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Escaping from slavery was often tempting,
but it wasn’t easy. Slave owners kept a careful watch over their
slaves. Yet thousands of slaves managed to get to freedom by using the
“Underground Railroad.” It wasn’t an actual railroad,
and it did not travel under ground. It was a network of secret paths
and safe houses that helped slaves escape from the South, where slavery
was legal, to the North, where they could be free.
A Difficult Escape
Slavery was a difficult life, so it’s
not surprising that many slaves wanted to escape. But escaping was dangerous.
When no one was looking, a slave might be able to run away from the
field he was working on –- but then what? He would have no food,
no money, thin clothes, and worst of all –- nowhere to go.
 Slaves
knew that there were laws against slavery in the Northern states. And
they knew which way north was. But they also knew that running away
was a crime. A slave who ran away once could expect to be beaten terribly
-- as a punishment, and as a way of reminding other slaves not to try
it. A slave who tried to run away a second or third time could legally
be put to death.
The South was also patrolled by police
and professional slave catchers on horseback. A slave on foot who did
not know where he was going or have anywhere to hide was usually caught
within a day or two of running away.
How the Underground Railroad Worked
The Underground Railroad changed the odds,
helping more than 30,000 slaves run away to the North, and to Canada.
As a first step, volunteers with the Underground Railroad would sneak
onto plantations in the South. They would find slaves who wanted to
run away, often persuading those who were afraid. They would lead small
groups on foot or put them in wagons using secret paths and traveling
at night so they wouldn’t be caught. In the daytime, the slaves
would stay at a safe home, where the owner had volunteered to help.
The next day the group would set out again, reaching a new home each
night. Sometimes they would travel by boat or train, averaging about
fifteen miles every day. Volunteers donated money for tickets and clothing
for the runaways. Ohio was the state with the most routes from South
to North.
| Click
here to see a map of Underground Railroad routes. |
 One
of the best-known workers on the Underground Railroad was Harriet Tubman.
She escaped from slavery herself, but she wanted to help all slaves
to be free. She went back to her old slave home and helped her family
escape. She came back again and again, leading more than 300 slaves
to freedom. When she was an old woman, she said, “I was conductor
of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most
conductors can’t say – I never ran my train off the track
and I never lost a passenger.”
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