boat or train , they usually traveled on foot or by wagon in groups of 1 – 3 slaves . Some groups were considerably larger . However , 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 , yet many still participated . In fact , one of the most famous and successful abductors ( as people who secretly traveled into slave states to rescue those seeking freedom were called ) was a woman , Harriet Tubman . 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 hunter s known as slave catcher s pursued fugitives as far as the Canadian border . The risk was not limited solely to actual fugitives . Because strong , healthy blacks in their prime working and reproductive years were seen and treated as highly valuable commodities , it was not unusual for free blacks — both freedmen ( former slaves ) and those who had never been slaves — to be kidnapped and sold into slavery . " Certificates of freedom " — signed , notarized statements attesting to the free status of individual blacks — could easily be destroyed and thus afforded their holders little protection . Some buildings , such as the Crenshaw House in far southeastern Illinois , remain as physical components of this process , 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 , dominated by the numbers of southern Congressmen elected because slaves were counted into total population , had passed the fugitive slave law because of public sympathy for the fugitives and the lack of cooperation by the police , courts , and public outside the Deep South . In some parts of the North , slave - catchers needed police protection to exercise their federal authority . Despite their resistance to pro - slavery laws , several states made free blacks unwelcome . Indiana , whose area along the Ohio River was settled by Southerners , passed a constitutional amendment that barred 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 : The Big Dipper asterism ( whose " bowl " points to the North Star ) was known as the drinkin ' gourd . The Railroad itself was often known as the " freedom train " or " Gospel train " , which headed towards " Heaven " or " the Promised Land " , i . e . , Canada . William Still , often 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 published these accounts in the book " The Underground Railroad " in 1872 . According to Still , messages were often encoded so that messages 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 train station in an attempt to intercept the runaways , while Still was able to meet them at the correct station and guide them to safety , where they eventually escaped either to the North or to British North America , where slavery had been abolished during the 1830s . Folklore . Since the 1980s , claims have arisen that quilt designs were used to signal and direct slaves to escape routes and assistance . According to advocates of the quilt theory , there were ten quilt patterns that were used to direct slaves to take particular actions . The quilts were placed one at a time on a fence as a means of nonverbal communication to alert escaping slaves . The code had a dual meaning : first to signal slaves to prepare to escape and second to give clues and indicate directions on the journey . The quilt design theory is disputed . The first published work documenting an oral history source was in 1999 and the first publishing is believed to be a 1980 children ' s book , so it is difficult to evaluate the veracity of these claims , which are not accepted by quilt historians or scholars of pre - Civil - War America . 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 . Many 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 , but these sources offer very little evidence to support their claims . Scholars who have examined these claims 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 . Yet , the Underground Railroad did spur cultural works . For example , a song written in 1860 about a man fleeing slavery in Tennessee by escaping to Canada , entitled " Song of the Free " , 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 Canada had been in rapid decline after an 1803 court ruling , and abolished outright in 1834 . Legal and political . When frictions between North and South culminated in the American Civil War , many blacks , slave and free , fought for the Union Army . On December 6 , 1865 , Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which outlawed slavery . Following its passage , it is reported that in some cases the Underground Railroad operated in reverse as fugitives returned to the United States . Criticism . Frederick Douglass , writer , statesman , and himself an escaped slave , wrote critically of the Underground Railroad in his seminal autobiography : 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 . 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 ( called Canada West from 1841 , and today Southern Ontario ) , where numerous Black Canadian communities developed . These were generally in the triangular region bounded by Toronto , Niagara Falls , and Windsor . Nearly 1 , 000 refugees settled in Toronto , and several rural villages made up mostly of ex - slaves were established in Kent County and Essex County . Another important center of population was Nova Scotia , for example Africville and other villages near Halifax , see Black Nova Scotians . 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 and because he 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 . While the British colonies had no slavery after 1834 , discrimination was still common . Many of the new arrivals had great difficulty finding jobs , in part because of mass European immigration at the time , and overt racism was common . For example , the charter of the city of Saint John , New Brunswick was amended 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 enlisted in the Union Army and , 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 .